Programme

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. 

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. 

“STEAM on Board” is an immersive workshop for students aged 12–15, inspired by Harvard’s *Project Zero* thinking routines. Participants are invited to observe clues closely and transform their discoveries into creative artworks. Along the way, they will solve riddles, conduct hands-on experiments, and design innovative tools. This dynamic experience encourages participants to think like scientists, act as engineers, create like artists, and document like journalists — all while deepening their understanding of the cultural context of this unique vessel. 

Liquid Ports group show with works by Ileana Arnaoutou & Ismene King, Despina Charitonidi, Eleni Mylonas, Maria Nikiforaki

Installation and Printing workshops by Katerina Stefanidaki and Zafos Xagoraris. Outdoor, printing workshops at the Piraeus port, with the use of magnetic surfaces and the participation of school students and other visitors

“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.

The sounds, images, and flavors of the Cyclades islands unite in a sensory journey celebrating the maritime cultures of the southern Aegean Sea today. Evoking the spirit of the traditional wooden boats that have connected the region for centuries, a radio broadcast of folk music and coastal soundscapes accompanies the screening of historical films tracing maritime life across ten Cycladic islands. Gathered around a communal table, ingredients from the land and sea mingle in homage to the region's culinary heritage.

In 2019, no fewer than 13,785 Greek caiques were In 2019, as many as 13.785 Greek caiques were scrapped and lost from the Mediterranean Sea. Seeking to combat overfishing and protect fish stocks, the EU program for subsidising the destruction of traditional fishing boats was introduced in 1991. The directive funded decommissioning of fishing vessels and returning fishing licences; in 2014, scrapping of caiques was also introduced.

*Verse from “Axion Esti” by the Nobel Prize-winning poet Odysseas Elytis. The Odyssey meets the musical tradition of the islands. In the universal history of the written word, the Homeric epic has always been a constant point of reference. There is no author or poet of major or even minor importance who has not been inspired or influenced by the rhapsode's work. Many other stories have fallen into oblivion, many adventures sunk. But the Homeric epic has not ceased to be sung in antiquity, in Byzantine times, right up to recent times. These sung verses express the gradual path to virtue, the thread that connects each man with his soul and then with the divine.

As part of the annual “Read Aloud” campaign of the online magazine “Kokkini Alepou”, Zoe Koskinidou reads The Secret of Parents by Nicolas Mathieu, illustrated by Pierre – Henry Gomont and translated by Katerina Schina.

Installation and Printing workshops by Katerina Stefanidaki and Zafos Xagoraris. Outdoor, printing workshops at the Piraeus port, with the use of magnetic surfaces and the participation of school students and other visitors

In collaboration with the multilingual library We Need Books, Naouzat – Anastasia Hantid reads “The Lantern” by Ghassan Kanafani in Arabic and Greek.

Music powerfully conveys stories of migration across the Mediterranean, capturing journeys by sea, experiences of exile, and the search for refuge. By creating and sharing songs and sounds, participants will build empathy and deepen their understanding of migration’s human dimension. 

Scola Society celebrates with a performance by DOXIES followed by a show by XVT. These two music acts consist of members of Scola Society and their friends. Coming together will form a celebration of networks opening up to the audiences of Art Explora Festival in Piraeus. DOXIES is a pan-Asian alternative rock band made up of multilingual musicians from different cities across China, based in Athens.<br>XVT is a young musician, originally from Egypt who writes music in Arabic, English and Greek. Through his music he seeks to represent Egyptian tradition in contemporary music.

Spontaneous Symphony for Barrels is a participatory sound happening where oil barrels and self-made instruments are offered to the audience as percussive objects, played with drumsticks. The performance unfolds as a spontaneous act—an impulsive eruption of sound without premeditation or external prompt. Rhythm and tempo emerge organically through the collective dynamics of the audience, transforming participation into process.