Back to Athens 2025 | The Division of Life - a review
Back to Athens 2025 International Art Meeting presents 30 exhibitions, installations, performances and screenings featuring Greek and international artists and curators. BtA 2025 will take place from June 25 to 29 in the heart of Athens' city center at the monumental Isaiah Mansion, showcasing artists and curators, along with artworks and ideas created during the 2024-2025 season that shape the vibrant contemporary art scene.
Back to Athens 2025, "The Division of Life – A Review", explores the unique circumstances we are experiencing, where life appears to be divided into the real, the provisional, and the imaginary—the desirable. Over the past few decades, much of the art production process has grown into an increasingly complex and fragmented process, often loosing from the overall context. The loss of a broader perspective, when paired with the lack of understanding of the meaning behind artistic production leads to occasional misinterpretations, as well as an increasing distance from the work itself. Routine and the lack of a sense of achievement, reduces the artistic work to a “job” whose main goal is to maximize gain with minimal effort, often sacrificing inspiration itself. The art world is a major economic force; however, the lack of a clear strategy and structured promotion limits its growth and the reach of its benefits and positive impact on society. With over ten years of presence in the Athenian contemporary art scene, BtA continues to bridge the gap between artists, artworks, and the public. It provides a deeper understanding of art trends, ideas, individuals, and the works themselves, presented in an annual review that documents these aspects without taking a critical approach. At the same time, it serves as a vital meeting point for artists from Greece and abroad, strengthening their connections and fostering collaboration. BtA extends beyond a mere display of the artworks, emphasizing on the interaction and interplay between the work, the artists and curators, sparking the creation of new ideas.
Back to Athens is an annual review, an outlook on the recent trends and projects collected from the past year. It profiles the critical issues and current social and artistic transformations that shape our contemporary, everyday culture, functioning a vital tool for the development of dialogue and interaction between artists, the public and locals. Since 2012, Back to Athens has created a cultural mapping of Athens by re-opening and revisiting important Athenian buildings and distinctive landmarks that are defined by their own cultural and historical heritage. In this context, each year Back to Athens International Art Meeting chooses to visit locations within the Athenian heart that are characterized by a diversity of backgrounds and cultures.
BACK TO ATHENS 12, International Art Meeting 2025:
The Division of Life – a review
ARTISTIC DIRECTION
Georg Georgakopoulos
Fotini Kapiris
Christian Rupp
ORGANISED BY
APART Art Research and Applications
PRODUCTION/ COORDINATION
CHEAPART
SUPPORTING BODIES
Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Kunst, Kultur, Medien und Sport
Austrian Embassy Athens
Das Land Steiermark
Upper Austria
zoia
PARTICIPATION
Athens Intersection Cultural Program
ARTmART
www.backtoathens.com @backtoathens.bta
http://apart-network.gr @apartsocial
www.cheapart.gr @cheapartsocial
EXHIBITIONS
- I can't stand this place… Curated by: Takis Kaldis
- natura feminea, female nature. Curated by: Giorgos Kartalos
- Reflective Trace. Curated by: Julia Harrauer
- MITHRA INVICTUS. Curated by: Antigoni Kapsali
- life : 0 imagined value : 0. Curated by: Lola Pfeifer (Supported by Kunstraum_flat1)
- Theater of Temporal Contradiction. Marilena Kranioti, Ektoras Theoulakis
- Is everything wonderful? Curated by: Stella Christofi
- Austrologists or Austronomers?? Curated by: Christian Rupp
- Escape into the World of Illusion. Curated by: Georg Georgakopoulos
- Portals of Consciousness, Myrto Sakka. Coordinated by: Alexandros Stanas
- Familiar/Unfamiliar. Coordinated by: Giorgos Divaris
- Anti/Medea. Phantasmen | Liebe | Täuschungen. Curated by: Sophia Panteliadou
- Το Illusions of Rebellion: Hallucinations as Political Acts. Curated by: Filippos Tsitsopoulos
- lalangue. Curated by: Yiannis Mitrou
- Something is Building (up). Curated by: Johanna Tatzgern, Ursula Bast, Romana Weilguni / Künstlerinnenkollektiv PIKT
- DAS KONZERT. KUNSTRUKT
- [re]alities. Curated by: Johannes Rips, presented by Kunst im Keller
- Dark Mirror. Curated by: Yiannis Christakos, Sakis Guntrubis, Triantafyllos Tranos
ART-GUESTS, ARTISTS’ INSTALLATIONS
- Catch me. Werner Widmer
- Maiden Hymen I. Babis Karalis
- Great Greek landscape #2. Giorgos Tserionis
- EXT. NOC. – Nocturnal Frames. Patrick Topitschnig
- God save the heroes. Maria Vozali. Coordinated by: Giorgos Divaris
PERFORMANCE
- Saroma, Athanasia Tsopanargia
- DAS KONZERT, KUNSTRUKT
- Familiar/Unfamiliar, Ino Riga, Nafsika Riga
- Filippos Tsitsopoulos performs a short "guided tour" of the exhibition he curates, “Το Illusions of Rebellion: Hallucinations as Political Acts”
- [re]alities, Lars* Kollros
- today it suits me, Tina Jeranko
- lalangue, Maro Theodosiou, Yiannis Mitrou
TALKS
• In the context of the exhibition, [re]alities
