Saristra Festival 2022

After two years of forced suspension, Saristra Festival is back at Palia Vlahata, between July 29 and 31, with free admission, featuring the best lineup ever. With two stages – the main Square Stage and the Onassis Stegi’s Movement Radio stage –, art exhibitions, film screenings, workshops and many more side activities, the Ionian island’s festival invites visitors to a spectacular experience in the heart of the summer, with restless creativity amidst the picturesque streets of the village.

Headliners of the festival this year are BEAK>, the trio of the renowned British musician Geoff Barrow, founding member of the legendary Portishead. His new band has managed to merge kraut repetition with synths and a distinct electro mood, in a unique fusion ranging from post-punk attitude to disco outbursts. Favorites of the Greek alternative audience, The KVB will also take the stage of Saristra; the duo of Nicholas Wood and Kat Day love both synths and shoegaze haziness and those who have seen them live have experienced their extraordinary performance.

The Square Stage lineup includes also the Berlin-based duo Local Suicide, who identify their electro maneuvers as ‘technodisco’ and ‘cobra wave’ and have recently collaborated with the celebrated artist Lena Platonos; Noda Pappa who shelved for a while his work with Acid Baby Jesus to delve into the 70s psychedelic pop sunlight; Pan Pan who is committed to “strike us like electricity on stage” with his synths; Metaman who will unfold his synths following his new album release, “Mataiosi”; Demetria, with her melodic and musically diverse sensitivity, having already four album releases at the age of 22; the explosive guitar-driven fury of Dury Dava; the psychedelic melodic charm of Whereswilder; Παιδί Τραύμα (Paidi Trauma) with his romantic, poetic approach; the unique Dionysian atmosphere of Kooba Tercu; capétte who draws his artistic identity from Anton Chekhov and autotune· and the AMKA trio who use groove upon their staccato kraut improvisations.

Saristra Festival has achieved over the years not only to bring together all the major names of the Greek alternative scene, but also to host great international artists and groups, such as the Texan musician Josh T. Pearson, the Japanese psychedelic band Minami Deutsch, the so-called “sassiest boy in America” Ian Svenonius, the Turkish band She Past Away, and the crowd-pleaser Blaine L. Reininger.

This year, the Onassis Stegi’s Movement Radio has its own stage, with a specially curated powerful lineup, featuring artists such as Deena Abdelwahed who will unfold her intense, experimental, and groundbreaking sonics at the decks, carrying her experiences from the Tunisian alternative music scene, although she is now based in France; Tash LC, whose afro-influenced techno has made her one of the most promising names of the London dance scene, with radio appearances on BBC Radio 1Xtra and Worldwide FM; Madam X, one of the UK’s most dynamic dj’s flying proudly the flag for the soundsystem culture, with performances all over the world; Ikonika, coming from the UK and Hyperdub Records to ‘shake’ the village; Athens Computer Underground, i.e. the solo project of Regressverbot’s member Pantelis Theodoridis who draws on Roland TB-303, sci-fi literature, and acid music; Spivak from Cyprus, who builds a sonic universe with ambient textures, dance beats, and synth pop tunes; Gunnpla, one half of Hypermedium label, who loves club music but also de-composition; Carina, whose philosophy balances inner human and outer space worlds, as well as genres fusion; the up-and-coming Poor J'Darr who is looking to find his way in life through electronic music; and DJ Lo-Fi, aka Lambros Tsamis, one of the most prolific figures of the Athenian underground since the 1980s, through his music, dj-sets, and writings.

Friday 29.07

22:30 Carina

00:30 Poor J'Darr

02:30 Ikonika

Saturday 30.07

22:30 Spivak

23:30 Voltnoi

01:00 Deena Abdelwahed

02:30 Tash LC

Sunday 31.07

22:30 DJ Lo-Fi

01:00 Gunnpla

02:30 Madam X

Jeff Mills, the superstar techno dj, takes on a musical journey to Palia Vlahata through the screening of his concert at the archaeological site of Delos, along with the group Tomorrow Comes the Harvest, consisted by Prabhu Edouard, Jean-Phi Dary and Mills himself.

A subversive musical performance, filmed and directed by Christos Sarris, which made its world premiere in January 2022 on the Onassis Channel (YouTube) and keeps magnetizing the viewers with the unpredictable sounds and its mystifying energy. The improvised compositions by Jeff Mills, that go above and beyond the limits of a mere dj-set, this time against the backdrop of a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, meet the peculiar setting of Saristra Festival, creating a unique audiovisual initiation experience.

29.07 - 31.07 | 01:30-02:30

“Tomorrow Comes the Harvest Featuring Jeff Mills, Jean-Phi Dary and Prabhu Edouard on Delos” by Christos Sarris | Screening of the electronic music concert by Jeff Mills with Tomorrow Comes the Harvest at the archaeological site of Delos

“Opus Just for One Person” is a trilogy – a combination of visual, musical, and performance art. Part One, realized as a video-installation, is based on the poem “Reversed Dedication” by the first Greek female surrealist poet, Matsie Hadjilazaros. “Opus Just for One Person – Part One” debuted in October 2021 at “The Mandra” of the Onassis Foundation, at Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, 2 in Athens. Lying hidden at the heart of this seemingly abandoned plot is the most representative example of Athenian Belle Époque open-air theater architecture.

29.07- 31.07 | 20:00-01:00

“Opus Just for One Person - Part One” by Ioko Ioannis Kotidis | Art installation

This is not yet another quarantine diary. 120 ENTER is a series of new, original works, commissioned by the Onassis Stegi and Onassis USA, created in a different ‘here and now’. The aim of these works was to surpass that condition, but also to create a digital time capsule which would preserve the memory of the pandemic era for future generations. Twelve artworks, created at home within 120 hours, press ENTER and land from apartments, yards, rooftops, and balconies – from all around the globe – at Saristra Festival 2022, a proof that art is open and cancels out any kind of distance.

29.07| 00:15 // 30.07 | 23:30 // 31.07 | 01:00

“120 ENTER” project screenings

Onassis AiR, the international artistic residencies program of the Onassis Foundation, contributes with some members of its community to the Saristra Festival 2022, which takes place at Kefalonia, between July 29-31. As part of the festival’s 2022 edition, the Onassis AiR members Anastasia Diavasti & Róisín Trelfa, Manolis Manousakis, Marina Miliou-Theocharaki, Laure Jaffuel, Aris Papadopoulos, and Kostas Tsioukas will co-curate and present, over the course of three days, a series of performances and participatory workshops that take as a starting point the notions of hospitality, intimacy, the body and the landscape.

The scenography of the space hosting the performances and the public is designed as a soft landscape that becomes integrated into the natural environment while accommodating the audience to listen to sound pieces, participate in workshops, watch films, and chill out. The space design lies at the intersection of domestic and collective space, creating public intimacy within the specific context of the abandoned village of Old Vlachata.

Featuring: Anastasia Diavasti & Róisín Trelfa, Manolis Manousakis, Marina Miliou-Theocharaki, Laure Jaffuel, Aris Papadopoulos, and Kostas Tsioukas.

29.07 | 20:30-22:00 // 30.07 - 31.07 | 20:00 - 22:00

“Memory Scapes” by Manolis Manousakis & Aris Papadopoulos | A performative soundwalk

29.07 - 31.07 | 20:30-01:30

“Moved by Mountains” by Marina Miliou-Theocharaki | Sound installation

29.07 - 31.07 | 21:30-22:30

“Bits & Pieces” by Anastasia Diavasti, Róisín Trelfa & Marina Miliou-Theocharaki | A creative writing and life drawing workshop

29.07 - 31.07 | 23:00-00:00

“Night has fallen without moon” by Kostas Tsioukas | Participatory dance performance

31.07 | 00:00-02:00