Chrysanthi Koumianaki - Critical Practices Program

In mid-September, I made a contract with myself: I temporarily left my studio and moved to a new space downtown, to Onassis AiR. I lived with a group of people who held similar contracts. We shared a period of intense cohabitation, group pursuits and conciliation. For a while I took a brave hiatus, where I generously let go of my routine and went into a process of daily exchange and alternative learning.

Our trip to Indonesia during The Critical Practices Program was like a firework. It awakened thoughts I have long had. About community and mutual support but also about work, the relationship between tradition and the present and future, the importance of time and the care you give to things. An instrument that requires 3-20 musicians in order to function, an outfit painted for hours with patience, concentration and dedication, groups of 10 people and over, groups that collaborate and support each other for the empowerment and survival of the community.

The above concerns have been part of my work and its different forms since a long time. How does a work of art bridge different times or incorporates pieces of a written or informal history? How does it work as an imprint of labor, of production time and the people who made it? How does it talk to the public and how can the public be part of it? Can a work of art create a community? During this time, I worked on evolving ideas. I looked back at my previous works with the desire to create a new narrative around production time, backstage, tradition and craftsmanship as means of relaxation and awakening, cooperation and friendship as means of resolution and evolution.