Greece at the Venice Biennale: Fighting Crisis with Art

Working between Amsterdam and New York and exhibiting from Berlin to Abu Dhabi, Stefanos Tsivopoulos will represent Greece at the 55th Venice Biennale. His multi-layered work History Zero tackles the financial crisis by bringing both human and monetary value systems into focus, utilising the artist’s strategic cultural position and turning the Greek Pavilion into a place for further global dialogue.

 

Standing stoically in neo-Byzantine style against the luscious surroundings of the Giardini, the Greek Pavilion echoes both a potent Greek historic past as well as the hosting city’s Venetian-Byzantine nuances. Ironically enough given this year’s theme, since the Greek Pavilion’s inception in 1931, it has struggled with financing due to socio-political instability. This year, artist-in-residence Stefanos Tsivopoulos chose to confront the country’s current financial and social state through art. Aptly named History Zero, the exhibition seeks to trigger thoughts, challenge perceptions and open a multi-faceted discourse on human and monetary value systems that extend beyond the affairs of Greece.

The much-publicised Greek crisis might have served as inspiration and starting point for History Zero, but Tsivopoulos’ ultimate goal is to raise questions about human relationships and value systems as a whole. The work comprises of a three-part film fusing human stories and reflections on values - monetary and beyond. An accompanying archival display of non-monetary value systems of exchange evokes not only a well-documented past, but also a present that Greece is painfully reliving, as Greeks face a return to bartering in order to make ends meet. One country’s case in point then spawns immediate queries, such as the global nature of the crisis, as well as deeper disputes about human values. By examining the past and present, Tsivopoulos seeks to open a dialogue for the future.

Prague-born Stefanos Tsivopoulos has been sharing his time between Amsterdam, New York and Athens, juggling a prolific creativity involving mainly video and installation, with shows and residencies around the world. Recent solo exhibitions include The Future Starts Here in Elefsina, Greece (curated by Syrago Tsiara who is also this year’s Greek Pavilion curator), Borrowed Knowledge in New York and Amnesialand in Milan. Tsivopoulos has also participated in group shows from Paris’ renowned Centre Pompidou to the vast Manarat Museum in Abu Dhabi.

Greek team

Artist: Stefanos Tsivopoulos

Commissioner: Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports.

Curator: Syrago Tsiara.

Venue: Pavilion at Giardini

 By Danai Molocha

Images courtesy: The Future Starts Here, Amnesialand, The Blind Image www.stefanostsivopoulos.com

Published: The Culture Trip http://theculturetrip.com/europe/greece/articles/greece-at-the-venice-biennale-fighting-crisis-with-art/ (03/04/2013).