A little over a decade ago, a Greek and an Italian, two successful scientists in their fields who shared a passion for contemporary art, settled permanently in Paris, kathimerini.gr reports and continues:
Eventually, the pair came up with the idea of using a Greek island as a visual terra incognita that could be rediscovered by artists. The project, titled Phenomenon, which includes a residency with performances, lectures, video screenings and other events, as well as an exhibition on the island and a publication, launched in 2015, during what was for Greece a critical referendum period, on Anafi, an island at the edge of the Cyclades group near Santorini, and its co-founders decided to organize it every two years thereafter.
Jordan Kerenidis works as head researcher for quantum computers at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Piergiorgio Pepe is director of ethics and compliance at AbbVie, a global biopharmaceutical company, and a lecturer at Sciences Po and INSEAD. They spoke recently to Kathimerini about Phenomenon, the latest edition of which gets under way on Anafi at the beginning of July.
From Paris
Why did they elect Anafi though? “The Phenomenon program is our effort to create a different sort of experience which could also create a dialogue between select artists and residents of the island and all who participate in the program. The fact that it’s happening in Greece, and particularly on this Cycladic island, plays a key role in how this exchange of opinions takes place and how new, and unexpected ideas can be hatched.”
According to the project’s website (www.phenomenon.fr), “Phenomenon 2 will examine how histories, collective and personal, are socially constructed and constantly renegotiated,” adding that the small island “is a prime example of cultural stratification, where the Apollo temple quietly serves as the foundation of an orthodox monastery, while the history of the exiles that were held in Anafi has silently cohabited with the island’s local history.” It also raises the questions “What are the forces at play that actualize the visible and the discursive and construct historical formations? How can history be reinvented and the master narrative denaturalized?”
Invited participants
The invited participants for Phenomenon 2 include artists Ignasi Aballi, Dora Garcia, Mario Garcia Torres, Chrysanthi Koumianaki, Julien Nedelec and Christodoulos Panayiotou, curator Gregory Castera, media theorist Paul Feigelfeld, choreographer/dancer Lenio Kaklea and anthropologist Margaret Kenna.
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Source: ekathimerini.com
