Eva Giannakopoulou’s research-based performances include interventions in intercultural frameworks, touristic destinations, and secluded communities. Giannakopoulou explores what happens when particular groups of affinity or persons with unusual interests, vocations, and hobbies are invited to participate or present their preoccupations in the framework of a cultural event. Giannakopoulou participates in AB6 in the framework of GiGi: a Product of German-Greek Love, a Greek-German expo booth, where she invites groups of professionals of German origin or institutional affiliation to share services, specialization, and know-how.

#creativebooth #GreekGermanLove #invitation #participation #culturalevents

GiGi

The German-Greek pas de deux has been in the spotlight over the past ten years. GiGi builds around the story of the fruit of love of a German and a Greek. It is a tribute to Katzelmacher (1968), the famous film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, this year marking its 50th anniversary. The then iconic gastarbeiter, with the generic name Jorgos, now becomes GiGi, the fictional son of Jorgos, who returns to Germany to find a job. History makes circles and GiGi enjoys the feel of tragedy and irony. Indeed, many Greek youngsters have recently attempted to migrate to Germany, seeking labor and / or alternative lifestyles that a city like Berlin may provide. In the framework of recent cultural flows, many German cultural workers have also relocated to Athens. Which fantasies, desires, and representations govern such flows? GiGi is less a platform and more a gesamtkunstwerk. It hosts events communicated and branded through GiGi as a product and a restaurant: a hybrid space between a Greek tavern and a German biergarten. A co-production of the Athens Biennale and Goethe-Institut Athen.

Participants:
Front Deutscher Äpfel
Eva Giannakopoulou
Alexander Koch
Kosta Rapadopoulos / Jasin Challah
The Agency
The Peng! Collective

photos: Nysos Vasilopoulos, 6th Athens Biennale 2018 ANTI