The Athens Biennial
1st International Contemporary Art Exhibition
Destroy Athens
Curated by Xenia Kalpaktsoglou, Poka-Yio, Augustine Zenakos
September 2006
Tel. / Fax: 30 210 6398559
E-mail: contact [at] athensbiennial.org www.athensbiennial.org
The 1st International Contemporary Art Exhibition of the Athens Biennial, titled Destroy Athens, will open in September 2006. The exhibition aims to attack stereotyping, so it is inviting artists to a celebration of dissent, which will employ the heretical treatment of the universal and timeless symbol of Athens as a pretext or as a metaphor for an assertion of self-determination.
The exhibition will address stereotyping on multiple levels:
Athens as a lived city is perceived almost exclusively through negative stereotyping (the pollution, the apartment building, the demonstrations, the rude taxi-drivers) by its inhabitants.
Athens as a site-to-visit is advertised, through positive stereotyping (ancient monuments, Olympic Games, Greek hospitality), by the Greek nationalistic construct in absolute accord with the world-wide cultural and tourist industries.
Athens as an emblem of western certainty is conscripted, again through positive stereotyping (the birthplace of democracy), to alleviate the guilt of a hegemonic civilization.
The new institution of the Athens Biennial aims to constitute a space where the desire to produce discourse will co-exist alongside the pragmatic observation of the general difficulty to resist the system of distribution. Therefore, it will function as an observatory, which will include the elements of contemplation and elaboration on collective issues. Athens is an ideal location for the institution of such an observatory, as it does not seem to ever coincide with the ceaselessly shifting borders between center and periphery, and thus it constitutes a sort of non-place, which provides an oversight of both the centre and the periphery.
The Athens Biennial also aims to be a constant mechanism for the designation and the critical engagement of artistic production, as well as a forum of discussion and exchange with the international scene. In this context, besides a biennial exhibition, the Athens Biennial will organize events and conferences, it will publish a monthly, bilingual, online art criticism magazine, it will collaborate with an online radio station, and it will remain open to proposals, interventions and collaborations.
The Athens Biennial
1st International Contemporary Art Exhibition
Destroy Athens
Curated by Xenia Kalpaktsoglou, Poka-Yio, Augustine Zenakos
Athens Biennial Non-Profit Organization
4, Odyssea Androutsou Street
15341, Athens
Greece
Tel. / Fax: 30 210 6398559
E-mail: contact@athensbiennial.org www.athensbiennial.org
