Athens
HubKypseli Hub

Phase 1

We proposed to start a project interrogating what is the identity and the challenge posed to independent culture, locally and internationally, through podcasts and roundtables. Faced with increasing government control over mass media and decreasing funding, in Greece as elsewhere the independent arts sector is shrinking and has less and less opportunities to be heard and make its mark. Such lack of visibility in turn results in artists being considered non-essential to society as the recent, inadequate Covid-related policies demonstrated. Our project aimed to overturn the situation and create a platform of expression for independent artists and organisations that could later be expanded to include more hubs, more cities and parallel events in their spaces. The content of podcasts was curated by a different organisation each time based on our areas of expertise (books, performing arts, visual arts) and involved independent artists/organisations, journalists, activists etc. With the initial VAHA grant, we organised a community workshop on creating podcasts and roundtable sessions with journalists and artists to identify the needs of the sector; and we created seven pilot podcasts to determine the long term format of the project, our target audiences and how best to reach them.

Phase 2

Concrete Contract

in collaboration with Diyarbakır I and Tirana hubs

Connecting three different cities, Diyarbakır, Athens and Tirana, the project “Concrete Contract” uses fiction as a tool to explore contexts, map new territories, and produces content through collaborations, exchanges and productions. This fiction fits and travels into the interstices of a concrete megalopolis spreading over Turkey and the Balkans. Concrete Contract faced local realities, different audiences and environments, but it also exposed what we believe to have in common: a territory linked by geography and history, intertwined practices, yearnings for a different future and the absolute necessity to meet and produce together.

The project expanded over eight different activities that punctuate and structure the fiction. There were activity phases of discussions, data-mining and brainstorming and activities of wide openings, collaborations and production. Storytelling, virtual and physical encounters, participation of artists, travels, workshops, diary of the journey, exhibitions, local events, interactions and publications are amongst the tools that were used for this purpose. The desired goal was to make this fiction tangible and craft a topography for all to see and explore.