INTERVIEW: Artemis Potamianou

On the occasion of the ten-year anniversary, a completed cycle, of Platforms Project, we meet the artistic director Ms. Artemis Potamianou and we have a discussion about how the idea of the most successful exhibition – Art Fair – was born, which is compared in pulse, energy and dynamics to the corresponding International Art Fairs; the difficulties but also the challenges that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the organizers, Artemis Potamianou and Michalis Argyrou, faced them;  what are they preparing for this year’s event, which is very big since more than 900 artists from 62 countries are participating…

By Efi Michalarou & Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Dimitris Lempesis & Platforms Project Archive

Ms. Potamianou, this year the Platforms Project is celebrating ten years since its launch. Since it is an anniversary year, we would like to go back in time and tell us when and how the idea of Platforms Project was born?

It is very hard for someone to believe that 10 years have passed since I made three new proposals to Art Athina for its  parallel program of the annual art fair. Two of them were realized, those were Art Athina Contemporaries -a curated exhibition with the participation of one artist from the galleries that participated in the fair- and Platforms Project in which independent visual platforms would take part. I wanted to present an iIdependent Art Fair within a commercial Art Fair. Since my student years in Greece and England I have been a member of various platforms such as GAP who produced visual work through discussions and experimentation. Later I was one of the founding members of other platforms such as Lo and behold. Knowing the dynamics that visual groups had in general, I instinctively had the opinion that the gathering of such group-platforms in a large exhibition would be a special experiment with a very remarkable result.

How many thinks have changed over the years, how did you envision Platfroms Project, how close are you today to your vision and how much, if any, have you deviated from?

As I mentioned above, the Platforms Project started as a visual experimental idea. Very quickly this idea was transformed into a revolutionary visual application that created many reactions mainly from some commercial galleries that participated in the fair. The energy of the platforms was something that people loved. Since the moment that Pratforms Project became Independent and I started organizing it with Michalis Argyrou, Platforms Project developed very quickly into one of the two largest independent art exhibitions worldwide. Michalis’ experience in major events helped a lot. Since the moment that became Independent, Platforms Project was able to develop and show all its potential. The exchange of ideas, the collaboration and the extroversion that takes place in the Platforms Project is very important. I want to emphasize that through the Platforms Project, thousands of artists and hundreds of groups from all over the world came into contact, exchanging ideas and experiences with each other, and with experimentation and extroversion they crossed the boundary of convention. Platforms Project is not just another art exhibition, it is mainly a meeting place, an opportunity to meet artists from all over the world, to exchange ideas and experiences and of course to create the foundations for development

How many were initially the first entries and what were the reactions of the Greek artists?  Why the foreigners artists are more accustomed  in such organizings?

The original proposal was to present 10 to 15 platforms in the parallel program of Art Athina. In the first year there was no open call for applications but invitations. My invitation was accepted by a much larger number of platforms than we hoped and I managed with a lot of struggles to be allowed to present 42 platforms from 16 countries. It was a constant negotiation. The reactions from the majority of Greek artists were very positive. The only complaint I remember was that many Greek teams could not take part in that fair and were looking forward to the next meeting. Only a few of the commercial galleries had a negative reaction, probably they had not understood the experimental and non-commercial nature of the project. In the following years, many Greek visual artists joined into groups and created very interesting projects and were given the opportunity to present them at the next Platforms Project. As for the question of whether foreigners are used to this type of organizing, I would like to point out, that worldwide only the Platforms Project that takes place in Athens and the Supermarket that takes place in Stockholm are the two most important events that have the form of an art fair. Most events with art collectives take the form of an exhibition. In Athens, this year participate 62 platforms, while Supermarket 2022 presented 60 platforms.

How easy it is for the artists to represent themselves and promote their work, since you are offering for artists who do not have or is not easy to belong to a Gallery a platform?  Is it an answer-solution to the dead-end that has been created in recent years in Greece with the multiple crises?

I do not think that the multiple crises in the economic sector but also in Greek society in general have brought the Greek art scene to a standstill. On the contrary, I believe in general that crises give birth to new ideas mainly from intellectuals and art people. In Greece, in recent years we see young and older artists experimenting with new means of expression, but mainly acquiring a more political and even activist perspective. On the other hand, an art fair where the artists themselves are there to meet the general public directly and communicate their work creates an immediacy that leads to new questions and dialogue on art for development. The discussion on the artistic object has been lost a little and its existence is necessary for visual artists.

Really, how do you think the artistic landscape in Greece can change? How many steps have been taken in relation to the past and how much should the artists and all those involved in the field of art must make?

Certainly many steps must be taken from all sides. I believe that the Greek artists produce very interesting and important artistic work which, however, cannot be easily communicated beyond the local community. Even in that community, the general public that is interested in contemporary art is limited because the education that will make it accessible to them is lacking. Also, there should be a cooperation of all the involved institutions in order to highlight our cultural product. The artists in Greece often need to do the promotion of their work by themselves without help from anyone. This must change.

Post covid era somehow. Our previous interview was during the first, heavy and difficult quarantine, when we did not have the ability to predict much about the future. Today more than ever, it seems from the international art scene and the successive events that are organized, the need for exhibitions with physical presence and gatherings. Do you think that the world wide web was simply the connecting link or it can co-exist and contribute to the communication and promotion of contemporary art and artists?

the Internet and the web offers unlimited possibilities. Technology evolves day by day and sometimes it adapts to the current conditions while other times it opens new paths. Any form of art is of course an integral part of society and it is natural for art to evolve within it. On the one hand the simplification of the technology makes it more familiar to older age groups as well, but on the other art has and an experiential character but the internet cannot, at least not yet, to replace the experience of the physical presence of the work of art. The world wide web is certainly a useful tool but seeing the public’s need for exhibitions with physical presence and gathering…we understand that nothing can replace physical exhibitions…at least for now.

In Platforms Project 2022 are participating 62 platforms with more than 900 artists from 26 countries, as we know this is it the largest participation till now. Where do you think it is caused by?

This year’s organisation actually has the largest number of entries we’ve ever had. What limits the number of participants each year is the limitation of space. This year, as every year, we received hundreds of applications but unfortunately it is not possible to include them all, as we might like, in a specific space. But many times we suggest artistic platforms collaborations or alternative ways of presentation so that we can include as many as we can.

In Parallel, a series of very interesting events is organized that enliven the main exhibition, completing the visitor’s image of the contemporary art scene, such as: performances, workshops, conferences, etc. would you like to tell us about?

In the parallel program we will presents 42 performances from the participating platforms that will take place inside the exhibition space. Platforms Project 2022 will feature 16 talks featuring art historians, theorists and critics, academics, museum directors, artists, curators, as well as two conferences; the conference of AICA Hellas on the topic “The criticism of art in Greece today and the readjustment to the new conditions” and the conference organized by www.dreamideamachine.com & The Red Boat Projects with the theme “Women in Art and society: connection and interactions”. Also, this year the parallel program is even more expanded, with two parallel exhibitions. The group exhibition “Boundless Borders” curated by Weronika Bela at Metaphor Athens (10 Dorileou Street, 115 21Athens),  will be innagurated on Friday 14/10/22 withart works by artists of the self-managed experimental exhibition space “ID:I Galleri” in Stockholm, Sweden, on the occasion of its 20 years of operation that also participates in the core program of the Platforms Project. On Saturday 15/10/22, the group exhibition “The October Show” with Greek and foreign artists will be inaugurated at IFAC Athens (Galaxia 11, 117 45Athens,) and on the same evening “The October Surprise Party” will be held at the venue with Art, Dj set, music and performance. The Kids Lab that has become an integral part of the Platforms project. The educational program Platforms Project for All 2022 is designed for children aged 4 to 16 years orl by the Dutch platform EX-MÊKH and the artist and art teacher Ellen Rodenberg. I think that the program od this year program is the most full we’ve ever put on and we’re already looking forward to it.

Open Studios. It is a section of the exhibitions that participate students from all the Workshops of the School of Fine Arts, since Platforms Project is held in the exhibition space  “Nikos Kessanlis” of Athens School Of Fine Arts (ASFA). What is the response and what are your own expectations from Open Studios?

In recent years, the Platforms Project has been held in the exhibition space of the Athens School of Fine Arts «Nikos Kessanlis”, so it is natural for us to envision an open ASKT to the public at all levels. Michalis Argyrou and I are graduates of ASKT and have known each other since our student years. OPEN STUDIOS are very important to both of us. This year 14 workshops of the School of Fine Arts open their doors to visitors and the students of the school present, under the guidance of their professors, works and various projects.

Concluding our interview and before thanking you, we would like you to tell us how you dream Platforms Project in the coming years?

Michalis (Argyrou) and I have many ideas for the development of the Platforms Project… There are always financial and spatial issues that we want to solve in order to make them happen, but what always motivate us is how to have more collaborations and how to educate a larger public about contemporary art.

 

Download Greek Version of Interview here

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Photo: Artemis Potamianou in her studio, 2021, © & Courtesy Dimitris Lempesis

Info: Curator: Artemis Potamianou, Platforms Projet 2022, Nikos Kessanlis exhibition space, School of Fine Arts, 256 Piraeus Street, Agios Ioannis Rentis, Athnes, Greece, Duration: 13-16/10/2022, Days & Hours: Thu (13/10/2022) 18:00-22:00, Fri-Sun (14-16/10/2022) 12:00-21:00, www.platformsproject.com

Media Partner on a Regular Basis: www.dreamideamachine.com

First Publication: www.dreamideamachine.com
© Interview-Efi Michalarou & Dimitris Lempesis