ATHENS – As part of its broader philanthropic activity and its continuous support to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) establishes- and supports through an exclusive grant- the open, week-long events that are held every June at the SNFCC. Admission to the events is free for all visitors.
This year’s events, the Summer Nostos Festival (SNFestival) will take place June 18-25. The SNFestival will consist of a continuously enriched cultural, educational, and sports program, addressed to people of all ages and interests, aiming to provide an annual creative meeting point, fostering expression, and the exchange of ideas.
The program includes music, dance, sports, open discussions, arts and architecture, and, of course, activities for children and families, complemented by additional events, such as screenings, guided tours, and magical happenings. Over 75 different events will be held in the course of 8 days with the participation of 130 international and 160 Greek artists. The Festival encourages collaborations between local and international artists, promoting the exchange of expertise and experience, and setting the groundwork for creative synergies or collaborations.
The cultural offering, curated by the SNF Team in collaboration with Limor Tomer, Concerts & Lectures General Manager at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, as well as a team of consultants-experts in their respective fields, includes classical and contemporary classical music, rock, jazz, hip-hop, and pop music concerts, performances and installations, lectures and movie screenings with live music, DJ sets, dance and many other events. All the above will take place in multiple areas of the SNFCC, both indoors and outdoors, while two stages will be set up at the Stavros Niarchos Park, and a new stage will be set at the Canal.
With particular emphasis on the music program, the line-up will include, among others, violinist Leonidas Kavakos in a unique recital, Yo La Tengo- one of the most influential bands from the American indie rock scene, the atmospheric British group The Cinematic Orchestra, the sensual voice of Belgian jazz singer Melanie De Biasio, the pioneering representative of the Greek electronic music scene Lena Platonos, the minimalist group Bang On A Can All-stars, the dynamic performer of the Greek alternative scene Monica in a collaboration with the ERT Symphonic Orchestra, the rapper, slam poet and New York Times and Esquire columnist, Saul Williams, the popular Greek band Melisses, the DJs Alex Cruz and Jonathan Toubin, Dimitris Kalantzis with his quintet and Kamerata. Music journalist Kafka (Katerina Kafentzi), following up on her personal project “Kafka Takes Notes,” will present and coordinate Q&A sessions between the audience and the artists, held before the live acts.
The Festival’s dance program presents the radical and daring choreographer Elizabeth Streb, in a performance that challenges the physical limits of dancers, and Apostolia Papadamaki in collaboration with Heidi Latsky Dance.
In the visual arts and architecture, Robert Storr and a team of acclaimed curators will present the program, “Only Connect”—as a response to British novelist E.M. Foster’s mandate of the same title—a selection of video and performances that address the problems and possibilities associated with being connected at a time when the connections among people—as individuals, as groups, as communities, as nations—are under extreme stress. The exhibition “Renzo Piano Building Workshop – Piece by Piece” will also be on display, presenting models, drawings, photographs and videos from architectural projects by the international firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop, realized during the last 30 years. The presentation of the exhibition at the SNFCC marks the completion of its tour which commenced in 2013 at the Gagosian Gallery in New York, where the show was solely funded by the SNF. The exhibition was later presented in Padua in 2014 at the Palazzo della Ragione, as part of the International Biennial Architecture, and at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai at 2015. The SNFCC’s visionary architect, Renzo Piano, will be in Athens once again, this time to discuss his work, philosophy and inspiration with the New York Times architectural critic Michael Kimmelman.
Physical exercise and sports remain at the heart of the activities hosted at the SNFCC. This summer, as part of the Summer Nostos Festival, the race SNF RUN: Running into the Future, returns for the third year on Friday, June 23, on the occasion of the International Olympic Day. This time, in addition to the 6k race from Panathenaic Stadium to the SNFCC, an enriched route of 10k will also take place. In parallel, the 1k run for Special Olympics athletes will be organized once again. The race, along with a number of additional sports activities to be held as part of the Festival, is organized in collaboration with NGO Regeneration & Progress. In addition, the legendary chess master Garry Kasparov will be with us for yet another year, inviting Greece’s younger generation to a simultaneous chess encounter.
With a number of collaborations, the Greek National Opera (GNO) and the National Library of Greece (NLG) will play a vital role in the Festival. The GNO will participate in the programming with a performance by its new artistic director Giorgos Koumendakis, and a dance piece choreographed by its ballet director Antonis Foniadakis, performed by members of the GNO ballet and independent dancers. The NLG will present a series of talks and an interactive exhibition on reading.
The week-long festival aims to be a large, open celebration of public encounters, fun and optimism, will be complemented by guided tours, movie screenings, discussions, creative and recreational programs for children and the amazing magic tricks of internationally acclaimed magician Mark Mitton.
Admission to events is free for all. The Summer Nostos Festival is made possible through the exclusive support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
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