Mystery 42 , Futuring Waters: A Speculative Manifesto- for and from – the Water of Elefsina: BOOK PRESENTATION

Our guest speakers include Michael Marmarinos, Denis Maksimov, Svetlana Mintcheva, Robert Punkenhofer, Irakleia Peppa, Eleni Rig , Dr Michael Scoullos και Jenny Marketou  

The publication draws from a long research as well as from a series of workshops led by the artist with Greek and international facilitators titled Futuring Waters that took place from May 29 through  June 29, 2023 in Elefsina. The idea focuses on the future of the dichotomies between nature, culture and art, while addressing issues related to hydrological emergencies, the climate crisis and anthropocentric accelerations in waterways.

It presents the views of artists, activists, archaeologists, ecofeminists, designers, writers, architectural thinkers and citizens from Elefsina who believe that a work of art can highlight the importance of the socio-political action of water in the coastal city of Elefsina and the Triassic Field. Moving between the local environmental histories of Eleusis ,Greece through the literal life of Aegean across the real and virtual landscapes water flows and ancestral mythologies this publication calls for new social and ecological possibilities centered on multi species cooperation “ It asks what are the implications of recognising water as an active agent capable of authoring and defending its universal rights”  – excerpt from the publication  introduction by Ariana Kalliga, curator based in New York.

Bios

Jenny Marketou  born in Athens, Greece  and based in Brooklyn,  New York. is an interdisciplinary artist, educator and activist she teaches at the New School for Social Research in New York. She holds an MFA from  Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, New York). Her work, which is included in several international art biennials , museums and collections  includes  installations, videos, books, public artworks,  performance, explores the relational structures and politics of collective intimacy and knowledge production. She is known for the large-scale public floating ecosystems she has designed, such as Rivering for the waterways in New York Harbour at Governors Island  as well as for her large-scale participatory structures, which she calls “wet gatherings.” These “wet gatherings” are based on  speculative design and the  participation of the public.She is the co author of How Assemblies Matter: Organizing from Below (2014),  Serious Games (2022) 

Svetlana Mintcheva is a strategy consultant working with program activities at the New York based non-profit, National Coalition Against Censorship (ncac.org) (where she was formerly director of programs). She writes on emerging trends in censorship, organizes public discussions and mobilizes support for individual artists, curators, authors, teachers and librarians. Dr. Mintcheva is the co-editor of Censoring Culture: Contemporary Threats to Free Expression (The New Press, 2006) and of Curating Under Pressure: International Perspectives on Negotiating Conflict and Upholding Integrity (Routledge, 2020). An academic as well as an activist, Dr. Mintcheva has taught literature and critical theory at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria and at Duke University, NC from which she received her Ph.D. in critical theory in 1999, as well as at New York University. Her current research focuses on the challenges to the concept of free speech posed by social media, political polarization, social justice movements and AI.

Robert Punkenhofer is founding director of ART&IDEA and co-owner of Carl Suchy & Söhne. In his work he crosses the limits of art, architecture, design and fashion as well as international business and diplomacy. He is responsible for more than 100 exhibitions and special projects on 3 continents, amongst others the visionary Mur Island with Vito Acconci for Graz European Capital of Culture, Vienna Art Week, Austria´s participation at the World Fairs in Aichi, Japan, Zaragossa, Spain and Shanghai, China as well as Flow Festival, the first open space for science and culture in the Danube region. He worked as Director of the Austrian Design Foundation, the Creative Industry Office at Austria´s Foreign Trade Organization as well as guest curator at Apex Art in New York and Goethe Institut Barcelona. He served as member of the International Advisory Council at Princeton University/ PLAS and is visiting professor at New York University.