Piraeus - Athens

Immerse yourselves to the exhibitions of Art Explora Festival with the guidance of experienced mediators. 

“Open Mediation Tours at Art Explora in Piraeus” by Scola Society is a collaboration with EMST and a continuation of the action that is taking place in 2025 within the Museum. It proposes the research, outreach and implementation of mediation tours by a team of three people. The intercultural mediators from Iran, Egypt and China, will guide audiences from their respective communities in their native languages, thus Farsi, Arabic and Mandarin, through the method of situated mediation.

In this interactive workshop, participants will become both artists and curators as they design their very own “Museum of Me.” Using a variety of provided materials, each participant will explore his/her personal history, identity, and imagination to create exhibitions that reflect who they are and what matters most to them. Through drawing, collage, writing, and object-making, participants will craft artifacts and displays that capture memories, dreams, and defining moments. The workshop is based on Eleni Geroulanou book “Nikiforos explores emotions, based on the Cycladic figurines.  

The workshop continues the artist’s practice on participation as a tool for investigating citizenship. The formed group of participants will learn how to produce a community radio show, narrate, discuss and record together and form questions on our everyday life and the experience of residents of Piraeus, with a focus on communities that experiences migration either in 1920’s and its legacies or very recent experiences. Through the use of sound, music and mapping, we will explore the present soundscape of Piraeus, producing for a future, through sharing experiences, poetry and music.

Urok Shirhan (NL/Iraq), aka UROK, is an Athens-based artist, researcher and DJ working at the intersection of performance, visual arts and critical theory. UROK’s DJ sets unfold a polyglot club sound—where Arab, Latinx and Brazilian rhythms meet leftfield techno and deconstructed bass, blending sweet pop melodies with dark percussive drums. Throughout the Festival, during hours without live programming, the venue’s speakers will transmit the Radio Alhara broadcast. 

The installation investigates how rhythm and sonic texture can be diverted, slowed down, or distorted through frequencies and vibrations. Eight metallic column-speakers, arranged in a circle, create a field of intensity where the dancer’s body responds to the force of sound upon a minimal marble platform. The work forms part of Panos Charalambous’s ongoing research into the expressions of popular culture in the Balkans and the Mediterranean, re-examining their forms in the present and within the specific context of Piraeus.