Robomantics
The expanding role of technology and artificial intelligence in human relationships, at the heart of Robomantics.
“ROBOMANTICS” is the inaugural exhibition of this year’s Back to Athens 2026 | Popup-Preview, opening on Wednesday, 21 October.
Since 2012, Back to Athens has invited us to return to our city and rediscover Athens through a different perspective, exploring its everyday life, buildings, routes, history, and culture through the works and interventions of participating artists. This year’s edition, entitled Back to Athens 2026 | Popup-Preview, takes place in CHEAPART’s historic building in Exarchia Square, where two former bars are transformed into the backdrop for an unexpected, three-part artistic production. The program unfolds in three phases: opening on October 21 with the exhibition “ROBOMANTICS,” continuing on October 27 with “Heretics / Ketzer / Αιρετικοί,” and concluding with “austrogenous zones” on November 9. Within these dark spaces, unfolds a dramatic journey through image and sound, a simulation of emotions and struggles between a living past and a present that seems to have worn away prematurely. Thirty-five international artists and curators come together in the heart of Athens, at CHEAPART, a venue that has served continuously since 1995 as a meeting point for artists and cultural practitioners, a breeding ground for new ideas and pioneering artistic perspectives, and living proof that culture remains a timeless means of escape in an age of futile passions, confrontations, and barbarity.
Robomantics is brings together video works, installations and performances, examining how media technologies are changing our perception and our relationship to reality. Alongside the exhibition itself, artist talks and performances by the participants form the thematic framework. Virtual assistants, hybrid interaction, so-called artificial intelligence, robots and androids are becoming an ever larger part of human society and our everyday lives. Machines that think independently, or even feel, can already be glimpsed on the horizon. For some years now, technical systems and algorithms have been helping to mediate romance and sexuality. On online dating platforms, an algorithm seemingly helps us find the ideal partner, yet if it truly succeeded, users would leave the platform and it would lose its customers. Under capitalism, then, the goal of technological development is not primarily general prosperity or better living conditions for everyone. Large corporations collect data about human society on an unprecedented scale, but use it mainly to make more money. This also suggests a bleak outlook for the technologies that will become available to humanity in the coming years. Robomantics explores the emotional and physical side of this development.
Sof Fachouridou, Jasmin Hagendorfer, Athina Kanela, Lars* Kollros, Sara Mlakar, Lena Reutenauer, Isabelle Wallner, José Maria De La Garza Flores and Eva-Maria Lainer, Johannes Rips
Performances:
Friday 22/10 | “Tongueness”, Sara Mlakar
Saturday 23/10| “Neo-Kintsugi”, Athina Kanela
Curated by: Lars* Kollros
Organised by: Kunst im Keller
Supported by the Federal Ministry, Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport, Republic of Austria.
Back to Athens 2026 | Popup-Preview is organized by APART Art Research and Applications, coordinated by CHEAPART, supported by the Austrian Embassy Athens.
25 A. Metaxa & Themistokleous 68, 106 81 Athens
Duration: 21–25 October 2026
Opening hours: Daily, 17:00–21:00
