“Can we become, literally, different people? Can we change our mind, our feelings, the way we think and exist in the world? The answer is, unquestionably, yes” says Laurie Anderson, experimental artist and guest Artistic Director of the programme Metamorphosis: The SNFCC to the World, taking place in Athens this week at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC). Specifically, from June 23rd to 26th, the SNFCC will once again open its doors and transform itself into a living space of ideas, exploration and interaction through an innovative programme of cultural, athletic and educational events for all age groups that will include, among others, guided tours, concerts, art installations and performances.
More than 400 renowned artists from around the world will come together in the Metamorphosis programme, where Greek and international creators shall contribute to a great celebration of collaboration and participation, values on which the SNFCC has been based. The pathways of the East intertwine with western traditions and the boundaries of different art forms are repealed. Music falls in step with nature, dance intertwines with sports, science becomes a game, and literature is turned into a performance for young and old. In a corresponding fashion, different age groups, generations, skills and singularities meet on a common platform that aspires to become a meeting place for all.
It is also worth noting that, during the four days of Metamorphosis, the programme shall bring together artists of different persuasions and styles, such as: Laurie Anderson, the pioneering artist and musician who will present an experiential performance; the subversive Syrian musician, Omar Souleyman, who will give a concert with Syrian folk music sounds enriched with pop and punk elements; the US-Iraqi musician Amir ElSaffar, together with the Two Rivers Ensemble band, who will present a musical “genre” of Jazz filtered through the melodies of traditional Iraqi music; Xylouris White, the legendary musician Giorgos Kritikos Xylouris and Australian musician Jim White who will compose melodies from a fantasy world that does not obey any music norm; and Greek singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki, who will participate with a unique concert and a series of musical happenings in cooperation with the Athens Conservatory and artists from the Greek jazz scene. The project “Water Passion, after St. Matthew” will also be presented, an original modern classical work by the internationally renowned Chinese composer, Tan Dun.
All the events of the Metamorphosis programme will be free of charge, as the aim is to offer the public the opportunity to become acquainted with the SNFCC, before it begins operating as an institution of the Greek State, which, as its future owner, will be responsible for the project’s management and operation. The public will thus, have the opportunity to visit the new facilities of the National Opera, the National Library of Greece, as well as Stavros Niarchos Park. In the course of the events, the SNFCC Membership Programme will be launched, aiming to provide members with special privileges related to SNFCC’s events and services as well as to motivate the public’s support for the operation of the SNFCC once it is delivered to the Greek State.
