What is happening in Athens after the political and cultural transformations of the past decade—the financial crisis, the increased number of refugees seeking shelter in Europe, and the 2017 edition of Documenta and the artists who moved to the Greek capital, attracted by its affordability and warmth? Are skeptics right when they predict the city’s resurgence will be short-lived? Bringing together artists, curators and galleries important to its cultural life, Will Athens Become the New Art Capital of Europe? inquires upon the present and future states of the city.

With:
George Vamvakidis, co-founder, The Breeder gallery, Athens

Marina Fokidis, curator and writer, director of South as a State of Mind magazine, Athens

Angelo Plessas, artist and founder of P.E.T Projects, Athens

Moderated by Stefanie Hessler, director, Kunsthall Trondheim

While we cannot imagine our lives without the internet, it is hard to think of it with the same optimism with which it was perceived in the late 1990s. Over the past 30 years we have witnessed the internet’s coming of age from a platform used for connectivity, instant communication, and unrestricted access to information to a space of false information, data miners, targeted advertising, and open surveillance. In Mechanisms of a Surveillance State, a group of artists and thinkers whose work investigates the mechanisms of surveillance and technology discuss the current state of the internet and its future.

With:
Benjamin H. Bratton, professor of visual arts and director, Center for Design and Geopolitics, University of California, San Diego

Carmen Weisskopf, artist, !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Berlin/Zurich

Trevor Paglen, artist, Berlin

Moderated by Doreen Mende, curator and theorist, associate professor and head of CCC Research-Based Master Program, HEAD Geneva, and co-director, Harun Farocki Institut, Berlin

Is working in the arts compatible with parenting? Do adequate conditions exist for art professionals to embrace motherhood without fear? How do these conditions vary from one place to another? With social practices and care economies embedded into artistic approaches, has contemporary art finally made room for women artists and curators to be mothers, or is motherhood still considered the kiss of death for a career? Between Production and Reproduction gathers a group of speakers (all mothers) to discuss their experiences, opinions, and proposals on how to juggle career and private life in the present.

With:
Chus Martínez, curator and head of the Art Institute HGK FHNW, Basel

Coco Fusco, artist, New York

Nadine Zeidler, co-founder, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin

Moderated by Julieta Aranda, artist and editor, e-flux journal, Berlin/New York City

More and more artists and institutions address environmental issues. Is this increasing interest a mere trend or is it possible for artists and their artworks, as well as institutions and their programs, to have a concrete effect on tackling climate change and a positive impact on changing attitudes and mentalities? Let’s Talk about the Weather brings together artists and institutions committed to environmental action in a discussion about the ways in which art can improve the planet’s condition.

With:
Maria Thereza Alves, artist, São Paulo/Berlin

Pedro Neves Marques, artist, filmmaker, and writer, New York

Markus Reymann, co-founder, TBA21–Academy, London

Kate MacGarry, founder, Kate MacGarry, London

Moderated by Antonia Alampi, artistic co-director, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin

The art world spins very fast. Every day, curators, journalists, artists, and visitors jump from one airplane to another to attend the next biennial, art fair, or exhibition opening. At a time of heightened awareness of the environmental impact of carbon consumption, is this still viable? And what is the cost, in ecological terms, of putting up and tearing down so many exhibitions? Are institutions seriously reducing their carbon footprint? Which arts organizations are actively working to protect the environment? The Carbon Footprint of Contemporary Art looks at how to shift the trend toward more ecological responsibility in the artistic field.

With:
Andrew Stramentov, founder and CEO, Rokbox, London

Lucia Pietroiusti, curator of General Ecology, Serpentine Galleries, London

Catherine Bottrill, head of the Creative Green program, Julie’s Bicycle, London

Moderated by Chris Hampton, freelance journalist, Toronto

Hosted by Julieta Aranda, the podcasts focus on some of today’s most important issues, intersecting art, politics, environmental action, and gender disparity. The podcasts bring together the voices of highly respected experts and thinkers such as Benjamin H. Bratton, Coco Fusco, Stefanie Hessler, the Otolith Group, Otobong Nkanga, Trevor Paglen, and Lucia Pietroiusti, among many others, who jointly reflect on how art addresses issues including how to tackle and reduce the emission of carbon footprint, the challenges of being an artist and a mother, the persistence of surveillance states, and the rise of new nationalisms.