Rethinking Ritual in Contemporary Balkans
Goethe-Institut proposes an alternative viewing of the group exhibition
Then and Again. Rethinking Ritual in Contemporary Balkans, and invites the audience to visit a new video installation hosted at its premises in Athens from June 10 until June 22, 2024. Curated by Dimitris Tsoumplekas and Yorgos Prinos, and produced by Georges Salameh, this audiovisual work attempts, in accordance to the exhibition presented in ΜΙΕΤ in Thessaloniki, to examine contemporary rituals in Southeastern European societies. It includes works by nine artists from different countries shed light through photographic works, among others, on the role and significance of these repeated practices.
Social cohesion or exclusion? Rituals constitute a substantial part of human communication and reveal much about the values, perceptions around roles, and the notion of co-existence within a society. At the same time, they may entail a regulatory or supportive function or can be founded on forms of power that produce oppression and exclusion. Either way, rituals always refer to a certain plexus of relationships.
However, what significance do these repeated practices, usually originating in traditions, hold within contemporary society? Can rituals assist an increasingly fragmented society gain orientation and a spirit of unity? And which individual or collective forms of expression can be considered rituals?
With the project
Then and Again. Rethinking Ritual in Contemporary Balkans, Goethe-Institut explores these queries regarding the Southeastern European region. Nine artists from different countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey) illuminate the role and significance of rituals.
Artists Participating in the Project
Martin Atanasov, Ali Cem Doğan (Darağaç Collective), Armin Graca, Teodora Ivkov, Marietta Mavrokordatou, Luka Pešun, Marius Ionut Scarlat, Inmates of Chios Penitentiary and Stratis Vogiatzis, Gerta Xhaferaj
Video Curation
Yorgos Prinos, Dimitris Tsoumplekas
Video Production
Georges Salameh
Georges Salameh is a Greek-Lebanese, lens-based artist, and filmmaker. Born in Beirut, he studied cinema in Paris at the University Paris VIII St. Denis. He has lived in Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece, France, Egypt and Sicily. Since 1998 he has been exhibiting photographic and video installations, directing documentaries, animation, experimental and essay films. He has participated in Greek and international exhibitions and festivals. His works belong to public and private collections.
A project by Goethe-Institut in collaboration with
ΜΙΕΤ–Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece, supported by
MOMus–Thessaloniki Museum of Photography.
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