Following intense restoration works, Athens’ newest cultural space will open its doors to the public on June 11.
Located in the former Public Tobacco Factory, which is also home to the Hellenic Parliament Library and Printing House, the venue will feature contemporary art showcase ‘Portals | Πύλη’.
The exhibition is curated by Madeleine Grynsztejn, director of the Pritzker Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago, and Elina Kountouri, director of NEON, a non-profit cultural organisation.
This project is the result of a collaboration between the Hellenic Parliament and NEON to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, together with his wife Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis, attended the opening of the exhibition at the former Public Tobacco Factory in Athens on Wednesday night.
‘Portals’ aspires to give rise to new messages, ideas, and reflections regarding contemporary artistic creation, through the prism of a newly-formed reality composed of change and disruption.
“Today we are socialising even more in an exciting public space”, said speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Konstantinos Tassoulas.
“Today we offer the Greek people, through art, a way out of their thirst for a new beginning. The Greek Parliament proves that it does not only represent the people, but in a way it pioneers towards its debt to this people and shows them the way, that through the spirit, through art, through the search, through reflection, the new beginning that calls us can be fruitful and creative,” he added.
The exhibition takes place in all renovated areas of the building: the atrium, corridors, halls and mezzanines, bathrooms, the former Customs Office, the surrounding area, on the roof / façade of the building and on Kolonos Hill.
The inspiration originated from an article by Arundhati Roy in the Financial Times which states that “the pandemic is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.” Considering that the rift created by the pandemic on an individual and collective level opens a portal, it is up to us to deal with our transition through it. “We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world.”
‘Portals’ represents a pluralism of ideas and touches upon issues related to collectivity, cultural understanding of history and politics, public space, and our common past, present and future.
Opening Hours:
- Monday & Tuesday: Closed
- Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: 12pm-8pm
- Thursday: 12pm-9pm
- Sunday: 11am-2pm & 5pm-9pm
Location: former Public Tobacco Factory
Hellenic Parliament Library and Printing House
(218 Lenorman St. 104 43, Athens)
Free Entrance
Please note that in accordance with public health guidelines, entry to the exhibition is only by timed ticket, booked in advance via neon.artsvp.co
