FFF2 | X Apartments

Can you rediscover the city of your birth through the lives of its inhabitants? Can an art project really overcome both the dictates of political correctness and nostalgic narratives about the good old days of ethnic homogeneity and engage with the new hybrid social identities that have come into being with the arrival of large numbers of immigrants and refugees? Does art have the power to crack open the dominant geographical narrative which has locked the public image of downtown Athens into a discourse on overarching urban decay? Can an artist work in areas traumatized by attempts to reappropriate public space, by conflicting forms of coexistence and by extreme social phenomena?

“X Apartments” focuses on strictly demarcated zones within the Athenian cityscape: the densely-populated areas of Plateia Attikis and Kypseli, due to the drastic shift in their urban identity and their high concentrations of residents of different ethnicities, the neighborhoods around Larisis station and Agios Pavlos, as areas whose social identity continues to undergo constant transformations, and Kolonos, an old working-class Athenian neighbourhood which has thus far avoided gentrification.

The project seeks to articulate a critique of the heterogeneous residential models found in downtown Athens, which have changed the established features of private space and its traditional uses. It exhorts us to engage with the inhabitants of Athens in a manner free of spatial idealizations and dangerous distinctions between ‘locals’ and ‘foreigners’, ‘new-comers and ‘old-timers’.

The stories contained within this unique urban dérive exist on the borders of documentary and fiction, installation and performance. The political function of “X Apartments” resides precisely in this bringing together of two forms of reality, the iconic/poetic/imaginary and the raw/tangible/mundane: by clashing with the normative model of a homogeneous collective identity, the encounter brings new possibilities of coexistence and cohabitation into being.

“X Apartments‘” hyper-dramaturgy is made up of fifteen different environments which operate both independently and as parts of a whole. Fifteen close-ups in nontheatrical locations which serve to expand and telescope time simultaneously, proposing new ways of viewing and unconventional conditions in which to experience art. Time—or, to be more precise, the perception of time—is, of course, the dominant dramatic principle underlying this pluralistic urban project. Condensed time serves as a virtual camera which affords us access to unseen, personal zones for ten minutes at a time. The multifaceted nature of “X Apartments” stems from this abridging of time and from the coexistence of different temporalities. It is this that allows the sequential visits to different types of residence by pairs of viewers to function organizationally as a form of handmade montage which fragments homogeneous, everyday time.

A project like “X Apartments” appeals to the voyeuristic desires that accompany the gaze into the private life of others, but it also deals with this voyeurism consciously. By limiting the audience to two people it also puts the spectators in an exposed position – and the inhabitants/performers in the apartments look back at them too. For the participating artists this voyeurism can be a playing field or a mechanism to react to.

Fifteen Greek and international artists who work in different fields using different artistic idioms accepted our challenge to create works especially for the houses and apartments of downtown Athens. Their polymorphic artistic vocabularies reflect the heterogeneity of these areas. We thank them for their dedication and their enthusiasm. We would also like to thank all the local residents who opened their doors and helped us in a substantial and creative way to get to know their neighborhoods from the inside out over several months. We will never forget the treats (kerasmata) they offered us, the smells of their flowers and the lemon trees hidden in their backyards. They are part of our Athens now.

— Katia Arfara & Anna Mülter, "X-Apartments Athens" Curators

Part of the performance takes place at open-air locations and includes walking. The audience is advised to wear comfortable clothes and shoes, as well as a hat.

Tour 1

Starting Point: Cafe Krikelas, 2 Diligianni St. (Metaxourgeio Metro Station – Exit Diligianni)

Tour 2

Starting Point: Cafe Pronto, 161 Liosion St. (Attiki Metro Station – Exit Liosion 149-169)

Timetable: Thu-Sun 16:00-20:00 (tours begin every 10 minutes, with 2 spectators per tour).

It is advisable to book your ticket in advance.
You can also purchase your ticket from the starting points, as long as there is availability.

Age guidance: 18+ or 16+ accompanied by an adult.

The performances start exactly at the above mentioned hours. Please be sure that you arrive at the starting point 15 minutes prior to the performance scheduled start time. In case you will not be able to attend a performance for which you have purchased a ticket, please make sure to inform us at Τ. 213 017 8036. The performances can take place only with a specific number of viewers.