I am delighted to share the video of my discussion with Leah Shafer with whom I spoke about my longitudinal work in Athens as part of the official program for the 2023 Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival. The event was co-sponsored by Conversations Across Screen Cultures, a programming group comprised of Hobart and William Smith [...]
My first encounter with Sotiris Fokeas, aka Soteur, took place during a photo stroll around the Athens School of Fine Arts on a sunny January day—once in person and then again through his work. First, I ran into Sotiris, at the time an MFA student at the university, leisurely working on a colorful mural on [...]
On March 22, Greece’s conservative prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the implementation of an extensive ban on "unnecessary transport and movement of people throughout the country."(("Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ Address to the Greek People," March 22, 2020.)) Cited as the "last step" that "an organized, democratic state" may take in the effort to contain the [...]
The rapidly escalating Coronavirus pandemic is fundamentally altering public life in cities and communities around the world, with the paradigm of social distancing emptying public spaces, suspending modes of sociability based on physical proximity, and fortifying border regimes.((For an excellent analysis of the problematic entanglements between entanglements between quarantine, ethno-nationalism, and health care privatization see [...]
Title image courtesy of Dimitris Plantzos The first instance of anti-Airbnb graffiti I encountered in Athens in the summer of 2018 was a stencil, spray-painted in signal red, proclaiming Airbnb tourists fuck off — Refugees welcome all over the neighborhood of Koukaki.((Full disclosure: I was myself staying in an Airbnb in Koukaki at the time, [...]
When it comes to female graffiti writers in Athens, it is impossible to find someone as prolific and as sucessful as Nique, whose characters and pieces have adorned the walls of Athens since 2015. Having closely followed her rise to become one of the most recognized writers in the scene, I finally got to share [...]
Since the inauguration of Donald Trump as 45th president of the United States of America one year ago, his enactment of a hyperconservative domestic agenda, his ineptitude in matters of foreign policy, and a slew of disconcerting statements made to the public have initiated a broad political mobilization. Articulations of dissent have mostly assumed the [...]
Cleo43, one of the most prolific female street artists active on the walls of Athens, is best known for her colorful and elaborate masks but got her start writing graffiti as a young teenager. She kindly sat down with me last summer to share some insights about her artistic biography, her aesthetic politics, and how [...]
If you've spent any time in Athens in the past year chances are you've stumbled upon a curious tag stating simply 1€ (or sometimes One Yuro), written compulsively all over the city. It can be found on obsolete urban objects and surfaces, parking barriers, electricity boxes, and vacant shop windows. At times the tag is accompanied [...]
Stencil at Omonoia square in Athens, photograph taken by the author in June 2016. In the summer of 2016 a stenciled slogan began appearing sporadically in public squares of Athens: "Dear Documenta, I refuse to exoticize myself to increase your cultural capital," signed "Sincerely, the Indigenous." Though small in scale and modest in [...]
In the summer of 2015, I arrived in Athens one day prior to the announcement of the "Bailout Referendum" and left three days before its execution. During the week I spent in Athens I was able to witness some of the immediate reactions uttered in the streets of the city via graffiti slogans, posters, stencils [...]
It has been a while since I have taken to this blog, but I have a special project to announce: the ABC project. Initiated by French street artist Oré last year, the ABC project aims to foster a transeuropean exchange about crisis and austerity through street art and graffiti. I am happy to have been responsible for facilitating [...]
I first came across one of the impressive stencils of AFI while researching political street art dealing with the European elections and have been a fan of her strong political works ever since. I was lucky enough to ask her some questions about her motivations and artistic process as well as her perspective on the [...]
Ever since its founding the European Union has been a controversial political project. The economic, political, and social crises that have erupted across the continent in the past five years have only intensified the existing conflicts. Consequently the upcoming elections for the european parliament on may 25 will manifest a significant moment for the future of [...]
A science slam, in essence, is a format where young scientists and researchers are challenged to present their academic projects in an understandable and entertaining way. The problem: you only have exactly 10 minutes to do so. A few weeks back I was kindly invited by the organizers of Policult to take part in one [...]
