Meeting with the collectives members Elpida Rikou, Giorgos Stamantas, Sofia Grigoriadiou, Fotini Gouseti, Dimitra Kondylatou
Twixt: shortened version of betwixt, which means in between or neither the one, nor the other. The social anthropologist Victor Turner used the phrase betwixt and between in order to characterize the intermediate out of three stages of the rite of passage as ultimate transitional, subversive and creative moment of societies’ lifetime.
The TWIXTlab collective, which can also be considered an activist initiative, is situated between contemporary art and anthropology and it. They started as a lose association and now are a legal entity in order to get funding and be sustainable although all members maintain jobs to fund the space as well as their projects. They organise seminars, workshop, walks and other project that combine art and anthropology for example the “Learning form Documenta” program that is the counter to Documenta 14’s theme “Learning from Athens”.
Meeting with the coordinator Nikos Arvanitis and recent graduates Lefteris Chrysalis & Kasiani Goulakou.
For 3 years the students have run the project space that worked as a tool for them to curate their own events program. The focus has been on building a collaborative educational program and not so much on making exhibitions. The funding for the program came for DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) initiating cooperation with the Munich School of Fine Arts. At the moment the challenge is the find funding because the existing grant ended in the Dec 2016.
Meeting with the members Gigi Argyropoulou and Kostas Tzimoulis
The group started in 2011 with the occupation of a theatre space in Athens during which the group created a program lasting for 10 days and included interventions from more than 100 artists. Interventions were organized in the here and now, reflecting on moments of togetherness. The group is not just looking to occupy spaces but also looking to question the function of the existing space. The group creates a diverse program of performances and events in order to better utilize and thus occupy the space.
The group currently occupies a building which was the first nightclub in Athens and has gradually extended their occupation into the park. The Green Park can also be seen as a space in the hart of the crisis.
