ATHENS.- Greece’s leading international art fair for contemporary art, ART-ATHINA, opened its 15th edition. ART-ATHINA –International Contemporary Art Fair of Athens– was established by the Hellenic Art Galleries Association in 1993 and has become over the years one of Europe’s most prominent art fairs. As of 2009, ART-ATHINA is directed by Alexandros J. Stanas and run by the non-profit cultural organisation D.ART, whose main aim is to develop a strong contemporary art scene in Greece.

The fair is located at the shorefront of Athens, in the Faliro Pavilion, a former Olympic Games venue. The Faliro Pavilion is an ideal place to re-connect with contemporary art, while revelling in one of the most beautiful seasides close to the centre of the ancient capital city. The new venue offers a variety of both indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces, and boasts amenities such as free parking and easy access by public transport. The wide range of prestigious galleries exhibiting at ART-ATHINA provides the fair’s international audience with an overview of emerging trends within the arts, and enable visitors to see and buy works from leading international artists. ART-ATHINA welcomes 60 galleries from 12 countries, presenting more than 300 artists.

It also hosts an expansive programme of parallel events, talks, exhibitions and art projects taking place both within the fair and throughout the city, creating a platform for experimentation, discussion and debate within the contemporary arts.

The exhibition 10 Aspects of Hellenic Photography – Contemporary Creation is a major Parallel Exhibition within ART-ATHINA. The exhibition is being presented for the first time in Greece and includes 100 works from 10 young Greek photographers. The exhibition, which was presented for the first time in 2008 at the Théâtre de la Photographie et de l’Image in Nice, France, is curated by Vangelis Ioakimidis (Director of the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography) and Jean-Pierre Giusto (ex-Director of the Théâtre de la Photographie et de l’Image). Participating artists: Christina Dimitriadis, Stratos Kalafatis, Panos Kokkinias, Yiorgos Kordakis, Evangelia Kranioti, Dimitra Lazaridou, Nikos Markou, Paris Petridis, Yiannis Theodoropoulos, Yiorgis Yerolympos.

Parallel Event
The performance festival OPA 0.2 (On Performance Art) is a seven-day festival featuring an intense programme of performances, films, screenings, lectures, talks and open discussions. Under the title RE-THINK / RE-USE / RE-MAKE: Propositions and Possibilities on Contemporary Performance Art, this year’s key site of investigation is the critical approach developed by the French curator and art critic Nicolas Bourriaud in his book ‘Post-production’. ART-ATHINA hosts a number of festival performances as well as panel discussions with distinguished speakers.

Collateral Event
The exhibition In Praise of Shadows curated by Paolo Colombo and presented at the Benaki Museum (22/05-26/07/2009) is a Collateral Event of ART-ATHINA 2009. It is organised by the Benaki Museum in collaboration with the Hellenic Festival, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Ιstanbul Modern, with the support of the European Union’s programme CULTURE 2007-2013.The exhibition explores the parallels between the traditions of shadow theatre and the new narrative spirit in contemporary art bringing together works and films by Haluk Akakçe (Turkey), Nathalie Djurberg (Sweden), William Kentridge (South Africa), Katariina Lillqvist (Finland), Jockum Nordström (Sweden), Lotte Reiniger (Germany), Christiana Soulou (Greece), Ladislas Starewitch (Poland), Andrew Vickery (Great Britain) and Kara Walker (U.S.A.). In Praise of Shadows comprises some 90 works, from free standing models of theatres to drawings, collages and wall installations.