[UN]FINISHED - Athens: 150 Years of Bureaucracy

Artists: Maria Lalou & ٍSkafte Aymo-Boot

The architectural archetype of the unfinished concrete building can be found everywhere in the Athenian cityscape. Those structures, left in the middle of a discontinued building process in a seemingly never-ending pause, are signs of invisible financial and political forces defining the physical appearance of the city. With its character of a ruin of a forgotten purpose the unfinished building is at the same time pointing to the past and to the future, as a frozen moment of time preserved ever since its volume reached that concrete state. The unfinished concrete skeletons of Athens are keepers of stories that are evidence of unseen structures that form the Greek society: family, bureaucracy, and finance. The work of Lalou & Aymo-Boot makes apparent how these ever-present factors continuously influence the everyday of the city and its inhabitants.
In 1871, Georgios Manolis Barbaresos signed his will, stipulating that his wife would inherit his mansion in the centre of Athens under the condition that she would not remarry. Otherwise, the village of Kastanitsa, the birthplace of Barbaresos, would become the owner of the building. The original mansion was demolished, and an unfinished concrete skeleton was constructed in its place. Using archival material, interviews, and film footage, the video unfolds the chronicle of 150 years of bureaucratic struggle originating in the will, tracing the connection between the unfinished concrete skeleton at the corner of Geraniou and Pireos Streets and the remote village in the mountains of Arcadia, along with the prejudices on women's identity in society from deep in time until nowadays.
The full story of ‘Barbaresou Legacy or The Cursed One’ is included as one of the chapters in the book '[UN]FINISHED - Atlas of Athens’ Incomplete Buildings - A Story of Hidden Antimonuments' by Maria Lalou & Skafte Aymo-Boot, published 2023 by Jap Sam Books.

Maria Lalou is a Greek conceptual sculptor and experimental filmmaker. Her work focuses on the politics of the viewer in the form of installations, performances, filmic documents and publications. She has presented her work internationally in exhibitions, screenings and lectures and published two monographs [theatro], Onomatopee - 2015 & the camera, Dolce Publications - 2019.
Skafte Aymo-Boot is a Danish architect with an independent design and research practice. He has realised a variety of permanent and temporary works in Europe and Asia, many of which are the result of collaborations with artists operating in the overlap between architecture and visual art. He is also a partner at the architectural office OP – Open Platform in Copenhagen.
Since 2012, Lalou & Aymo-Boot work together on [UN]FINISHED, their continuous research on the unfinished concrete buildings of Athens. In 2020, they founded ‘cross section archive’ in Athens, a space for art & architecture, which they direct and curate with an annual thematic program of research, exhibitions and the publication Document.

"the Creative Home Residency program" is a collaboration between AllArtNow and Residence Botkyrka welcoming artists, curators, architects and critics who aim to experience a residency as a family and see what it can bring to their artistic research and work. It considers the challenges artists in a family setting face when trying to further their international networks and artistic careers. Therefore, it offers child-friendly accommodation where children, partners, or accompanying persons can join.

Optical Emotions

Artist: Nisrine Boukhari

Curators: Abir Boukhari 

Optical Emotions crystallizes an essence of our present time. An experience unfolds wherein emotions are given tangible form within the artistic medium, inviting us to go through the intricate passages of our innermost being. These visual narratives implore us to take time for introspection to unearth the secrets of our emotional landscape that resonate profoundly within us at this very moment.
The idea of optical Emotions aligns with the concept of synaesthesia, where one sensory experience triggers another unrelated sensory experience. Assigning shapes or colours to emotions might help individuals express and understand their emotions more tangibly.
Encounter the mirrors reflecting the multiple facets of your existence and engage in a dialogue with yourself, for it is in the space between contemplation and perception that transformative insights blossom forth.