THEArTistatement: Artists and activists meet at Beton 7

The European Union National Institutes for Culture and Beton 7 present “THEArTistatement”, a cultural platform created within the framework of the program, “Arts for Social Development”. The British Council, the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, the Embassy of Norway, the House of Cyprus and the Swedish Institute are also participating in the program.

The themes of “Run Now”, “Case Study I: the sins of the fathers”, “Hotel”, “Notebooks of Crisis: volume II” and “Abel and Kane” all touch upon contemporary issues, such as migration, war, personal and family problems. “THEArTistatement” is a creative expression and communication platform where artists and activists from around the world introduce issues, make recommendations and work as a community expecting a change.

Run Now (Nå løper vi)

In 1986, eight year old Sara and three-year old Buzhan fled from their home in Iraqi Kurdistan. Saddan Hussein has declared Kurdistan «forbidden territory» and even wild animals are being shot. The siblings spend eight years running before getting refuge in Norway and grow up in the small town of Tønsberg. They both later train as actors. In Run Now, they tell their dramatic story with humour and musicality. Director Pia Maria Roll has established herself as one of Norway’s most influential theatre artists and has received several awards for her documentary performances. This is her first theatre production for children. Run Now is co-produced by Brageteatret and Teater Ibsen, with support from SceSam and Culture Council Norway. Pia Roll ’s visit to Greece is a result of networking between Greek and Norwegian cultural institutions supported by the Embassy. Students of the Pierce College are participating in the performance.
Performances: June 15, 16,17, 18 at 19:00.

Case Study I : The Sins of the Fathers

Case Study I:The sins of the fathers is the first part of the Ibsen Scholarship 2015 winning project “WE: the dramaturgy of the crisis”. An audio-visual tour through the dark family environment, as described in Ibsen’s Ghosts, Little Eyolf and John Gabriel Borkman and distorted by our very own past. In the mid-stops, it is US that talk about the toxicity we have been fed since our childhood: the sins of the fathers that are still visited upon their children. Charis Pechlivanidis and Korina Vasileiadou have developed a profound artistic collaboration. Together they discovered that their artistic expression cannot be categorized to a single theatre practice but derives from their desire to perceive the world through their own horizon; by making theatre to redefine qualities and concepts such as society, human relationships, theatre procedures, politics, and happiness. In 2015 – being in tune with the constant flow of stories that create the world – they created influx artist collective. They have been awarded the Ibsen Scholarship 2013 for their project Minding Ibsen : An enemy of the people meets the people. In 2015 they became the first ones ever to win the Ibsen Scholarship for a second time, with their project “WE: the dramaturgy of the crisis”; a three-fold project – consisting of the performances Case Study I:The sins of the fathers, Case Study II:Our castle in the air and WE – co-produced with the Experimental Scene of the National Theatre of Greece.
The performance will take place on June 16 at 21:00

HOTEL (www.hotelproject.org)

Panel participators: Yota Argyropoulou, Maria Varela, Michael Konstantatos.
HOTEL is an artistic fictional project. It concerns a night resort dedicated to those suffering from insomnia and sleep disorders. The guests have the opportunity to follow a specific treatment program. The HOTEL method is simple: the guests are asked to relive moments from their past, bringing to life their memories and the people in them, but also recreating various fantasies and hidden desires. This way, the guests of the HOTEL take a deep dive both into their conscious and unconscious, while the hotel staff, extracting information from the guests’ personal diaries, accurately impersonates important people in the lives of their guests by following their life “scenario” as closely as possible.
Through the life of the guest of the HOTEL, in an indirect and surreal way, we, as spectators, experience all the emotional landscape of today’s reality: the lack of sleep, the chaos of public services, the conflict between personal ethics and survival, the emotional difficulty in connecting with other people and the introversion caused by difficult social conditions to those assuming them. Blindspot_theatre group was formed in 2009 in Athens, Greece, by actress Yota Argyropoulou and director Michalis Konstantatos.
Performances: June 18 at 21:00

ABEL & CAIN

Once upon a time there were Abel and Cain.
And then?
The war started.
And after that?
I don’t know. I don’t remember. Some are already dead, some are dying and I am still alive.
When will all this senselessness be over?
Based on testimonies given by children who survived the Greek Civil War, we are attempting to put together the shattered memories with our eyes looking to the future. Is the coexistence of human beings on this earth a constant, ongoing war?
Performances: June 17 at 21:00.

Info:
Beton 7 – Arts
Pydnas 7 str, Votanikos
Tickets: 10 Euro, and 5 Euro (for students, unemployed)

SOURCE: Embassy of Norway/Beton 7
PHOTO: Embassy of Norway facebook page