Through the Roadblocks – Athens
People need to “belong” to groups with shared common roots with defined cultural parameters and also a collective consciousness based equally on historical facts and future objectives. This has always been fundamental for survival. The development of our abilities and expansion of our capabilities are better accommodated within the context of a protected, familiar environment. This culturally, socially and politically constructed identity is configured into a national identity through the prism of common language, religion and also through social dynamics.
In a social reality where information – and consequently opinion – moves faster than light and populations shift through necessity, thus changing the demographics, the issue of national identity as defined by geographical boundaries, has been a topic for numerous discussions. At a time where the reality of globalisation has galvanised an outrage of cultural “exorcism”; Mediterranean nations offer an interesting example where one can see that close proximity and cultural exchange has supposedly strengthened the special characteristics of different national identities with the goal of ensuring their longevity.
However the notion of “purity” of national identity becomes a dangerous quest towards the accomplishment of predetermined objectives, Past experience has demonstrated that this obsession does not serve a unifying purpose but instead, the opposite. Denying the beneficial outcomes of shared interaction and exchange based on synthesis and diversity is catastrophic. Since we define ourselves through similarities and differences with others; it is quite apparent that insisting on this notion of “purity” signifies a deterioration of perception and shared commonality.
Cultural creativity has the potential to create bridges over diversity by organising, discussing and determining similarities and differences through the development of a shared interdisciplinary visual language, thus going beyond the borders of place, language, race and space. Therefore, the need for the presentation of artworks which promote dialogue and common spaces is effortlessly understandable.
Vasilis Asimakopoulos, Alexis Avlamis, Antonis Volanakis, Yiannis Grigoriadis, Georgia Kotretsos, Eva Marathaki, Athena Nicolaou, George Papadatos, Nikos Papadimitriou, Artemis Potamianou
Curator: Artemis Potamianou
Curators: Sofia Touboura, Maria Lianou, Nana Sachini