VISUAL ARTS
When we first accepted the invitation to curate the XV Biennale de la Mediterranée, it was immediately clear that the project would present an unusual host of possibilities, freedoms and limitations. The artists and their works were selected by local organizations in each of the participating countries through an open call. And the conceptual framework for the biennial: Symbiosis?, was determined by a group of local curators, architects, professors, artists and museum directors, following a roundtable that occurred in Thessaloniki months prior to the arrival of the material. This particular set of conditions meant that our work would primarily be aimed at developing display strategies that would accommodate and support these pre-existing parameters within the context of a large-scale exhibition.
As we set ourselves to the task, it soon emerged that although broad in its implications and laden with ethical conundrums, the idea of “symbiosis” –or “living together” as the Greek word suggests– perhaps best synthesizes the biennale’s structure. Indeed, the latter’s particular mode of operation is bound up in a process that gathers a heteroclite collection of artworks and practices, quite at odds with more conventionally curated shows that assemble along a given line. If the biennial allows these artworks and practices to coexist in a single exhibition, it is unable to make them reflect a unified vision, always suggesting a plurality of conflicting voices and approaches that stem from often-incommensurate concerns and contextual realities.
With this in mind, rather than try to isolate the works of the participating artists according to nationality, our first instinct was to embrace the biennale’s eclectic nature by assembling nearly all of the works together in a display that would emphasize the formal, symbolic and conceptual affinities and disparities that exist between them. The unconventional spaces that were fortuitously chosen to host the biennale provided the ideal context to develop such an installation. These weathered and rarely visited warehouses at the heart of Thessaloniki’s commercial port presented us with enormous open spaces that naturally suggest public gathering, albeit indoor.
Against all pre-conceived expectations, we avoided any attempts at transforming and dividing up these warehouses into a series of proper white cube galleries. We chose instead to play on the sublime lure of the large weathered open spaces –at the risk of potential chaos– over the urge to compartmentalize, even out and isolate. Thus, we developed an open-plan installation using individually tailored supports to allow much of the works to become freestanding, or more accurately free-floating, in space.
The desired effect is one of clusters of works coming into contact more or less willingly, like individuals wandering through a large open space and being drawn together in the absence of physical dividers by unexpected attractions and tensions. Or to borrow a metaphor inspired by symbiosis’ biological connotations: using an open structure to compel relationships through proximity that might perhaps inspire mutual growth, co-evolution, metabolism, the genesis of hybrid ideas, deep connections that inspire awe, and the creation of new forms as with symbiogenesis. In this way, we have tried to rely on the particular architectural features of the space and the temporary nature of the event to suggest the question at the heart of the biennale: symbiosis?
Stephanie Bertrand
Efi Halivopoulou
Christos Savvidis
When we first accepted the invitation to curate the XV Biennale de la Mediterranée, it was immediately clear that the project would present an unusual host of possibilities, freedoms and limitations. The artists and their works were selected by local organizations in each of the participating countries through an open call. And the conceptual framework for the biennial: Symbiosis?, was determined by a group of local curators, architects, professors, artists and museum directors, following a roundtable that occurred in Thessaloniki months prior to the arrival of the material. This particular set of conditions meant that our work would primarily be aimed at developing display strategies that would accommodate and support these pre-existing parameters within the context of a large-scale exhibition.
As we set ourselves to the task, it soon emerged that although broad in its implications and laden with ethical conundrums, the idea of “symbiosis” –or “living together” as the Greek word suggests– perhaps best synthesizes the biennale’s structure. Indeed, the latter’s particular mode of operation is bound up in a process that gathers a heteroclite collection of artworks and practices, quite at odds with more conventionally curated shows that assemble along a given line. If the biennial allows these artworks and practices to coexist in a single exhibition, it is unable to make them reflect a unified vision, always suggesting a plurality of conflicting voices and approaches that stem from often-incommensurate concerns and contextual realities.
With this in mind, rather than try to isolate the works of the participating artists according to nationality, our first instinct was to embrace the biennale’s eclectic nature by assembling nearly all of the works together in a display that would emphasize the formal, symbolic and conceptual affinities and disparities that exist between them. The unconventional spaces that were fortuitously chosen to host the biennale provided the ideal context to develop such an installation. These weathered and rarely visited warehouses at the heart of Thessaloniki’s commercial port presented us with enormous open spaces that naturally suggest public gathering, albeit indoor.
Against all pre-conceived expectations, we avoided any attempts at transforming and dividing up these warehouses into a series of proper white cube galleries. We chose instead to play on the sublime lure of the large weathered open spaces –at the risk of potential chaos– over the urge to compartmentalize, even out and isolate. Thus, we developed an open-plan installation using individually tailored supports to allow much of the works to become freestanding, or more accurately free-floating, in space.
The desired effect is one of clusters of works coming into contact more or less willingly, like individuals wandering through a large open space and being drawn together in the absence of physical dividers by unexpected attractions and tensions. Or to borrow a metaphor inspired by symbiosis’ biological connotations: using an open structure to compel relationships through proximity that might perhaps inspire mutual growth, co-evolution, metabolism, the genesis of hybrid ideas, deep connections that inspire awe, and the creation of new forms as with symbiogenesis. In this way, we have tried to rely on the particular architectural features of the space and the temporary nature of the event to suggest the question at the heart of the biennale: symbiosis?
Stephanie Bertrand
Efi Halivopoulou
Christos Savvidis
PARTICIPANTS
Ahmed Abulnasr (EG), Madonna Adib (SY), Laila Ait Bouchtba (MA), Mohamed Alaa (EG), Muhammad Ali (SY), Jocelyn Allen (UK), Muayad A. F. Amleh (PS), Arbit City Group (GR), Belma Arnautović (BA), Artereazione (IT), Younes Baba-Ali (FR), Amna Badawy (EG), Salma Badawy (EG), Alpin Arda Bağcik (TR), Alma Bakiaj (GR), Ami Elisabeth Barnes (UK), Vincent Betbeze (FR), Giulia Bonora (IT), Christoph Brehme (IT), BRISCIU! (IT), Karmil Cardone (IT), André Catarino (PT), Spyros Charalampopoulos (GR), Constantinos Chondros (GR), Tomasso Cocchi (IT), Diego Corbalan Hernandez (ES), Rita Correddu (IT), Fabrizio Cotognini (IT), Gemma Rebecca Coyle (UK), Ctrlfreaks (GR), Qendrese Deda (KO), Sinem Değer (TR), Ioannis Delagrammatikas (GR), Jeremie Delhome (FR), Marko Dješka (HR), Sebastian Durante (FR), Eleni Economou (CY), Alexandros Efstathiadis (GR), Samar El Barawy (EG), Amine El Gotaibi (MA), Naim El Hajj (LB), Ala Abd El Hamid (EG), Didem Erk (TR), Rami Farah (SY), Simohammed Fettaka (MA), Gianluca Floris (IT), Dimitris Fragakis (GR), Tonći Gaćina (HR), Mito Gegič (SI), Gonzalogonzilla (ES), Tijana Gordic & Adin Rastoder (CS), Christina Gousia (GR), Antonio Guerra (ES), Sophie Guerrive (FR), Eman Hamdy (EG), Marc Michel Antoune Henine (EG), Sarah Mei Herman (UK), I+G Stop Motion (ES), Mathias Isouard (FR), Dušica Ivetić (CS), JRM (FR), Yanna Kali (GR), Kled Kapexhiu (AL), Janine Khawand (LB), Alex Koschier & Belen Rodriguez (AT), Jelena Koštica (CS), Iva Kovač (HR), Elvis Krstulović (HR), Dimitrios Lamprou (GR), Philipp Leissing (AT), Giovanni Vincenzi Lens (SM), Victoria Leonidou (CY), Pablo Lopez Garcia del Moral (ES), Sandra Lorenzi (FR), MaMan (IT), Lina Mantikou (GR), Isabella Mara (IT), Marko Markovic & Marko Markovic (HR),
Andreina Marquez (ES), Audrey Martin (FR), Me and the Machine (UK), Laura Mergoni (IT), Hady Moustafa (EG), Nacho Ballesteros "twinsFactory" (ES), Vicente Navarro (ES), Abderrahim Nidalha (MA), Maria Niki Niraki (GR), NYSU (ES),
o-Ceti (IT), Jose Oliveira (PT), Katherina Olschbaur (AT), Nikolaos Pachis (GR), Paola Palavidi & Ioannis Koliopoulos (GR), Renata Papišta (BA), Andreas Pashias (GR), Marijana Pazin-Ivesic (BA), Sophie Pellegrino (FR), Cristina Peralta Martin (ES), Birgit Petri (AT), Konstantinos Pettas (GR), Michele Pierpaoli (IT), Alja Piry (SI), Periklis Pravitas (GR), Sejma Prodanovic (CS), Ilija Prokopiev (FYROM), Mirjana Radovanovic (CS), Said Rais (MA), Bita Razavi & Jaako Juhani Karhunen (FI), Realtympanica (UK), Linus Riepler (AT), Antonino Rizzo (IT), Martin Romeo (IT), Dina Rončević (HR), Giannis Rouvas (GR), Carmen Rubio Ortells (ES), Paco Ruiz (ES), Olivia Sanchez Arnau (ES), Calvin Sangster (UK),
Abdeljalil Saouli (MA), Moussa Sarr (FR), Despina Schina (GR), Sergio M. Moreno Dominguez (ES), Chiara Sgaramella (IT),
Aldo Soligno (IT), Samuel Spreckley (UK), Simha Talalaevsky (IL), Darren Tanti (MT), Stratis Tavlaridis (GR), Txema Ballesteros "twinsFactory" (ES), Umaiah (PS), Hande Varsat (TR), Mihailo Vasiljevic (CS), Ana Teresa Vicente (PT), Nicol Vizioli (IT), Maja Vodanović (HR), Borko Vukosav (HR), Wafaa Yehia (EG), Antonios Yiannopoulos (GR), Angie Yousry (EG), Mohamed Ziada (EG), Michael Zupraner (IL)
Ahmed Abulnasr (EG), Madonna Adib (SY), Laila Ait Bouchtba (MA), Mohamed Alaa (EG), Muhammad Ali (SY), Jocelyn Allen (UK), Muayad A. F. Amleh (PS), Arbit City Group (GR), Belma Arnautović (BA), Artereazione (IT), Younes Baba-Ali (FR), Amna Badawy (EG), Salma Badawy (EG), Alpin Arda Bağcik (TR), Alma Bakiaj (GR), Ami Elisabeth Barnes (UK), Vincent Betbeze (FR), Giulia Bonora (IT), Christoph Brehme (IT), BRISCIU! (IT), Karmil Cardone (IT), André Catarino (PT), Spyros Charalampopoulos (GR), Constantinos Chondros (GR), Tomasso Cocchi (IT), Diego Corbalan Hernandez (ES), Rita Correddu (IT), Fabrizio Cotognini (IT), Gemma Rebecca Coyle (UK), Ctrlfreaks (GR), Qendrese Deda (KO), Sinem Değer (TR), Ioannis Delagrammatikas (GR), Jeremie Delhome (FR), Marko Dješka (HR), Sebastian Durante (FR), Eleni Economou (CY), Alexandros Efstathiadis (GR), Samar El Barawy (EG), Amine El Gotaibi (MA), Naim El Hajj (LB), Ala Abd El Hamid (EG), Didem Erk (TR), Rami Farah (SY), Simohammed Fettaka (MA), Gianluca Floris (IT), Dimitris Fragakis (GR), Tonći Gaćina (HR), Mito Gegič (SI), Gonzalogonzilla (ES), Tijana Gordic & Adin Rastoder (CS), Christina Gousia (GR), Antonio Guerra (ES), Sophie Guerrive (FR), Eman Hamdy (EG), Marc Michel Antoune Henine (EG), Sarah Mei Herman (UK), I+G Stop Motion (ES), Mathias Isouard (FR), Dušica Ivetić (CS), JRM (FR), Yanna Kali (GR), Kled Kapexhiu (AL), Janine Khawand (LB), Alex Koschier & Belen Rodriguez (AT), Jelena Koštica (CS), Iva Kovač (HR), Elvis Krstulović (HR), Dimitrios Lamprou (GR), Philipp Leissing (AT), Giovanni Vincenzi Lens (SM), Victoria Leonidou (CY), Pablo Lopez Garcia del Moral (ES), Sandra Lorenzi (FR), MaMan (IT), Lina Mantikou (GR), Isabella Mara (IT), Marko Markovic & Marko Markovic (HR),
Andreina Marquez (ES), Audrey Martin (FR), Me and the Machine (UK), Laura Mergoni (IT), Hady Moustafa (EG), Nacho Ballesteros "twinsFactory" (ES), Vicente Navarro (ES), Abderrahim Nidalha (MA), Maria Niki Niraki (GR), NYSU (ES),
o-Ceti (IT), Jose Oliveira (PT), Katherina Olschbaur (AT), Nikolaos Pachis (GR), Paola Palavidi & Ioannis Koliopoulos (GR), Renata Papišta (BA), Andreas Pashias (GR), Marijana Pazin-Ivesic (BA), Sophie Pellegrino (FR), Cristina Peralta Martin (ES), Birgit Petri (AT), Konstantinos Pettas (GR), Michele Pierpaoli (IT), Alja Piry (SI), Periklis Pravitas (GR), Sejma Prodanovic (CS), Ilija Prokopiev (FYROM), Mirjana Radovanovic (CS), Said Rais (MA), Bita Razavi & Jaako Juhani Karhunen (FI), Realtympanica (UK), Linus Riepler (AT), Antonino Rizzo (IT), Martin Romeo (IT), Dina Rončević (HR), Giannis Rouvas (GR), Carmen Rubio Ortells (ES), Paco Ruiz (ES), Olivia Sanchez Arnau (ES), Calvin Sangster (UK),
Abdeljalil Saouli (MA), Moussa Sarr (FR), Despina Schina (GR), Sergio M. Moreno Dominguez (ES), Chiara Sgaramella (IT),
Aldo Soligno (IT), Samuel Spreckley (UK), Simha Talalaevsky (IL), Darren Tanti (MT), Stratis Tavlaridis (GR), Txema Ballesteros "twinsFactory" (ES), Umaiah (PS), Hande Varsat (TR), Mihailo Vasiljevic (CS), Ana Teresa Vicente (PT), Nicol Vizioli (IT), Maja Vodanović (HR), Borko Vukosav (HR), Wafaa Yehia (EG), Antonios Yiannopoulos (GR), Angie Yousry (EG), Mohamed Ziada (EG), Michael Zupraner (IL)
APPLIED ARTS
Warehouse 7;
a building,
an old one,
scheduled being;
a warehouse,
for stock materials
was used
for the port
once upon a time.
The wooden roof,
elegantly crafted
captures the gaze
which doesn’t stop
on the wall
that is flaking off…
The idea,
-sudden flash-,
needs company,
silent even…
mannequins
-dual sense-
introduce
the new
to the old,
to everyone of us…
The ideas of the young
who philosophize,
who provoke,
who subvert,
who mock,
who ridicule themselves,
who plan, however,
who propose;
fashion,
design,
architecture;
roads-bridges
of communi-cation;
strings
of re-connection;
humanitarian relations…
this is
the World of the Young
who live together!
in art…
Maria Triantaphyllidou
Warehouse 7;
a building,
an old one,
scheduled being;
a warehouse,
for stock materials
was used
for the port
once upon a time.
The wooden roof,
elegantly crafted
captures the gaze
which doesn’t stop
on the wall
that is flaking off…
The idea,
-sudden flash-,
needs company,
silent even…
mannequins
-dual sense-
introduce
the new
to the old,
to everyone of us…
The ideas of the young
who philosophize,
who provoke,
who subvert,
who mock,
who ridicule themselves,
who plan, however,
who propose;
fashion,
design,
architecture;
roads-bridges
of communi-cation;
strings
of re-connection;
humanitarian relations…
this is
the World of the Young
who live together!
in art…
Maria Triantaphyllidou
PARTICIPANTS
2Objectrepair (GR), Georgina Antrei (GR), Biguorno (FR), Foteini Chandra (GR), Alexandros Charidis (GR), CTRLZAK (IT),
Deeja (EG), Christoforos Dimitriou, Lia Moris & Stella Marie Tselepi (GR), Evangelia Goula & Konstantia Koulidou (GR),
Bashar Hassuneh (PS), Industrial Design Lab (GR), Aimilia Karapostoli (GR), Constantinos Kelpis (GR), Tjaša Kermavnar (SI), Paraskevi Kokolaki (GR), Angeliki Kotroni (GR), Sofoklis Kotsopoulos (GR), Aly Mohamed Ahmed & Mohamed El-Sheik (EG), Fani Mouka (GR), Kadër Muzaqi (KO), Dionysia Mylonaki (GR), Panagiotis Ntalianis (GR), Vasileios Ntovros (GR), Okhotsk-Gore (ES), Nikolaos Petridis (CY), Mrs. Pineapple (ES), Victor Manuel Sanchez Valero (ES), Rebecca Louise Wilson (UK)
2Objectrepair (GR), Georgina Antrei (GR), Biguorno (FR), Foteini Chandra (GR), Alexandros Charidis (GR), CTRLZAK (IT),
Deeja (EG), Christoforos Dimitriou, Lia Moris & Stella Marie Tselepi (GR), Evangelia Goula & Konstantia Koulidou (GR),
Bashar Hassuneh (PS), Industrial Design Lab (GR), Aimilia Karapostoli (GR), Constantinos Kelpis (GR), Tjaša Kermavnar (SI), Paraskevi Kokolaki (GR), Angeliki Kotroni (GR), Sofoklis Kotsopoulos (GR), Aly Mohamed Ahmed & Mohamed El-Sheik (EG), Fani Mouka (GR), Kadër Muzaqi (KO), Dionysia Mylonaki (GR), Panagiotis Ntalianis (GR), Vasileios Ntovros (GR), Okhotsk-Gore (ES), Nikolaos Petridis (CY), Mrs. Pineapple (ES), Victor Manuel Sanchez Valero (ES), Rebecca Louise Wilson (UK)
GASTRONOMY
The world of gastronomy is magical and enchanting. As magical as the world of music, poetry, the arts. As enchanting as the experience of meeting and getting to know new people.
Acknowledging the fact that a set table may function as a lesson in economy, geography, aesthetics, history, as well as tradition, gastronomy is included in the Biennale’s field of activities.
And what a wonderful opportunity this is! Gastronomy, as a creative expression of the young, in a great feast of young people that is going to be realized in Thessaloniki with “symbiosis?” as its main theme. In the city that for two and a half millenia has been a landmark for people and cultures and that was inhabited by foreigners of different nationalities, religions, habits, manners and customs. Their cohabitation (symbiosis?) ended up in the adoption of new ideas in their everyday lives.
The famous nation-wide gastronomy of Thessaloniki serves as an excellent example. A cultural creation, beyond doubt, mirroring the beliefs concerning life and enjoyment, human relations and communication. Thessaloniki’s restaurants, tavernas and ouzeri combine the local cooking tradition with the refugees’ inventiveness, the exoticism of the East with the manners of the West.
In the context of the XV Biennale de la Mediterranée, nine young people have taken a “futuristic” look at the national dishes of their countries (Lebanon, Italy, Spain, Palestine, Kosovo, Republic of San Marino). Cooking workshops, demos and open discussions will give Gastronomy – Symbiosis? itsform.
And most importantly! Gastronomy - Symbiosis? is opening the Thessaloniki Food Festival. A new insitution of the city, which is determined to win its place on the contemporary universal culinary map.
Thessaloniki Food Festival
Saturday November 5th – Sunday December 4th, 2011
A month of exhibitions, tastings, workshops, dinners, gastro-visual interventions and various events all around the city. Thessaloniki creates a new, tasty institution!
Maria Netsika
PARTICIPANTS
Tarek Al Kawas (LB), Giacomo Amicucci (SM), Elias Bassous (PS), Issa Salman (PS), Capa Y Quilis Asociats (ES), Fork & Knife Catering Co (SY), Alessia Galletta (IT), Lorena (ES), Nurhan Quehaja Nimani (KO)
The world of gastronomy is magical and enchanting. As magical as the world of music, poetry, the arts. As enchanting as the experience of meeting and getting to know new people.
Acknowledging the fact that a set table may function as a lesson in economy, geography, aesthetics, history, as well as tradition, gastronomy is included in the Biennale’s field of activities.
And what a wonderful opportunity this is! Gastronomy, as a creative expression of the young, in a great feast of young people that is going to be realized in Thessaloniki with “symbiosis?” as its main theme. In the city that for two and a half millenia has been a landmark for people and cultures and that was inhabited by foreigners of different nationalities, religions, habits, manners and customs. Their cohabitation (symbiosis?) ended up in the adoption of new ideas in their everyday lives.
The famous nation-wide gastronomy of Thessaloniki serves as an excellent example. A cultural creation, beyond doubt, mirroring the beliefs concerning life and enjoyment, human relations and communication. Thessaloniki’s restaurants, tavernas and ouzeri combine the local cooking tradition with the refugees’ inventiveness, the exoticism of the East with the manners of the West.
In the context of the XV Biennale de la Mediterranée, nine young people have taken a “futuristic” look at the national dishes of their countries (Lebanon, Italy, Spain, Palestine, Kosovo, Republic of San Marino). Cooking workshops, demos and open discussions will give Gastronomy – Symbiosis? itsform.
And most importantly! Gastronomy - Symbiosis? is opening the Thessaloniki Food Festival. A new insitution of the city, which is determined to win its place on the contemporary universal culinary map.
Thessaloniki Food Festival
Saturday November 5th – Sunday December 4th, 2011
A month of exhibitions, tastings, workshops, dinners, gastro-visual interventions and various events all around the city. Thessaloniki creates a new, tasty institution!
Maria Netsika
PARTICIPANTS
Tarek Al Kawas (LB), Giacomo Amicucci (SM), Elias Bassous (PS), Issa Salman (PS), Capa Y Quilis Asociats (ES), Fork & Knife Catering Co (SY), Alessia Galletta (IT), Lorena (ES), Nurhan Quehaja Nimani (KO)
