AB7: ECLIPSE. Onassis Culture supports Athens Biennale

Photo: Nysos Vasilopoulos

Many. Better. The Onassis Foundation supports the Athens Biennale since the beginning being a part of the change and the evolution of the contemporary art and culture scene in Athens, emerging as one of the most exciting worldwide. The Onassis Foundation and Athens Biennale are mapping out a long-term strategy that will further develop the event, its international presence, the connection between performance and visual arts and the promotion of Greek artists globally.

According to Afroditi Panagiotakou, Director of Culture at The Onassis Foundation, "Looking towards both the present and the future, the Onassis Foundation and the Athens Biennale converse with the times and operate based on the moment and the situation. We want to be the glue that connects people and ideas, and trigger discussions about the great issues of our times. With Eclipse we welcome the expectation of light, carrying a strong social and political footprint, where life happens, here in Athens."

Photo: Nysos Vasilopoulos

AB7: ECLIPSE

The exhibition title highlights the obscured perspective of reality caused by the constant state of flux we are experiencing in our society now. ECLIPSE engages the social, political and spiritual changes of today's global construct and in Athens itself, as a rising metropolis located at the intersection of Europe, Asia and Africa both physically and historically. An eclipse is a phenomenon of filtering and shrouding as well as a cosmic event. The experience of the eclipse functions as a catalyst for reprocessing an unresolved past that can inform an unspoken present and ultimately shape our future. Thus, Athens serves as the appropriate vantage point for contemplating the nuances of time and space. Furthermore, examining the questions is the west in decline or in a moment of significant transformation?

Founding Director of the Athens Biennale and Artistic Director of AB7: ECLIPSE, Poka-Yio stated that "In its 7th edition the Athens Biennale follows the changes that have occurred in Athens and lead into rephrasing its scope. When it started, its scope was to help place Athens in the international contemporary art map and now, 15 years later, to help the Athenian cultural scene contribute to the international discourse by providing the alternative perspective of a rising metropolis."

ECLIPSE seeks to assess the implications of identity, history, and cultural complexity. The 7th Athens Biennale offers an arena to interrogate many of the ideas, queries, concerns, and desires that are frequently not platformed within a Biennial format. In an effort to activate a dynamic cross-cultural discourse, AB7 will highlight the works of artists from the African Diaspora in addition to other artistic voices that have historically been pushed to the periphery. This engagement will be articulated through the use of a "Black Lens" as one of the frameworks. This approach seeks to engage the varying perspectives and artistic practices percolating within the African diaspora. This dialogue will be situated alongside a complimentary framework of artistic interventions that use dynamic manifestations to compose unique practical narratives. Their aim is to strategically address the viewers imagination of potential parallel worlds and futures. Composing a set of spaces that platform ideas such as radical care, interspecies friendship and sonic viewing strategies, ECLIPSE presents a translocal chapter of contemporary thought on how to co-exist within a world differently.

Photo: Nysos Vasilopoulos

Athens Biennale

The Athens Biennale is the most significant periodic international event of contemporary culture in Greece. It is held every two years in Athens and in each edition it activates various locations in the city. It functions as an observatory of collective issues and as a platform for the designation of the contemporary culture of the Athenian metropolis, promoting experimental formats and various curatorial approaches. It has contributed to the establishment of Athens as a major cultural destination for contemporary art, on a par with the biggest capitals of Europe.

To date, the Athens Biennale has attracted more than 315.000 visitors from Greece and abroad in its six editions, under which over 800 artists, international and Greek, have participated, and 127 new art productions have been commissioned or premiered.

The 7th Athens Biennale is co-financed by the Hellenic Republic and the European Union through the Regional Operational Programme of “Attica” in the framework of NSRF 2014-2020, performs under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports and is realized in partnership with Onassis Culture. AB7: ECLIPSE is produced by the Athens Biennale.