Alexandros Efklidis has run the GNO’s ground-breaking alterative stage at the glittering new Stavros Niarchos Cultural Centre since it opened in 2017, a gift from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to the Greek state. In this time, the opera house has emerged from the side-lines of musical theatre to become one the world’s most exciting and ...
Read moreLong a favourite of museum visitors and ladies-who-lunch, the Benaki Museum restaurant on Koumpari Street welcomes visitors to its renewed space, with extended hours and a new aesthetic that channels the legendary Fofi’s restaurant in Berlin. With inspiring art by Alexis Akrithakis, and letters and works by his iconic peers who visited hi...
Read moreAt first sight, Athens may not fit our idea of modernist sobriety in planning and design. But over the last 200 years a remarkably rich understanding has slowly emerged, reconsidering the historical pressures that gave the city its unique rhythms. Anthropologist Tyler Boersen argues that this overdue fascination has made Athens into a par...
Read moreAthens Insider Literary Salon returns to Pangrati with a live conversation featuring award-winning writer and curator Ian Collins and veteran journalist Helena Smith discussing the anarchic life and legacy of the rebellious British artist John Craxton, on the centenary of his birth. During the last year, we have had the incred...
Read moreStart planning for Elefsina. With its empty factories and oil refineries, a line of tankers pointing the way around Salamina, its easy to forget that this seaside city was the most hallowed site of Ancient Athens. The city that represents nothing less than the eternal cycle of life and death is now the European Capital of Culture 2023. If...
Read moreDino Rubino, the Sicilian jazz pianist known for his elegant, bluesy interpretation on the contemporary scene, promises to electrify the Athenian public at the Zenith Music Festival with his Dino Rubino New Trio. Their premiere performance at the august Gennadius Library will have jazz standards alongside compositions from the trio’s late...
Read moreFollowing last year's powerful exhibition Reality Check Chapter II: Inner Sanctum, curated by Kostas Prapoglou, returns to the same place with 36 artists seeking through contemporary art, answers to new questions, figments of a dialogue between artists and viewers; a dialogue that has been unfolding unceasingly since the exhibition gave a...
Read moreWith 142 movies, 12 audacious premieres, and 4 major tributes, plus cult classics from the ‘80s in the Queer Britannia and New Hollywood section of the festival, the Athens International Film Festival which runs until October 9 promises an immersive experience for cinephiles. Athens Insider rounds up the must-watch films at the festival....
Read moreThere are so many superb outdoor fitness options on offer across the capital these days – from free Yoga and Pilates sessions to well-equipped workout stations – that you need never step foot inside a stuffy gym again (at least until January)! Take advantage of September’s perfect conditions to start down a rejuvenating new wellness path....
Read more[Lead] The 2022 Athens Festival’s programme line-up promises a provocative dialogue between art and social reality, underpinning the intractable role of artistic creativity in political engagement. From jazz diva Diana Krall to rock legend Patti Smith and techno whiz Jeff Mills, contemporary interpretations of Greek tragedies (German director Ulri...
Read moreDeputy Minister for Contemporary Culture Nicholas Yatromanolakis speaks to Sudha Nair-Iliades on the soft power of contemporary culture and of reimagining the way forward to cultural sustainability. You’re the first Deputy Minister of Contemporary Culture. Why was the office created? It has to do with the fact that contem...
Read moreFor a thought-provoking photo exhibition on climate change and sustainability, head to the Athens Conservatory where the Prix Pictet has chosen to house its current edition. The theme this year is Fire, an element that inspires hope and awe, yet is so often associated with the ravaging destruction it can bring in its wake. Each entry ta...
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