“Greece in USA” presents “For Freedoms” in Greece for the first time
A collaboration with the Municipal Theater of Piraeus at the Greek Festival of Athens and Epidaurus
NEWS24/7 NEWSROOM
- 06 July 2024 15:00
“ GREECE IN USA,” presents for the first time in Athens the most influential Public Art collective in America FOR FREEDOMS instigated by the artist Hank Willis Thomas, curated by Sozita Goudouna, PhD.
The cultural diplomacy initiative “GREECE IN USA,” which was founded in 2020 under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and takes place with cultural events in America and Greece, is carrying out this year’s productions of the organization in collaboration with the Municipal Theater of Piraeus as part of the Greek Festival of Athens and Epidaurus Festival.
“For Freedoms” is an artist-led organization that focuses on art as a catalyst for creative civic engagement, discourse and direct action. Founded in 2016 by a coalition of artists including Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo and Wyatt Gallery, For Freedoms is dedicated to fostering an environment of listening, healing and justice through a wide range of creative engagement. “For Freedoms” works closely with a variety of artists, organizations, foundations and brands to expand what participation in a democracy looks like and reshape policy conversations.
The public space of Piraeus, Keratsini and Ichthyoskala are the ideal places for this art intervention of one of the most influential artistic collectives in America. Almost all ‘For Freedoms’ campaigns have used billboards to ask a question: How can a billboard (used to communicate an action) with Art (meant to ask questions) create new ways of thinking and talking contemporary political issues in America?
For Freedoms wants to inspire meaningful participation in civic life. They aim to reawaken a political and cultural identity around creativity, listening, healing and justice. They encourage and promote the creative use of one’s voice, body, mind and ultimately vote. They aim to build a cultural identity around the creative participation of citizens. It is easy, as we have seen, to tear things apart. The darker, much harder path is to make things together.
Hank Willis Thomas is one of hundreds of artists who have designed billboards for For Freedoms campaigns to date. The work of Hank Willis Thomas is included in the permanent collections of many museums and galleries, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York? Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; including. His project “Embrace,” as a permanent monument to the city of Boston, was recently inaugurated.
The project is presented in the context
WHAT DO WE OWE DEMOCRACY
A co-production of the Athens Festival with the Municipal Theater of Piraeus.
July 7, 2024
Theatrical and Visual installation
A dramaturgy of urgency entitled What we owe to democracy.
Spaces and Constructed events into which the viewer enters.
Directing - Dramaturgy
Nikos Diamantis
3 public spaces
Fish ladders of Perama
Sotiria Hospital
National Library
6 authors
Ilias Maglinis
Michalis Makropoulos
Glykeria Basdeki
Sofia Nikolaidou
Vivian Stergiou
Christos Chrysopoulos
The non-profit organization Greece in USA has managed to promote the work of 200 contemporary Greek artists and cultural organizations in prominent cultural and educational spaces in New York in collaboration with American cultural institutions while at the same time offering a program of hosting artists in Greece (Library Residency). Greece in the USA aims to activate the dynamics of contemporary Greek art with interventions in cultural spaces and in the public space of New York.
Our goal is to shape and envision the image of contemporary Greece in the United States, as well as promote the international exchange of practices and knowledge in the arts, explore the methods used in theatrical and curatorial practices, and explore intersections between the arts, of society and the public sphere through interventions, collective actions, educational programs and publications. “Greece in the USA” aims to collaborate and build long-term partnerships with leading institutions and individuals active in Greece and its culture and to convey a comprehensive representation of Greece by producing cultural and educational programs that encourage intercultural dialogue and enable cultural participation.
In this context in November 2021 we presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art the premiere of Arvo Pärt expanding the impact of the platform to a wide audience of a cultural institution like the Metropolitan. The organization attempts to “reclaim” the importance of art in everyday life and the public sphere and to give voice to a particular ethnicity that previously did not have a substantial or influential presence in American cultural events, therefore, impact is primarily measured through audience participation and art reviews in prominent art magazines such as Artnet, Artnews, Artforum, Ocula. Building cultural collaborations between the two countries and inviting artists, curators and scholars.
The organization’s board of directors is a coalition of distinguished US- and Greece-based arts professionals who share innovative approaches to cultural leadership and artistic innovation and who have joined forces with the diaspora as well as Greek organizations and artistic communities in Greece. The board seeks to nurture the next generation of artists, curators and writers interested in contemporary Greek issues in global development. The organization’s board of directors consists of professionals who combine scientific and business skills, but also a unique combination of practical experience with Greek and American governmental and non-profit organizations: https://greeceinusa.com
Founded by professor, Dr. Sozita Goudouna, who specializes in interdisciplinary art and the connections between the visual and performing arts, the board consists of Dr. Kaplanis, General Director of the Hellenic Festival SA (Festival of Athens & Epidaurus), Professor Andreas Takis, former Director of the Metropolitan Organization of Museums of Fine Arts of Thessaloniki — MOMus and assistant professor of Philosophy and Methodology of Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, among other cultural professionals.
OUT OF THE BOX INTERMEDIA
The non-profit cultural organization “Out of the Box Intermedia” (www.outoftheboxintermedia.org) was founded in 2008 in Athens and London and specializes in the research and production of interdisciplinary projects with the international collaboration of universities, artistic groups and scientific institutions as it organizes the latest 15 years of artistic productions, educational programs, conferences and publications in Europe and America. The organization has been registered in the Cultural Register of the Ministry of Culture since 2011.
The organization has implemented European programs such as Creative Europe, has collaborated with NSRF programs and has been supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, the European Cultural Foundation, the British Council, the French Institute, the Onassis Foundation, the NEON Foundation and private companies. Out Of The Box productions examine structural relationships between the visual arts, cinema, architecture, science and choreographic research and have been presented at the MET Metropolitan Museum of New York, French Embassy New York, New Museum, Ionian Parliament, Documenta, EMST, Benaki Museum, Byzantine & Christian Museum, Shunt Vaults London, Hunterian Museum London, French Institute, ICA, Historical Archives Museum, Place-London, Frieze London, Tate Modern, in the Public Space in Vyrito, Hydra, Delos, in Vouvallio Girls’ School in Pothia Kalymnos, in the Archaeological Museum of Delos, the Historical Museum of the University of Athens, the Undercurrent of New York, Anya and Shiva Gallery of the John Jay College of the City University of New York CUNY, in Central Park, the Greek Consulate in New York between other cultural spaces internationally. In 2020, the organization founded the non-profit cultural diplomacy initiative Greece in USA https://greeceinusa.com with the aim of promoting Greek Contemporary Art in the US.
