Tomorrows
Urban fictions for possible futures
Opening: May 16, 2017 | 20:00
May 17 – July 16, 2017
12:00 PM-21:00
Diplareios School (Theatrou sq 3, Athens centre)
How will everyday life evolve in the cities of
tomorrow? What changes will the smart devices,
the networked objects and the connected envi-
ronments bring? Which are some of the most
possible scenarios for tomorrow’s work and
leisure? Which protocols will define citizens’ rela-
tionship to the urban and natural environment?
Responses to these questions will be offered
through utopian and dystopian scenarios of
artists, architects and designers. Real cities pro-
jected into the future, unbuilt city models and
speculative urban environments will tell stories
about the economic, social and environmental
changes of an era where nonhuman elements –
like the algorithms – are expected to play an
increasing role. Infrastructures, tools, wearables
and everyday objects will become the starting
point for unexpected and purposefully exaggerat-
ed scenarios with a critical perspective, where the
future becomes a tool that can assist in under-
standing the present itself.
The exhibition will explore how the particularities
of different geographical areas affect the shaping
of these scenarios. Special emphasis will be
given to the Mediterranean, and especially to
Athens, an area which produces stories that
describe the crisis of the western world, and is in
need for different hypotheses and new specula-
tive approaches.
Dimitris Papaioannou
A new creation
May 24 – June 11, 2017
8:30 PM Main Stage
Dimitris Papaioannou has been quietly preparing
to surprise his audience once again with a second
production at the OCC to be staged in 2017.
Dimitris Papaioannou’s new project is under con-
struction. Involving 11 performers on stage, the
work takes shape around the notion that human
life can be seen as a journey of discovery, an
exploration for hidden treasure, an inner archae-
ological excavation for meaning.
In his thirty years of work Papaioannou has striv-
en to create a universe on stage that could be
described as a dreamlike absurd circus. Human
bodies become battlegrounds, interacting with
raw materials, fusing into hybrids, giving rise to
optical illusions.
His rootedness in the fine arts gives his perform-
ances a strong visual feel, as he juggles teasing-
ly with art-historical references, various practices
of expression and performing, and ideas about
our origins.
Dimitris Papaioannou aims at an utter simplicity of
appearance that is far from simple to achieve. His
intention is to shed light on the sacred in the mun-
dane.
As an artist, performer, comic creator, choreogra-
pher, director and exhibition curator, Dimitris
Papaioannou is always one step ahead. The leg-
endary
Edafos
Dance Theatre which he founded
and created with Angeliki Stellatou stirred up the
Greek dance scene of the Eighties and Nineties
with productions that inducted audiences into a
highly personal visual universe.
Then, riding the wave of the Athens 2004 Olympic
Games and the acclaimed opening and closing
ceremonies which he oversaw as creative direc-
tor, Papaioannou broke new ground with perform-
ances that attracted audiences in numbers near
unprecedented for contemporary dance.
The choreographer used cutting-edge technology
to frame his personal artistic world in productions
like 2 and INSIDE, but Primal Matter and Still Life,
which marked an opening up to international
scenes, saw him return to a more pared-down
aesthetic. Papaioannou continued to moves eas-
ily between the spectacle of opening ceremonies
and more personal works whose gaze is fixed on
the world as he knows it.
Trade with Greece
128
Onassis
Cultural
Centre
