Portals

The publication features extensive installation photographs documenting the exhibition, as well as essays by Dimitris Daskalopoulos, NEON Founder; Elina Kountouri, NEON Director and Madeleine Grynsztejn, curators of the exhibition; essays by Konstantinos A. Papageorgiou, Professor of the Philosophy of Law on the visions and ideals of the Greek Revolution; Maria D. Efthymiou, Professor of History, on the history of the Greek Revolution;
Maria Vlassopoulou, Head of Department of the Benaki Library and Peggy Dara, Architect for the Technical Services of the Hellenic Parliament who navigate the history of the former Public Tobacco Factory; Fanis Kafantaris, Architect and NEON Head of Design, as well as curatorial texts on each artwork presented, aiming to deepen the reader’s understanding of the exhibition and the artistic practices.

This exhibition aimed to highlight how this particular moment in history took us through a portal. When we emerge on the other side, we will need to reaffirm – for the sake of present and future generations – our commitment to certain values: equity, interdependence, mutually agreed upon consensus, and respect for human dignity. The global scale of the challenges and consequences of the pandemic make this reaffirmation
imperative.

The exhibition Portals was the result of a collaboration between the Hellenic Parliament and NEON to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence. Portals featured works from 59 artists from 27 countries, including 15 new site-specific installations commissioned by NEON. Among them, 18 Greek artists exhibited new works or works whose framework of creation and presentation has been renewed to make them site-relevant.