Documenta 14 opens in Athens

The cultural event of the year will be inaugurated from April 6 through April 8 in Athens and is none other than the “Documenta 14”, the major international exhibition of Contemporary Art. This exhibition, which for the first time in its history “coming out” of its permanent seat in Kassel, Germany, among other things is invited to answer the critical question of what “public product” means nowadays, at all levels - artistic, political and economic. In Athens, the exhibition will run until July 16 and in Kassel from June 10 until September 17. An indication of the size and importance of this cultural event is the number of visitors who are expected to attend at the inauguration: more than 5,000 people, including journalists, artists, bloggers, art critics and professionals. Syntagma Square, the central square of Athens, has acquired a work of art open to the imagination of the public, which shall serve as an introduction to what is to happen next. Actions from around the world will be presented, demonstrating a dialectical relationship that is attempted for the first time in the 60 years of the artistic institution’s history, under the title: “Learning from Athens.” In this context, the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) opens its doors - as the largest exhibition venue of the event - to host a significant part of the “Documenta 14”. The other venues that will host activities and works of the exhibition include branches of the Benaki Museum, several archaeological sites, museums, archives, the Athens School of Fine Arts, higher education institutions, as well as sites that represent the experience of the street culture. In turn, the “Documenta 14” will host in Kassel a part of the museological study of the permanent collection of the EMST, with works of Greek and international contemporary art, at the Fridericianum Museum.