Field research at the 6th Athens Biennale

The students of the Teacher Education Program of Athens University of Economics and Business visited the 6th Athens Biennale, entitled ANTI, on Wednesday 5/12/2018 . The students were accompanied by Dr. Vassiliki Brinia, Scientific Director and lecturer of Practical Training and the tour was conducted by the Curator of the Exhibition, Mr. Kostis Stafylakis. The exhibition took place in a cluster of buildings around the Old Parliament Square, with the main exhibition center the TTT (Posts, Telegraphs and Telephony) building at 15 Stadiou Street.

The word Biennale is Italian and means "every subsequent year" describing events that occur every two years. In the world of contemporary art it is used to declare a global art event and its origin is the Venice Biennale, which began in 1895. This year's exhibition, which is the sixth in row in Greece, returned with the title "ANTI" focusing on socialization of opposition and non-conformity phenomena that occur on a variety of topics, from everyday life and politics to online culture.

Therefore, some of the exhibits were scenes from everyday life. A day at the office, a day at the gym or even a place where these two combine and coexist in a relatively unorthodox way. The exhibition is interactive and integral part of it is Social Media. In addition, the artists of ANTI are looking at the post-digital era, a time characterized by the rapid development of internet and where people are increasingly moving away from analogue.

he word ANTI in Greek means versus, and emphasizes the constant opposition we are experiencing nowadays. It is therefore an anti-behavior. Moreover, it is no coincidence that the building in which it is housed, the historic TTT building, is a preserved building, which is a sample of "ancient modernism". Two contrasting words (ancient and modern) that coexist. Besides, it has been the building of National Resistance, as in 1942 the "triads" had organized the first German-occupied strike throughout Europe.

Finally, at the end of the visit, the students had the opportunity to discuss with Mr. Stafylakis in order to understand the concept of ANTI. The questions of some of the students focused on contradictory situations in everyday life, regarding ANTI, but also on the criteria that make an object a work of art.

The study visit took place in the framework of the "Art and Education" module which is being researched from 2015 in the spring semester in PAD II.

You can see photo material from the visit here.