Editor’s Note:
Due to the countrywide coronavirus lockdown, all in person cultural and recreational events have been canceled or postponed. But in their stead a slew of online events are being organized by Greek institutions right now – below are some of the most interesting. Regular updates of exhibitions, concerts, and events taking place in Athens will fill this article again once the measures are lifted.
HAMLET
Onassis Stegi / Youtube.com, from June 3
Greek director Yannis Houvardas’ production of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, performed at the Onassis Stegi in 2015, will be uploaded on the Onassis Foundation’s website and their YouTube channel. The performance has been critically acclaimed throughout the country and was successful when it came out that its representations were extended. The performance includes actors such as Christos Loulis and Amalia Moutousi, in a new translation by Dionysis Kapsalis. The play will be available with Greek and English subtitles.
See more information and reviews here.
MUSIC OF THE DAY FROM EUROPE’S CONCERT HALLS
Facebook, to June 8
Athens Concert Hall Megaron takes part in the European Concert Hall Organization’s initiative and streams live performances from some of the biggest Concert Halls around Europe on their Facebook page every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
Concerts begin at 21.00.
Traces of Antigone by Elli Papakonstantinou & ODC Ensemble from Elli Papakonstantinou/ODC on Vimeo.
ANTIGONE TEST
“Zoom” platform, to June 10
Greek director Elli Papakonstantinou presents “Antigone Test”, a performance specifically conceived for the Zoom videoconference platform and based on the play “Traces of Antigone” by Christina Ouzounidis. Through the performance, Papakonstantinou explores the new genres of “digital theatre” and “theatre of confinement”. The play will be performed by an international cast in English, Greek and Swedish and will be accompanied by English supertitles. “Antigone Test” is described as an “immersive digital experience inviting the audience to search for Antigone in the liquid rooms of the mind.” Sales for each show end an hour prior to start. To find more about the project, click here. To book your online place and get the link to the Zoom conference, click here.
Tickets are expected to quickly sell out!
INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY 2020
Online, International Council of Museums (ICOM), June 15
The International Council of Museums has decided to celebrate this year’s International Museum Day (IMD) online. The theme for this year’s digital edition is “Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion”. It aims at celebrating differences throughout museum communities and providing tools for “identifying and overcoming bias in what they display and the stories they tell.” The Benaki museum, amongst other participants, will take part in the IMD with an educational program entitled “Seeing with the senses.”
Find the agenda for Greek museums here.
Summer Nostos Festival: RetroFuture Edition
Stavros Niarchos Foundation / Snfestival.org, June 21-28
The Summer Nostos Festival, which is normally hosted annually at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, is going online this year. The organizers are promising lots of music and performances by Greek and international artists as usual, plus highlights from previous festivals, DJ sets, and, in place of the usual charitable “SNF RUN: Running into the Future” which takes place every Olympic Day (June 23), a “virtual run”, where participants will run on their own, yet connected.
More details to be posted soon here.
© A. Simopoulos
EXIT: SPRING
Nationalopera.gr / YouTube.com / Facebook, June 2, 6, 8, 28, 30
The Ministry of Culture and Sports presents “Exit: Spring”, an online festival by the Greek National Opera launched with the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The festival presents video-performances all revolving around the themes of “the anticipation of spring, the rebirth of nature and the coming of the new”. Curated by artistic director Giorgos Koumendakis, the program is made of 11 music, opera, operetta, music theatre video-performances and one dance performance made during lockdown.
The videos will be available on the Greek National Opera’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel.
CINEMA FROM YOUR HOME
Webtv.ert.gr, to June 30
In an act of solidarity in these times of crisis, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation ERT has uploaded its film archive online comprised of acclaimed Greek and International movies, as well as documentaries, informative programs, TV shows, reportages, news, photographs, audio material from their radio archive and various documents, all on open access.
Visit their web TV website to discover everything the channel has to offer.
THREE MONTHS OF CINEMA
Greek Film Archive, mubi.com, to July 31
The Greek Film Archive offers its members free access to the MUBI online film platform, which hosts 30 carefully selected movies that are curated in the following way: Everyday, the “movie of the day is uploaded” and one movie is deleted. There are always 30 movies available to watch and download.
Create your account and start watching movies here.
Virtual Races
RaceFinder.gr, every month throughout 2020
With the aim of keeping athletes active throughout the year, Race Finder has presented a program of races to take part in from afar. While lockdown in Greece means you can’t run, swim or cycle in large groups, these races can be completed alone or in pairs, with the help of a smartwatch or a mobile app. After completing the races and sending in your results, medals will be delivered to winners in five age groups by post. A new challenge, including a swim race, a running race and a bike race, is presented each month, and athletes may choose any day of the month to complete any of the distances of their choosing. Use the code “challengefree” to take part in the races for free in April.
Find more information and sign up here.
Opera Online
OPANDA / Youtube.com, from March 24
The City of Athens’ Culture, Sports & Youth Organization (OPANDA) is streaming the recordings of three operas directed by Isidoros Sideris, captured at the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre Maria Callas. The performances include Franz Lehár’s light-hearted operetta The Merry Widow, performed at the theater this winter (watch here), and Jacques Offenbach’s La Belle Hélene (watch here) and Orphée aux Enfers (watch here), recorded in the winter of 2018-19.
The performances are translated versions in Greek, but non-Greek speakers can still enjoy the music and the costumes.
Meet the Future
TIFF / Youtube.com, from March 27
As part of their online project “Festival 2.0”, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival is streaming short films by Greek directors that participated in the program Meet the Future of the 60th TIFF, that took place on November 2019, on their Youtube channel. New films are being added every few days. You can read more about the project here, and watch all of the short films that have been made public so far here.
Kireru
Onassis Stegi / Youtube.com, from April 3
The Onassis Foundation is streaming the musical dance performance “Kireru”, by the choreography duo RootlessRoot, on their Youtube channel. The performance, which features eight skilled dancers on stage, was captured in 2012, and is set to live music by John Parish.
The Bacchae
ONASSIS STEGI / Youtube.com, from April 3
The Onassis Foundation is streaming a performance of The Bacchae, by Euripides, which took place on the Onassis Stegi Main Stage in 2018. Directed by Aris Biniaris, the ancient tragedy takes the form of a rock show, placing the divine Dionysus and King Pentheus in front of the mic. The show is in Greek, and features English subtitles.
Spaces #1
TIFF / Youtube.com, from April 3
As part of their online project “Festival 2.0”, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival is streaming short films, adding new ones every few days. Premiering on April 3, “Spaces #1” consists of eight 3-minute films made by beloved Greek directors, who were instructed to shoot the works from their homes, as a response to the coronavirus. The films were inspired by the book “Species of Spaces” by Georges Perec.
Watch the films here.
Flying Jazz Quartet
Snfcc.org, from April 7
A recording from a concert by Flying Jazz Quartet which took place at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center’s Lighthouse space in 2018, is available for listening on the foundation’s website. Paying homage to jazz tradition while also infusing their performance with distinct Greek soundscapes, the quartet consists of guitarist and composer Stefanos Andreadis, trumpeter Andreas Polyzogopoulos, drummer Vassilis Podaras, and pianist George Kontrafouris, on Hammond organ.
Find the recorded concert here.
Sugahspank! & The Swing Shoes feat Irene Dimopoulou
Snfcc.org, from April 9 A recording from a concert at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in 2018, featuring the dynamic Athens based Sugahspank! & The Swing Shoes, with their particular mix of gypsy swing and traditional tunes, is available on the foundation’s website. The concert also includes a party-set with Irene Dimopoulou (vocals) and Nikos Zografos (drums).
Find the recorded concert here.
Athens Digital Arts Festival
ADAF online channels, from April 11-end of lockdown (Extended)
The International festival for digital arts in Greece, Athens Digital Arts Festival, is presenting a series of live digital art broadcasts for adults and kids, featuring live video art and animations, video documentations of performances and installations, and tributes to artists and art currents. The live broadcasts for adults will be taking place every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 19.00, and the “ADAF Kids Live” program on weekends at 11.00.
You can watch the broadcasts on ADAF’s Facebook page, on Twitch, and on their Youtube channel.
Rebetika: The Blues of Greece
Onassis Stegi / Youtube.com, from April 11
For those interested in getting a taste of Greek music, a concert by rebetika singer Lena Kitsopoulou and her band, performed at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater in New York in 2019, is being streamed by Onassis Stegi. The rebetika songs were those of the refugees from Asia Minor, who settled in the shantytowns of Athens and Piraeus in the 1920s and ‘30s, and are a beloved part of Greek musical tradition.
You can watch the concert here.
Spaces #2
TIFF / Youtube.com, from April 21
As part of their online project “Festival 2.0”, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival is streaming short films, adding new ones every few days. Following “Spaces 1”, with films by Greek directors, comes “Spaces #2”, consisting of seven short films by renowned international directors, created as a response to the coronavirus, with the support of the Ministry of Culture. The films were inspired by the book “Species of Spaces” by Georges Perec. The contributing directors are Canadian filmmaker of independent cinema, Denis Côté, multi-awarded Romanian director Radu Jude, renowned American actor and director John C. Lynch, great Chinese artist, Jia Zhangke, American-Israeli director of the Advocate, who won the Golden Alexander award in Thessaloniki, Rachel Leah Jones, as well as Tarik Aktaş, one of the strongest new voices of Turkish cinema, and Mateo Bendesky, one of the voices of new Argentinian cinema.
Watch the films here.
DANIEL MENDELSOHN IN CONVERSATION WITH DIMITRIS PAPANIKOLAOU: CYCLE “C. P. CAVAFY”
Onassis Stegi / YouTube.com, from April 24
The Onassis Foundation is streaming the recording of a conversation with scholar Daniel Mendelsohn, held on their stage in January 21, 2014 in the context of the foundation’s series of events revolving around Greek poet Constantine P. Cavafy. Mendelsohn, who has translated the entirety of Cavafy’s oeuvre in English, speaks about Cavafy himself, the relevance of his work in today’s world, and the ways in which he himself was influenced by the poet throughout his life.
Watch it here.
COHABITATION
Onassis Stegi / Youtube.com, from April 25
Onassis Stegi presents “Cohabitation”, the impressive multimedia concert performed in 2013 by K. BHTA, Kornelios Selamsis and ARTéfacts ensemble, now available on the Foundation’s website and YouTube channel. The concert includes pieces by K. BHTA, re-orchestrated by Selamsis and performed by the ensemble and K. BHTA himself; the musicians also perform works by artists such as Steve Reich, Tristan Murail, Philippe Hurel and Frank Zappa on stage.
Watch the full performance here.
ENTER
Onassis.org/enter, from April 27
Onassis Stegi in Athens and Onassis USA present ENTER, a collection of new commissioned works by artists from all over the world, including big names such as Isabella Rossellini. in order to keep culture alive in times of confinement and explore new artistic forms. The artists were given a total of 120 hours to create an artwork of their choice that was then uploaded on the Onassis Foundation’s website.
Watch the videos (which will be uploaded a few at a time) here.
Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Onassis Stegi / Sgt.gr, from May 1
In 2017, the Onassis foundation hosted a talk with famous basketballers Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo about the difficulties they encountered during their early beginning, their achievements, and the opportunities they had, and much more. A recording of the discussion will be available on the foundation’s website from May 1.
Find it here.
© Clio Muse
Clio Muse Virtual Tours
Cliomusetours.com, permanent
You may not be able to visit the archeological sites of Greece in person right now, but you can take a virtual tour of a number of them any time. Clio Muse’s new virtual tours combine Google’s satellite view and street view with their own audio content. All you need is connection to the internet, and preferably headphones.
You can read about our virtual visit to the Acropolis Hill here, and find all of the available tours here.
Acropolis Museum Virtual Visit
Artsandculture.google.com, permanent Google Arts & Culture, featuring content from over 2000 leading museums and archives worldwide, presents virtual views from the inside of the Acropolis Museum, powered by Google Street View. Navigating from a page introducing you to the museum, you can “walk” through two of the museum’s most famous galleries, the Parthenon Gallery and the Archaic Gallery, as well as read information about a number of the artefacts on display.
You can read about our experience on the site here, or begin your virtual visit here.
Greece from Home
Greecefromhome.com, permanent
The Greek Tourism Ministry, the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and Marketing Greece have launched a new platform supporting Greece and its culture, while honoring global social distancing efforts. Via the platform, you’ll find original videos created by well-known Greek personalities, as well as a curated range of videos sourced from different Youtube channels, and find links to the Discover Greece website, where you can “digitally visit” Greek destinations through their photos and guides.
Read more about the initiative here and visit the platform here.
Cycladic Society: 5,000 Years Ago
Cycladic.gr, permanent
Τhe Museum of Cycladic Art is presenting a digital representation of its 2016 30-year-anniversary exhibition “Cycladic Society: 5,000 Years Ago.” Through the museum’s website, visitors can watch photographs, videos, maps, timelines and excerpts from catalogue of the exhibition, which explored the structure of Cycladic society during the early Bronze Age.
Find it here.
160 Years Made in Greece
Technopolis / gasmuseum.gr, permanent
Technopolis is presenting a virtual tour of their 2018 exhibition “160 Years Made in Greece.” The popular exhibition, which took place on the 160-year anniversary of the old gasworks of Athens – now the Technopolis cultural space, focused on Greece’s domestic industry from 1860 to 1970, divided into eight sections (metals, chemicals, construction materials, energy, food and drink, textiles and garments, tobacco, furniture) and included 800 exhibits.
Find the tour here.
“SUSPENDED”: DIMITRIS KAMAROTOS – ANNA PANGALOU
Snfcc.org/ Youtube.com, to December 30
In the context of their #snfccAtHome music series, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center presents “Suspended”, their inaugural concert at the Energy canopy, the SNFCC’s highest point, performed by Greek composer and musician Dimitris Kamarotos and mezzo-soprano Anna Pangalou, available on the Foundation’s website and YouTube channel. The concert was inspired by Kiki Dimoula’s poem “A Lady Suspended” and is a reflection on the relationship between “Nature and Culture, Man as part of Nature and as Master of Nature, and the place that Art, and especially Music, occupies in the current urban landscape and soundscape.” The concert is performed as the night falls on the city of Athens and the Saronic Gulf in the background.
CLOSE UPS
Benaki.org, to December 30
The Benaki museum presents “Close Ups”, a series of videos showing the museum’s different items through their histories and those of people they are linked with, narrated by various specialists. The narrators of the first episodes are narrated by the museum’s academic director George Manginis, as well as the museum’s curators. Through this initiative, the Benaki Museum wishes to stay close to its public during these difficult times. Items from different eras belonging to the museum’s different collections are at the center of the serie’s first few videos.
Discover the story behind the Black glaze pyxis, a bust of Antonis Benakis and an Augsburg cabinet here.
THEO KAPILIDIS QUARTET
Snfcc.org / Youtube.com, permanent
The recording of Theo Kapilidis Quartet’s 2017 concert “Inside Views” has been uploaded on the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center’s website and SoundCloud page. The concert was performed in the context of the “Jazz Chronicles” series of concerts aiming at promoting the contemporary Greek jazz scene. Theo Kapilidis is a jazz guitarist and composer living between Greece and Switzerland whose musical universe focuses on freedom of expression, authenticity and innovation.
Did we miss something? If you know of an event that you think should be included here, drop us a line at [email protected]!
