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Programme
The first route of the museum ship will be the Mediterranean, an area of millennia of history and exchange, which has always mobilized and nourished the inspiration of artists, and naturally invites intercultural dialogue.
Discover the programme of activities on the quayside and in the towns: performances, concerts, conferences, screenings, workshops, meetings and other events.
Upcoming events
The underwater divines are flying and floating and melting with us
A visual and sonic symphony that immerses us in the mysteries of the deep sea, while also becoming an ode to imagination and creation. Based on a film by the artist Rosa Tharrats aboard a ship on an expedition with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, the performance includes a soundtrack created in situ, in a process of dramatic and musical improvisation led by musician Mau Boada (Esperit!), singer Clara Enrich-Genestar, and poet Gabriel Ventura.
Grief and grievance: listening as learning
On this occasion, Ikram Bouloum reappropriates her technique as a selector to present "Grief and grievance: listening as learning", a listening session in which she traces a journey through different musical genres and sound archives, entering into dialogue with her referents and opening up space for new superpositions to address questions of poetic belonging.
Winds know what maps have forgotten
”Winds know what maps have forgotten” is a hands-on, immersive workshop where sound, maps, and imagination meet. Participants inhabit a large floor map of the Mediterranean to create wind-inspired soundscapes, stories and speculative narratives.
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La Bissaperie
La Bissaperie is a collective invocation of Frantz Fanon's memory through a shared reading of his texts and the preparation of bissap, a hibiscus flower drink. I propose a friendly and horizontal meeting place focused on the revolutionary ideas of the thinker and a platform for people to connect with their identity, heritage and community.
Fiction and Lies. The Role of the Novel in the World of Post-Truth
In our time of fake news, disinformation, and political manipulation, the difference between truth and lies seems increasingly unclear. Artificial intelligence can distort our perceptions, and social media encloses us in bubbles that destroy the very idea of a shared reality. In this world, what place does fiction occupy—the old craft of telling stories that never happened? Can novels contain more truth than reality as we see it? The Colombian novelist Juan Gabriel Vásquez proposes a conversation about our relationship with invented stories in an increasingly uncertain world.
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Pulso y Horizonte (Pulse and Horizon)
“Pulso y Horizonte” is an instrumental project led by Pedro Javier González, one of the most respected guitarists on the contemporary Spanish music scene. Flamenco, jazz, world music and improvisation converge in an open, celebratory proposal inspired by the Mediterranean, where rhythmic pulse and collective dialogue shape a vibrant and highly communicative musical experience.
The Drought. An oasis.
The Drought: An Oasis is a contemporary flamenco performance that brings together dance, live guitar, and flamenco singing (cante) to explore themes of water, drought, and migration. Originally created in Southern Spain, this new version of the piece is now presented in Catalonia, while keeping its strong Andalusian roots.
The show reflects on the historical impact of Francoist hydraulic policies, including the Badajoz Decree, and on the migration of Andalusian working-class communities who moved to Catalonia to work in industry and construction. These histories are translated on stage through flamenco music and movement. Some of the lyrics are sung in Catalan, alongside Spanish, as a symbolic gesture that connects flamenco with the linguistic and cultural reality of Catalonia and Barcelona. On stage, the performance features flamenco dance, live guitar, and cante, combined with a strong visual dimension. The final part of the piece takes the form of a “final de fiesta” inspired by Rumba Catalana, bringing collective energy, rhythm, and celebration to the stage.
Disco Atlas (with accompanying artists)
The concept is centered on Disco Atlas’ own artistic project, in which he invites artists to join as surprise guests. By collaborating with Gnawa musicians—specifically emerging performers rather than established Maâlems—Disco Atlas highlights how the music he plays can organically merge with live instrumentation. The aim is to demonstrate that this sound is flexible, alive, and open to reinterpretation through live performance, creating a unique and spontaneous experience each time.
Breakwater: drift through forgotten spaces
Walking through the port and its surroundings based on a reflection on the sea as a forgotten space and its limits. The breakwater at sea and on land. The itinerary will unfold in dialogue with the notions of the artist and photographer Alan Sekula, maritime ex-votos, and urban transformation.
Breakwater: drift through forgotten spaces
Walking through the port and its surroundings based on a reflection on the sea as a forgotten space and its limits. The breakwater at sea and on land. The itinerary will unfold in dialogue with the notions of the artist and photographer Alan Sekula, maritime ex-votos, and urban transformation.
Seitons Masdeu Hola i Adeu
Seitons Masdeu Hola i Adeu is the official presentation of a vinegar-marinated anchovy company founded by the artist, daughter of the last fish auctioneer (crying out bids aloud) in Arenys de Mar, her hometown. The piece sits somewhere between a performative meal, a 1990s television program, and a theatrical work.
Stories from the Periphery, told by Silvia Albert Sopale and Kouyate Ansoumane
A collection of stories from diverse origins, told to broaden perspectives, open hearts, and bring souls closer together. All of these stories share a common thread: the presence of Afro-descendant people as protagonists. Brave, resilient, and joyful individuals who serve as mirrors for us to reflect on and imagine our own lives.
Past events
Athens Biennale x Art Explora
Jacob Hurwitz-Goodman & Daniel Keller – The Seasteaders. In The Seasteaders, Jacob Hurwitz-Goodman and Daniel Keller examine the controversial “seasteading” movement, initiated by a group of libertarians seeking to build floating, tax-free cities as experimental societies beyond government control. While presented as solutions to governmental “stagnation” and climate change, the film reveals links to anti-democratic, techno-utopian, and alt-right ideologies. Through this screening, the Athens Biennale invites us to confront this uneasy entanglement and to question new forms of colonialism amid today’s global crises.
When I was a child, I used to see my mother's feet bare and cracked…
A physical and poetic performance that delves into the body’s memory, maternal legacy, and the silent weight of trauma. Through symbolic gestures, fragmented monologues, and intimate rituals with stone, water, and fabric, exploring themes of pain, resilience, and transformation. Blending personal narrative with collective emotion, the piece becomes a space where memory and the tragic beauty of the body intertwine.
Like a house
Como una casa is a medium-length film that recounts Ainara's entire journey in Spain and the violence she suffered in Madrid's Centro de Internamiento de Extranjeros.
In ex situ
Antonis Vais, in collaboration with 12 performers of the ASFA Laboratory 12 (Professor Poka Yio), reclaim the pier of Gate E8 at the port of Piraeus. In this land’s edge, whose only border is the sea, they wish to reposition corporeality at the core of site-specific research. Seeking ways, situations, and conditions in which the individual, as part of a larger whole and as a unit, relates to the arrival, departure from, and stay in intermediate places of temporary habitation – such as the port – they activate a perpetual movement: that of the multitude, whose function aims to overemphasize the importance of transience.
Untitled (Figures)
For Untitled (Figures) Lenio Kaklea embraces everything that is queer in her through a catalogue of danced figures (the cowgirl, leather culture, disco and the figure of the sailor) and pays homage to the capacity of queer cultures, teaching us to love the female body.
Athena's Antennae
In Athena’s Antennas, Chrysanthi Koumianaki, in collaboration with two performers, proposes a series of ephemeral public sculptures. Turning her gaze to the rooftops of Athens’ apartment buildings as the city’s edges, she imagines the buildings as bodies and their rooftops and balconies as limbs. The industrial equipment found there transforms into an evolving form of public sculpture, like a peculiar parasitic forest or an open-air sculpture gallery. Satellite dishes are translated into wicker hats and become props within an evolving stage setting.
ATOPOS cvc x Office of Hydrocommons x Art Explora Liquid Ports
Liquid Ports group show with works by Ileana Arnaoutou & Ismene King, Despina Charitonidi, Eleni Mylonas, Maria Nikiforaki
Thessaloniki International Film Festival x Art Explora
Alinda Dimitriou, Nikos Kanakis, Fournoi, A Female Society, 1983, 47′. On the island of Fournoi, in Ikaria, a researcher observes the lives of the inhabitants. He has neither a script nor prepared questions; he simply observes. The island thus comes alive before our eyes, through its inhabitants, their memories, their struggles, and their daily labor. 10 19:45>20:45
Arc Carrier
Arc Carrier is a site-specific sound performance that explores the relationship between electricity and acoustics, transforming invisible electromagnetic fields into sonic matter that resonates throughout space.
Untitled (Figures)
For Untitled (Figures) Lenio Kaklea embraces everything that is queer in her through a catalogue of danced figures (the cowgirl, leather culture, disco and the figure of the sailor) and pays homage to the capacity of queer cultures, teaching us to love the female body.
New World Folk Experience
A far out live electronics set that attempts to save almost extinct folk ear bugs, by revamping and arranging them for voice, vocoder and modular synthesizer.
Let’s play Cycladoupolis
Come and play with us Cycladoupolis, the board game created by the Museum of Cycladic Art and WWF aiming to inform and raise awareness of the Cycladic civilization and its heritage as well as the environmental challenges of the Cycladic islands.
Storytime with Eleni Andreadi
The sustainability expert and children’s books author Eleni Andreadis reads excerpts from her new, book, a fresh collection of fairy tales, where old, classic stories are overturned and recreated for the modern era, highlighting the power of fairy tales to make our planet better!
Storytime with Gefyres Eirinis
Bring Your Own Book! Join us for a warm and welcoming reading circle where everyone is invited to bring a book they love—on stories, traditions, culture, or the climate of the Mediterranean. We’ll share passages aloud, listen to each other’s choices, and celebrate the diverse voices of the region. After the readings, we’ll dive into creative exercises inspired by the texts, sparking imagination, conversation, and connection.
Mediterranean Flows
Explore the rich cultural currents of the Mediterranean through movement in this immersive dance workshop, combining somatic practices and choreography inspired by landscapes, rhythms, and migration stories.
Frequently asked questions
The Art Explora Festival will take place from spring 2024 to spring 2026 in various Mediterranean cities.
Festival events take place both on the museum boat's quay and in heritage and/or emblematic sites in the stopover towns. To find out all about upcoming events in your town, consult our Agenda.
The Art Explora Festival offers a rich, multi-disciplinary program including visits to the museum ship, exhibition pavilions, virtual reality experiences, artistic performances, concerts, lectures, film screenings, creative workshops and meetings. You'll be able to discover local and international artists, as well as thinkers and cultural players exploring contemporary themes related to the Mediterranean region. To find out all about upcoming events in your city, consult our Agenda.
All Festival events are free of charge. Please note, however, that some events - such as workshops - require a reservation via the ticket office. Please consult the page dedicated to each event for more information on times and booking procedures.
To ensure that everyone has the best possible experience at the Festival, we have drawn up a visitors' charter listing a few good practices.
Yes, the boat is freely accessible on site. However, you can pre-book your time online on our website.
For reasons of safety and preservation of the boat, high heels and stilettos may not be worn on the boat.
To take part in the workshops and meetings offered during the Festival, you'll generally need to register in advance. Information on how to register will be available on the dedicated event page, where you can also find details of times and how to take part.
Yes, the Art Explora Festival also offers child-friendly activities, such as creative workshops specially designed for young participants. Take a look at the program to find out about events and activities for children and families.
The museum boat is open to all free of charge. To find out on which quay it will be moored, or to pre-book your slot, consult the page dedicated to your town.
Appropriate facilities have been set up on the Festival site for the reception and access of people with reduced mobility. The boat is equipped with a 1m-wide ramp, accessible to people with reduced mobility, but may require the accompaniment of a third party due to its gradient of over 6%. Access to the aft deck and immersive exhibition is possible. However, the upper deck is not accessible. Please inform us in advance of any special accessibility requirements, so that we can make the necessary arrangements.
Thank you for your interest in the Art Explora Festival! To find out more about our volunteer opportunities and to apply, please visit our "Become a volunteer"section of our website. There you'll find all the information you need about the roles available and the application procedure. We look forward to meeting you!
We're delighted to consider new partnerships for the Art Explora Festival. To find out how, please visit our dedicated page or write to us at contact@artexplora.org