What is it about?
Removement is inspired by the issue of abandonment of Athens itself, a direct effect of the financial crisis that has resulted in an abundance of empty or damaged buildings. Accordingly, the same phenomenon has stricken various neighborhoods of our city, which lost their unique identity, causing its people to move away because of fear and insecurity. Buildings that once stood as the columns of the active tissue of Athens now stand isolated as remnants of a busy past. Removement stands as an observer of these changes: it documents both realistically and conceptually every single movement in the passage of time, even when the change stays unnoticed by the human gaze. These rapid changes influence year after year what is called the urban memory, and it is this topic that moves Removement itself, which will be used by our artists as a motivating power to awake and recall through the most precious and direct call: art.
What is our goal?
We are keen on altering the urban landscape of the city center, by introducing artistic interventions in abandoned spaces of the historic district, especially within the Athenian Arcades that once stood as oases in the busy center. Through large scale installations, video-art projections, performances and interactive events our team will revive the locations selected each time.
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What motivated us!
We are greatly concerned about the issue of the city’s abandonment as a result of the economic crisis that strikes the country and leaves behind empty and half-destroyed buildings. Many neighborhoods in Athens have lost their identity and their residents are abandoning them due to unemployment or fear and insecurity. Buildings which used to host the city’s active network are now left partly in ruins to remind, inspire or await. In a glance, roaming the streets of the Athenian commercial triangle one notices the vast number of abandoned buildings and arcades. Arcades, sealed for decades with inflows of people are nowadays hit by oblivion. Commercial malls have replaced the arcades and their stores, erasing from the city’s urban memory the stories of the people who once defined the most vital part of our city. This decaying functions as an inspiration for the artists, visual and performing, aspiring to reverse the concept of decaying into a creative consignment of revival, which will –semantically- beautify the city. We located the city’s empty arcades which no longer constitute passages for walkers and we carried out research about the history of these shops aiming at their revival through our visual and performing arts interventions. All scheduled visual arts installations and performances are rooted to the stories we collected, intending to revive and reuse the vacant areas of our city. It is our desire to change the city’s image and to make its walkers revive an old, lively and aesthetic Athens and we need your contribution to fulfill it!
What is the first project?
Removement is long term project! In June 2017 we attempt our first presentation in three arcades! As long as we have your support we will continue our creative interventions throughout the city!
Who are we?
We are non profit cultural organization based in Athens, Greece. Our space is located in the heart of the historic and commercial centre of the city, Monastiraki area. This has been vital for us to note record and keep track of the changes that take place in Athens centre both socio-politically and aesthetically.
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The team!
Removement Project has been inspired by art curator and member of Delta Pi, Maria Vasariotou. Alongside Maria, Yorgos Nomikos stands as a leading force in running the project on the field, serving both as a curator assistant and mediator with the storeowners and citizens, whilst Polina Gioltzoglou is our amazing anthropologist and sociologist, who conducts research and links the stories of the past with the present! Finally, Konstantinos Sakkas, with years of expertise as an executive producer in Delta Pi, fuels the project and guarantees that the production will be rewarding for both its artists and our supporters.
Join us!
A special thank you is reserved for numerous volunteers, friends and colleagues that assist and support us in any way possible towards bringing Removement to life. Finally, we are a growing and welcoming team that becomes larger day by day and we are truly happy and excited about it!
Your support will go towards:
- 35% Material costs for: Artworks-Art Installations
- 25% Maintenance and cleaning of the empty spaces
- 15% Hiring equipment fo visual arts
- 10% Printing material, map for the project
- 5% Unforeseen costs
- 10% Fundraising costs (wemakeit.com charges 10% in total)
All artists and artistic team work as volunteers
