THE ΤΕΛΟΣ SOCIETY speaks to Sozita Goudouna, Founding Director of Greece In USA
Greece in USA is a non-profit organization with a global reach that promotes knowledge of contemporary and ancient Greek Culture while fostering international cultural cooperation, experimentation and social engagement. The organization's extensive programming includes commissioned artists' and curators' projects, residencies, educational and ecological initiatives and the commitment to cultivating a sensible culture of innovation and thought leadership.
We are dedicated to offering innovative and unique programs in education and the arts, all exploring the evolving diversity and richness of Greek and Cypriot cultures. The non- profit organization seeks to generate new thinking about the arts and promote cross- cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of creation.
The organization promotes international exchange of practice and knowledge in the arts - visual and sound art, dance, architecture, theatre - research on the methods used in curatorial and performing practices and investigation of points of intersection between the arts, science and the public sphere by means of interventions, collective actions, educational programs and publications.
Greece in USA aims to collaborate and build long-lasting partnerships with leading institutions and individuals who actively engage with Greece and its culture and to convey a comprehensive and distinctive representation of Greece and Cyprus by producing cultural and educational programs that encourage intercultural dialogue and enable cultural involvement.
Our principal goals are:
To shape and envision the image of contemporary Greece in the United States beyond existing stereotypes
To recalibrate the assumed center of Greek national narratives to include those who have often been denied historical recognition.
To transform the way Greek histories are told and produce projects that reflect the vast, rich complexity of Greek culture.
To support Greek inspired cultural practices by welcoming and nurturing new ideas and influential perspectives
To commission, produce and present contemporary Greek and Cypriot culture that grapple with many of the pressing social and political issues of our time
To foster Greek scholarship and cultural research within the American educational system
To develop a transatlantic network for the exchange of culture and ideas
To strengthen the development of structures in cultural policy & leadership, and foster worldwide mobility.
Greece in USA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization registered in the State of New York, tax-exempt ID no. 85-0828531. Contributions to Greece in USA are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Greece in USA's launch is under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture.
CARVING THE NEGATIVE
2021
TINOS - EVIA - LESVOS
CARNING THE NEGATIVE
curatorial text excerpts
"The action, “Carving the Negative” by ΤΗΕ ΤΕΛΟΣ SOCIETY, makes us confront three of the most important issues concerning the production and reception of contemporary art. The first of these, relates to the concept of the maker as well as the concept of the expertise regarding the creative condition. If we consider art as a field with specific boundaries and specializations, then, this position of unquestionable prestige and possession of knowledge associated with the role of the artist, is now occupied by a group, that in different circumstances would have hold the position of the spectator."
SOTIRIOS BAHTSETZIS
"A key question, and simultaneously a challenge, that arose during the exercise, was the term that would be most appropriate to describe the role of the participants. Is there a term that could appropriately define their contribution? Are they co-creators? Executors? Or maybe potential artists? Which component of the system has the most significance in the project; the inspirer of the idea or the one who implements it? Perhaps a new term should be invented that refers to those who implement the ideas of others, without the participation of the inspirers. Some may find this practice unethical. However, there is no norm, or rule that prohibits the realization of ideas that belong to others, as long as this is done with absolute respect to intellectual property."
DIMITRIS SPYROU
"The most striking aspect of our collaboration was the lack of authorship. That is to say that the flow of ideas - aesthetic, conceptual, material, and spatial - was dispersed throughout the group to such an extent that it was near impossible to ascribe ideas to an individual. Ranging from drawings of secret local treasures on tavern tablecloths, to human chains forming the shape of bull rams, to synchronised screams within clay oil pots, and halting village traffic to climb on-top of cars and drinking ouzo with passers-by, the artistic gestures formulated were strongly bound to the local, personal and collective memory of Lesbos, and appear at first glance far removed from the original artistic concepts and keys provided by artists.
In the absence of the ‘gift-giver’ (artist), and without a material object as the centre of social exchange, Carving the Negative facilitated a path for a new kind of ‘gift exchange’ to be materialised. Blurring the line between giver and recipient, the programme arguably facilitated a new kind of social bond - one based on deep listening and openness to new ways of learning how to be together with our memories (personal and collective) in place."
CHRISOULA LIONIS
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