NEON and the Whitechapel Gallery are proud to present TERRAPOLIS, the second major collaboration in Athens between the two organizations following the presentation of ‘A Thousand Doors’ at the The Gennadius Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (4 May – 30 June 2014). NEON works to widen access to contemporary art and is committed to contributing to the vital cultural activity in Athens.
A garden of an archaeological institute in Athens provides the backdrop for works of art that reconnect the human with the animal. Echoing the satyrs, sphinxes and centaurs of Greek statuary, contemporary sculptures, installations and films draw on myth, drama and the animal kingdom to suggest a ‘bioethics’ for the 21st century.
This is the second in a three part series of outdoor art projects that bring significant artists from Greece and around the world into the public realm.
TERRAPOLIS, a term proposed by science philosopher Donna Haraway, combines the Latin ‘terra’ for earth, with the Greek ‘polis’ for city or citizens. This show asks should we regard animals as citizens? How do processes of nature, such as metamorphoses relate to the creation of art? How do mythic narratives resonate in contemporary society? And can we recalibrate our relationship with other species?
Figurative works in mediums ranging from bronze to ceramic by 25 mid century and contemporary artists explore myth, drama, metamorphoses and bioethics.

Eleni Kamma
Enlever et entretenir II, Installation, 2011
technique mixte, dimensions variables

TERRAPOLIS
group exhibition with Eleni Kamma
curated by Iwona Blazwick, Director Whitechapel Gallery
27/05 – 26/07/2015
Preview Tuesday 26/05/2015
École Française d’Athènes, Athens, Greece
Eleni Kamma will present newly commissioned work at the group exhibition TERRAPOLIS, a collaboration between NEON and the Whitechapel Gallery, opening on the 26th of May 2015 at the École Française d’Athènes in Athens, Greece. In her new work, Kamma revives the Renaissance wunderkammer presenting her own cabinet of curiosities of organic forms fused with the cultural world of contemporary Athens.
NEON and the Whitechapel Gallery work together to present this group exhibition, the second collaboration in Athens between the two organizations following the presentation of ‘A Thousand Doors’ at The Gennadius Library in 2014. TERRAPOLIS is curated by Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, in collaboration with NEON, a non-profit organization based in Athens that works to widen access to contemporary art. The presentation takes place at École Française d’Athènes, a public scientific and cultural institution that promotes the study of Hellenism.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a dedicated publication, educational programs, screenings of historical films in an open-air cinema within the School and guided tours. Access to the exhibition is free.
Concept
Terrapolis, a term proposed by science philosopher Donna Haraway, combines the Latin ‘terra’ for earth, with the Greek ‘polis’ for city or citizens. The show asks: should we regard animals as citizens? How do processes of nature, such as metamorphoses relate to the creation of art? How do mythic narratives resonate in contemporary society? And can we recalibrate our relationship with other species? Echoing the satyrs, sphinxes and centaurs of Greek statuary, contemporary sculptures, installations and films draw on myth, drama and the animal kingdom to suggest a ‘bioethics’ for the 21st century.
Participants
Artists include: Caroline Achaintre, Allora & Calzadilla, Francis Alÿs, Athanasios Argianas, Joseph Beuys, Huma Bhabha, Reg Butler, Lynn Chadwick, Marcus Coates, William Cobbing, Enrico David, Charlotte Dumas, Angus Fairhurst, Studio Ghibli, Tue Greenfort, Asta Gröting, Henrik Håkansson, Anthea Hamilton & Nicholas Byrne, Joan Jonas, Eleni Kamma, Markus Karstieß, Dionisis Kavallieratos, Yayoi Kusama, Oliver Laric, Richard Long, Sarah Lucas, Ruth Maclennan, Chris Marker, Marlie Mul, Katja Novitskova, Anatoly Osmolovsky, Aliki Palaska, Norbert Prangenberg, Ugo Rondinone, Kostas Sahpazis, Peter Wächtler.
New commissions are specially made by: Athanasios Argianas, Eleni Kamma, Dionisis Kavallieratos, Aliki Palaska, Kostas Sahpazis.

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Yar bana bir eğlence: Notes on Parrhesia.
Video Installation, 2015
In the front : Remake of the “screen”, the one of the two props of the Ortaoyunu tradition theater, based on images and drawings in old Turkish books.

A l’étage, dans le Pakhuis de Netwerk, une sélection de clips vidéo explore le thème de la ‘parrhesia’, si important dans les films les plus récents de Kamma. La scénographie, fragmentée et spontanée, joue sur la forme avec un pouvoir analogue à celui des paroles prononcées. C’est évident dans la formidable œuvre sonore « Note Il: Introduction », et puissant dans l’énigmatique installation « Yar bana bir eglence: Seven Notes on Parrhesia ». Aujourd’hui, à l’ère de l’information rapide, la transition de la communication orale à la communication écrite semble occuper une place mineure dans l’histoire cosmopolite. La voix de Karagoz s’est tue au XIXe siècle, quand la satire politique a été interdite. Le pouvoir social du théâtre oral a été étouffé par l’influence du théâtre occidental et par l’écriture. L’installation de Kamma offre au spectateur un espace libre dans lequel réfléchir sur le passage silencieux d’un ancien médium né de la voix du peuple, et qui a bien tenu la route, si on le compare à nos espaces publics numériques, excessivement urbanisés et excessivement contrôlés.

Yar bana bir eğlence: Notes on Parrhesia.
Video Installation, 2015
NOTES I, III, IV, VI, VII
02:08, 04:48 min, 02:46 07:39, 01:45
Written, directed and produced by ELENI KAMMA, in co-production with Jubilee and Netwerk vzw.
Cinematography BORIS VAN HOOF, ELENI KAMMA, ANDREAS HARALAMBOUS, Ilgın Deniz Akseloğlu & Ferhat Tokmak, Sound BORIS VAN HOOF, Jessica van Rüschen, Editing INNEKE VAN WAEYENBERGHE, Sound Design & Mix LASZLO UMBREIT, Script Montage TINA VAN BAREN. With the ‘voices’ of: Euripides Dikaios, Tacettin Dikker, Takis Hadjittofis, Yannis Kissonergis, Thodoris Kostidakis, Anna Maragou, Christodoulos Antoniou Pafios, Panos Panagiotopoulos, Emin Şenyer, Cengiz Ösbek.

Yar bana bir eğlence: Notes on Parrhesia.
Video Installation, 2015
NOTE II, 08:50 min.
The following extract is taken from an incident that took place in Athens in February 2014, during the opening speech of the Greek Minister of Culture for the EU presidency conference “Financing Creativity”. The conference addressed models of cultural policy in the coming decades. As artists were not invited as speakers, Mavili Collective, an Athens collective “committed to produce nomadic, autonomous collective cultural zones that appear and disappear beyond the logics of the market”[1], called for artists from different fields of practice to attend the conference.

Found on the mavili collective’s blog :
n 20th of February 2014, the Greek Minister of Culture and Sports Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos delivered the opening speech of the EU conference ‘Financing Creativity’ in Athens. This conference seeks to address models of cultural policy in the coming decades. Yet not a single artist was invited as a speaker nor was the conference promoted publicly.
Given this situation Mavili Collective called for artists from different fields of practice to attend the conference. Having been excluded from a dialogue about cultural policies the artists present publicly expressed their feelings regarding the proposed role of culture and laughed. The response of the Minister is revealing.
The Minister of Culture stated in his speech that we need to be more competitive following the economies of China and Middle East since the cost of labour in Europe today is extremely high. The words most frequently used by many of the speakers were: competitiveness, business, industry, product, consumers etc. Mrs Lina Mendoni, General Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Sports made the crucial statement that ‘Culture is economy’. A vision for the culture that is nowadays expressed openly and indicative of how the Greek State is increasingly abandoning its support of contemporary culture. Instead, as was stated clearly in the conference, the Greek State intends to fund private institutions that will then form the cultural landscape of the country. Does such a policy reflect the wider vision of the EU for culture? Some might say the conference was a fiasco, but was the fiasco the laughter or the cultural policies/narratives being proposed?

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‘Yar bana bir eglence’ est la phrase prononcée avant toute représentation dans le théâtre d’ombre turc traditionnel, le Karagoz. Le thème central de cette forme de théâtre de rue, resté très populaire depuis la fin du XVIIIe siècle, est une interaction amusante entre les deux protagonistes. Hacivat est le personnage éduqué, à l’aise en société, alors que Karagoz est le porte-parole de l’homme de la rue, déchargeant ses opinions dans la ‘parrhesia’. Cette image projetée alimente l’imagination, mais c’est la voix du narrateur qui assure le rôle dominant. Il dit tout haut ce que les gens n’osent pas dire mais souhaitent entendre. Il met sur la place publique leurs doléances à propos des injustices sociales. Il critique librement, depuis l’ombre, les politiciens locaux, et atteint un niveau de liberté d’expression presque surréel dans un régime autoritaire tel que l’était l’Empire ottoman. Pendant sa résidence à Istanbul en 2013, Kamma a été témoin des manifestations civiles du parc Taksim Gezi. Ce qui l’a frappée, c’est qu’un lien clair pouvait être fait entre la forme que prend l’espace public actuellement, et celui qui s’est formé à l’époque ottomane, dans la ‘parrhesia’, la satire politique, la participation et l’humour. Une observation très pertinente qu’elle met à l’oeuvre dans ses travaux les plus récents.

L’oeuvre « Play it, Emin. Walking along the Russian Monument at Ayastefanos », présentée comme un dytique d’images, prend la destruction du mémorial russe d’Ayastefanos le 14 novembre 1914 comme point de départ. Bien que les images documentaires de cette action symbolique nationaliste aient été perdues, l’événement lui-même marque la genèse du film turc. La destruction du monument russe annonce le début de la première guerre mondiale et la fin de l’Empire ottoman. Kamma invite le maître de Karagoz Emin Senyer à recréer cette action dans une pièce de théâtre d’ombres. Il a fondé son interprétation sur du matériel documentaire existant : trois photos et une description de l’événement par différentes sources: les mémoires personnelles du lieutenant impliqué et des journaux. Kamma a tourné dans la région de Florya, où la destruction du monument a eu lieu il y a 100 ans. Ses images se confrontent au travail d’ Emin Senyer, sur l’autre écran, et à une performance évoquant l’événement historique.

Eleni Kamma
Play it, Emin: Walking along the Russian Monument at Ayastefanos
Two channel HD video projection, 14min 19 sec, color, stereo sound, NL, 2014
Concept: Eleni Kamma
Master Craftsman & Shadow Puppeteer: Emin Şenyer
Camera operator: Boris Van Hoof
Editing: Inneke Van Waeyenberghe
Sound Design: Laszlo Umbreit
Script Montage and Editing: Tina Van Baren
Texts/ Excerpts from: Istanbul Encyclopaedia, Ayastefanos Rus Abidesi, Reşid Halid Gönç
Istanbul Encyclopaedia, Rakım Çalapala
Tarih Dünyasi, article by retired lieutenant colonel Y. Bahri Doğançay
Tanin Newspaper, Sunday, November 15, 1914
Tasfiri Efkar Newspaper, November 20th, 1914,
Sabah newspaper, Monday, December 3rd, 2012
Turkish to English Translation: Merve Unsal
Research Assistant: Gulsen D. Akbas

L’oeuvre « It takes courage and breath to speak up », une sorte de prélude à l’exposition, induit, dès le départ. une expérience de pensée. Dans cette œuvre vidéo, Kamma s’intéresse au concept grec de ‘parrhesia’, ou liberté de parole, une notion qui protège l’expression des opinions, mais en même temps, implique une obligation à s’exprimer au nom du bien commun – en dépit de la vulnérabilité que l’individu peut ressentir en conséquence. Le mouvement chorégraphique de la caméra enregistre les mouvements de trois performeurs qui occupent un espace théâtral représentant l’agora. Ils forment. à eux trois, une communauté, et à eux trois, rassemblent le courage de faire entendre leurs voix, pour finalement, se séparer, et trouver chacun un chemin propre.

Eleni Kamma
It takes courage and breath to speak up.
HD video, color, stereo sound, 16:9, NL, 2014, 5 min 59 sec
Concept: Eleni Kamma
Performers: Adaline Anobile, Jaime Vicente Liopis Segarra, Michiel Reynaert
First camera operator: Boris Van Hoof
Grip, dolly operator/audio: Jessica v.Ruschen
Editing: Inneke Van Waeyenbergh

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Dans cette exposition solo, Eleni Kamma dévoile son dernier film, « Yar bana bir eglence: Notes on Parrhesia », complété par un paysage de clips vidéo et une installation autonome distribuée sur les quatre espaces d’exposition. La présentation a été conçue comme un environnement dans lequel les visiteurs peuvent se déplacer librement pour créer leurs propres itinéraires narratifs.

L’oeuvre « It takes courage and breath to speak up », une sorte de prélude à l’exposition, induit, dès le départ. une expérience de pensée. Dans cette œuvre vidéo, Kamma s’intéresse au concept grec de ‘parrhesia’, ou liberté de parole, une notion qui protège l’expression des opinions, mais en même temps, implique une obligation à s’exprimer au nom du bien commun – en dépit de la vulnérabilité que l’individu peut ressentir en conséquence. Le mouvement chorégraphique de la caméra enregistre les mouvements de trois performeurs qui occupent un espace théâtral représentant l’agora. Ils forment. à eux trois, une communauté, et à eux trois, rassemblent le courage de faire entendre leurs voix, pour finalement, se séparer, et trouver chacun un chemin propre.

‘Yar bana bir eglence’ est la phrase prononcée avant toute représentation dans le théâtre d’ombre turc traditionnel, le Karagoz. Le thème central de cette forme de théâtre de rue, resté très populaire depuis la fin du XVIIIe siècle, est une interaction amusante entre les deux protagonistes. Hacivat est le personnage éduqué, à l’aise en société, alors que Karagoz est le porte-parole de l’homme de la rue, déchargeant ses opinions dans la ‘parrhesia’. Cette image projetée alimente l’imagination, mais c’est la voix du narrateur qui assure le rôle dominant. Il dit tout haut ce que les gens n’osent pas dire mais souhaitent entendre. Il met sur la place publique leurs doléances à propos des injustices sociales. Il critique librement, depuis l’ombre, les politiciens locaux, et atteint un niveau de liberté d’expression presque surréel dans un régime autoritaire tel que l’était l’Empire ottoman. Pendant sa résidence à Istanbul en 2013, Kamma a été témoin des manifestations civiles du parc Taksim Gezi. Ce qui l’a frappée, c’est qu’un lien clair pouvait être fait entre la forme que prend l’espace public actuellement, et celui qui s’est formé à l’époque ottomane, dans la ‘parrhesia’, la satire politique, la participation et l’humour. Une observation très pertinente qu’elle met à l’oeuvre dans ses travaux les plus récents.

L’oeuvre « Play it, Emin. Walking along the Russian Monument at Ayastefanos », présentée comme un dytique d’images, prend la destruction du mémorial russe d’Ayastefanos le 14 novembre 1914 comme point de départ. Bien que les images documentaires de cette action symbolique nationaliste aient été perdues, l’événement lui-même marque la genèse du film turc. La destruction du monument russe annonce le début de la première guerre mondiale et la fin de l’Empire ottoman. Kamma invite le maître de Karagoz Emin Senyer à recréer cette action dans une pièce de théâtre d’ombres. Il a fondé son interprétation sur du matériel documentaire existant : trois photos et une description de l’événement par différentes sources: les mémoires personnelles du lieutenant impliqué et des journaux. Kamma a tourné dans la région de Florya, où la destruction du monument a eu lieu il y a 100 ans. Ses images se confrontent au travail d’ Emin Senyer, sur l’autre écran, et à une performance évoquant l’événement historique.

A l’étage, dans le Pakhuis de Netwerk, une sélection de clips vidéo explore le thème de la ‘parrhesia’, si important dans les films les plus récents de Kamma. La scénographie, fragmentée et spontanée, joue sur la forme avec un pouvoir analogue à celui des paroles prononcées. C’est évident dans la formidable œuvre sonore « Note Il: Introduction », et puissant dans l’énigmatique installation « Yar bana bir eglence: Seven Notes on Parrhesia ». Aujourd’hui, à l’ère de l’information rapide, la transition de la communication orale à la communication écrite semble occuper une place mineure dans l’histoire cosmopolite. La voix de Karagoz s’est tue au XIXe siècle, quand la satire politique a été interdite. Le pouvoir social du théâtre oral a été étouffé par l’influence du théâtre occidental et par l’écriture. L’installation de Kamma offre au spectateur un espace libre dans lequel réfléchir sur le passage silencieux d’un ancien médium né de la voix du peuple, et qui a bien tenu la route, si on le compare à nos espaces publics numériques, excessivement urbanisés et excessivement contrôlés.

In this solo exhibition, Eleni Kamma unveils her new film project “Yar bana bir eglence: Notes on Parrhesia” – complemented by an episodic landscape of video clips – and autonomous installations spread out over four exhibition spaces. The presentation was conceived as an experience-focused environment in which individual viewers can move freely to create their own narrative paths.

The work “It takes courage and breath to speak up” features autonomously as a possible prologue of the exhibition, encouraging a thoughtful approach from the start. In this video work, Kamma reflects on the Greek ‘parrhesia’ or freedom of speech, a notion that stands for the expression of opinion while also alluding to an obligation to speak out in service of the greater good – in spite of file vulnerability that the individual may experience as a consequence. The choreographic movement of the camera captures three performers who occupy a theatre space representing a typical public agora. They come together as a community and together summon the courage to voice their thoughts freely, ultimately disbanding to forge their own paths. ‘Yar bana bir eglence’ is the customary opening sentence in traditional Turkish shadow theatre, Karagoz. The central theme in this form of street theatre, which remained immensely popular until the late 18th Century, is the amusing interaction between the two protagonists. Hacivat embodies the better-educated well to do in society, while Karagoz is the outspoken representative of the man on the street, venting his opinions through ‘parrhesia’. This projected image stokes the imagination, but it is the voice
of the narrator that assumes the more dominant role. The narrator utters what the people dare not speak but still wish to hear. He airs their grievances regarding social injustices. He freely criticises from the shadows of local politics, commanding an almost preposterous level of expressive freedom in a totalitarian regime such as the Ottoman Empire. During her residency in Istanbul in 2013, Kamma witnessed the civil protests in Taksim Gezi Park. It struck her that a clear link could be made between the way in which the public space is currently taking -a new shape and how it did so in the Ottoman era: through ‘parrhesia’ and political satire, public participation and humour. A keenly relevant observation of current affairs that she has translated into her most recent work.

The work Play it, Emin. Walking along the Russian Monument at Ayastefanos, presented as a diptych of side-by-side images, takes the destruction of the Russian memorial in Ayastefanos on 14 November 1914 as its point of departure. Although the documentary footage of this symbolic nationalistic action is now lost, the event itself is viewed as marking the genesis of Turkish film. The destruction of the Russian monument heralded the beginning of WWI and the end of the Ottoman Empire. Kamma invited Karagoz master Emin Senyer to depict this destructive act in a shadow play. He based his interpretation on existing documentary material: three photos and a description of the event from two different sources, the personal memoires of the lieutenant involved and newspaper reports. Kamma made recordings in the district of Florya, where the destruction of the monument took place 100 years ago. The images are juxtaposed with Emin Senyer’s creative process and evocative performance of the historical event on the other screen.

ln the upper spaces of Netwerk’s Pakhuis, a selection of video clips explore the theme of ‘parrhesia’ that is so prominent in Kamma’s most recent film work. The scenography, fragmented though unforced, plays with form with a power analogous to that of the spoken word. This is very apparent in the rhetorical work Note Il: Introduction, and equally powerful in the enigmatic installation “Yar bana bir eglence: Notes on Parrhesia”. Now, in the rapidly evolving information age, the transition from oral to written communication seems to occupy a minor footnote in cosmopolitan history. The voice of Karagoz was silenced in the 19th Century when political satire was made forbidden. The social power of oral theatre was lost due to the influence of Western theatre culture and the introduction of the written word. Kamma’s installations offer the viewer a free space in which to ref1ect upon the quiet passing of the old medium that was brought to life by the voice of the people, and holds these thoughts up in comparison with our now excessively monitored urban and digital public spaces.

Eleni Kamma
Oh, for some more Amusement!
DI 19.04 — SA 13.06 2015
Netwerk / centre d’art contemporain
Houtkaai 15
9300 Alost
Belgique

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Eleni Kamma (°1973 Athènes) a été invitée par Netwerk à présenter son dernier film, Yar bana bir eğlence (Oh, for some Amusement!) dans une exposition individuelle.

Les idées qui sont à la base de Yar bana bir eğlence ont émergé en 2013, pendant la résidence d’Eleni Kamma à Istanbul, où elle a été témoin des manifestations civiles de Taksim Gezi Park. Avec cette réalité comme matériau source, et son expérience personnelle de citoyenne grecque et chypriote, elle crée dans son travail un espace de réflexion sur la géopolitique de l’espace post-Empire Ottoman. Le projet, qui inclut film, œuvres plastiques, performance, théâtre et activisme politique, n’a jusqu’à présent été présenté (en même temps qu’il se développait) que de manière fragmentaire.

Netwerk soutient la production de l’artiste et présente les différentes phases de ce travail sous la forme d’installations autonomes.

Eleni Kamma (°1973 Athens) has been invited by Netwerk to unfold her latest film project, Yar bana bir eğlence, (Oh, for some Amusement!) into an individual exhibition.

The ideas for Yar bana bir eğlence arose in 2013, during Eleni Kamma’s residency stay in Istanbul, where she witnessed the civil protests in Taksim Gezi Park. With this raw reality as source material, and, with her personal background as a Greek and Cypriot citizen as her driving force, she creates within her work a space for reflection on the geopolitical map of the post-Ottoman Empire. The multi-layered project, which spans the areas of film, visual art, performance, theatre and political activism, has so far (during the creation process) only been displayed fragmentarily.

Netwerk supports the artist production-wise as well as contextually in translating the various facets and episodes of the project to a new set of autonomous installations.

Netwerk, Aalst
du 19 avril au 13 juin
Vernissage le samedi 18 avril à 20h

Parallèlement, Eleni Kamma participera au On & For Production [Edition I], initié par Auguste Orts (BE) en collaboration avec LUX (GB) and Art Brussels (BE), les 24 et 25 avril à Bruxelles.

On & For Production is conceived as a twofold event: on one hand, it provides a professional context for artists to share film projects in development in order to get conceptual and strategic feedback and to find co-producers. On the other, it is an occasion for organisations, professionals and artists who have a consolidated expertise in artistic film production, to share, discuss and disseminate different modes of working.

Eleni Kamma (BE/GR) / producer: Jubilee (BE), Joachim Koester (DK) / producer: Auguste Orts (BE), Stephen Sutcliffe & Graham Eatough (GB) / producer: LUX (GB), Isaías Griñolo (ES) / producer: Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo animeront les Professional Work Sessions, durant la journée du 25 avril. Eleni Kamma mettra l’accent sur un second volet de son projet : Yar bana bir eğlence: Seven Notes on Parrhesia.

Yar bana bir eğlence. Seven notes on parrhesia is the second part of a project whose first part, titled Oh, for some amusement!, took the form of an installation.
Oh, for some amusement! is a multi-media installation that unfolds in space and time, operating as an experimental platform where major and minor “national” narratives (within the context of contemporary nation states of the previous Ottoman Empire) come together, unfold and cross over through cinematic, theatrical and reading formats. By looking back at the moment of transition from the domination of the voice of one speaking for many in non-presentational, eastern participatory forms of spectacle (Karagoz & Ortaoyunu) to the domination of the image in representational, mass-media spectacle (first silent movies and first national cinemas — Turkish, Greek, Egyptian, etc—), the work examines how conditions of spectatorship affect questions of citizenship and social bonding today.
The single-screen (short) movie Yar bana bir eğlence. Seven notes on parrhesia. highlights how ‘parrhesia’ (the courage to speak out in public ) form the basic principle of both the Karagoz shadow theater as the Gezi Park demonstrations. The film questions how far the current (social) political protest in the states still need a theatrical form and in how far creativity and humor are an indispensable carrier in the development of the public discourse in which the ‘people’ speaks back. Yar bana bir eğlence. Seven notes on parrhesia. interweaves seven individual episodes/notes, each with its cinematographic and aesthetic approach. The raw material as it is available now, consists of genres such as documentary , theater – performance, interviews, reconstructions, found footage and historical images.

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