A new platform for collective learning, discussion and experimentation
RESIDENCY PROGRAMME 2024 x CARE ECOLOGIES
20 – 27 October 2024
Organised by the G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation
The third research residency programme of the G & A Mamidakis Foundation, and the second under the CARE ECOLOGIES umbrella, took place in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, from October 20 to 27, 2024. CARE ECOLOGIES is an interdisciplinary project in collaboration with five organizations and institutions from Greece (G & A Mamidakis Foundation, State of Concept Athens, Center for New Media and Feminist Public Practices), Croatia (What, How & for Whom / WHW), and Spain (Idensitat).
CARE ECOLOGIES focuses on the politics and ecologies of care, emphasizing the need for a collective reevaluation of the norms and processes of cultural making and research. It fosters close collaboration among artists, curators, researchers, and other cultural professionals. The program aims to create new opportunities for cultural professionals to work and live together while promoting contemporary art both domestically and internationally. It seeks to strengthen the relationship between artistic practices and contemporary society through open calls for residencies, exhibitions, workshops, publications, and various other initiatives.
Like the previous two residencies, this year’s program explored the theme of care through a broad interdisciplinary lens, addressing issues such as culture, ecologies, environmental responsibility, post-growth theory, ethnographic methods, education, and artificial intelligence, thus concluding a thematic trilogy which began in October 2022.
During an intensive, collective week of workshops, discussions, and field research, participants engaged with notions, theories, and practices related to the social history of labour automation and AI, ecologies of care, multi-crisis conditions, feminist labour, land work, activism, community engagement, ecological restoration, degrowth, ethnographic representation, and sustainability. They examined topics such as representation and memory, national and non-national identities, and field research. Participants shared their work, exchanged ideas, and visited historical sites in Crete, including monasteries, local museums, art spaces, Byzantine churches, mills, and weaving workshops, engaging in discussions on landscape, ecology, exclusion, and religion. Above all, they formed a collaborative group, exchanging experiences and knowledge from diverse perspectives. The program will culminate in a collective project curated by the participants, to be presented in summer 2025.
This year, following an open call, eight Greek researchers and cultural professionals were selected to participate:
Tasos Koukoutas – Researcher, dance theorist, dramaturg, and performer, with collaborations including the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, Onassis Stegi, and the National Theatre of Greece among others.
Natalia Manta – Visual artist. Has taught sculpting at the Athens School of Fine Arts, and participated in exhibitions at EMST and Eleusis 2023, among others.
Vicky Tsirou – Curator, author, researcher. Has collaborated with organizations such as PCAI, the Venice Biennale, and NEON.
Lelle Demertzi – Visual artist with studies in theatre, architecture, and AI, known for solo and group performances and research projects in Greece, Germany, and the UK.
Chara Stergiou – Curator, writer, researcher with projects at SNFCC, San Marino Biennale, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin.
Eva Vaslamatzi – Curator and researcher, artistic director of “Communities Between Islands” residency, with projects in Palais de Tokyo, Paris.
Konstantza Kapsali – Filmmaker, with works for Eleusis 2023 and educational programs in Greece and abroad.
Myrto Vratsanou – Visual artist with exhibitions, performances, and publications in Greece, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
Workshops were conducted by:
Matteo Pasquinelli – Associate Professor of Philosophy of Science, author of The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial Intelligence.
David Gilbert – Environmental anthropologist specializing in social movements and degrowth theory.
Konstantinos Kalantzis – Social anthropologist focusing on representation and political imagination.
Odysseas Sgouros – Architect and former president of the Lasithi Architects Association.
Xenofon Chalatsis – Project manager, psychologist, adult educator, and scriptwriter.
Research Residency Programme, organised by the G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation as part of Care Ecologies, a Creative Europe cooperation project with Idensitat, What, How & for Whom / WHW, State of Concept Athens and the Centre for New Media and Feminist Public Practices. Co-funded by Creative Europe.
