KATERINA GREGOS___ CURATOR
Katerina Gregos, an esteemed curator and cultural leader, has consistently navigated the interconnection between art, society, and politics throughout her career. Her curatorial endeavours have crossed international boundaries, reflecting a commitment to exploring themes of democracy, human rights, and global dynamics. Gregos brings a sophisticated perspective to her role as the Artistic Director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (ΕΜΣΤ) in Athens.
Under Gregos’s visionary direction, ΕΜΣΤ embarks on a bold exploration with the exhibition cycle WHAT IF WOMEN RULED THE WORLD? challenging the prevailing narrative of underrepresentation of women artists but also examines the hypothetical domain of female governance and leadership. Fluoro’s Editor Nancy Bugeja interviewed Gregos who shares insights of this groundbreaking exhibition which not only champions the significance of women in the arts but also confronts societal norms, paving the way for critical dialogue and transformative change within the cultural landscape of Greece and beyond.
Fluoro (F). Can you share more about the inspiration behind WHAT IF WOMEN RULED THE WORLD? What led to the decision to exclusively showcase works by women artists at ΕΜΣΤ Athens?
Katerina Gregos (KG). The exhibition cycle WHAT IF WOMEN RULED THE WORLD? constitutes an unequivocal statement about the need for museums and institutions to showcase women more, but more importantly to conceptually test an oft-repeated hypothetical question: would the world be a better place if women led governance and were key decision makers? How would they “rule”? Would it be with the same sense of authoritarianism that men often deploy? Or would we witness a more equitable sense of government? Would it mean the end of political and armed conflict and deadlock? Would human rights be better? Would economic policy be fairer and more considerate of the environment and the non-human world? Or would there be the same obsession with profit, no matter the human and environmental cost, and selfish anthropocentrism? Would there be more discussion and compromise? And, ultimately, would the world be a more caring and compassionate place? Or would we bear witness to the same human flaws, corruption and abuses of power engaged in by those in critical decision-making positions? We pose this question not because we are interested in establishing a matriarchy but because we’d like to think about whether there is an alternative to the patriarchal paradigm that is driving the world to impasse and disaster through senseless war, unchecked ‘development’ and ecocide, among other things..
F. How do you believe this exhibition contributes to challenging and changing the existing narrative of underrepresentation of women artists in the art world?
KG. It was important to make a statement about women’s importance within the arts within an arts institution in Greece, which has never had an organised feminist movement in the visual arts, and where blatant sexism still abounds in some quarters of society. For example, one cannot help but think of the recent rise in femicides in the country in the wake of Covid-19 and beyond.
Within this context, in addition to the international artists we will present as part of the wider programme, it was especially important to showcase the works of extremely significant Greek artists such as Leda Papakonstantinou (b. 1945), a pioneering feminist artist whose work has not been appreciated as much as it should have because she came of age during the dictatorship and worked during a time when men dominated the Greek art scene. Also Chryssa Romanos (1931–2006), who was the wife of Nikos Kessanlis (1930–2004), a seminal Greek artist of his generation. While both spent 20 years in Paris (19601–1981) and were part of the circle of Pierre Restany and the Nouveaux Realistes, it was a time when women artists were in the shadow of their male artistic companions. Chryssa was an accomplished artist in her own right, making some of the most interesting socially and politically critical photocollages of her time (in fact, several years before Martha Rosler’s Bringing Home the War), but as she came from a small country and had a very famous and boisterous partner, her work was not as appreciated as it should have been.
F. WHAT IF WOMEN RULED THE WORLD? will unfold over four parts. Can you elaborate on the decision to structure the exhibition in this way and how each part contributes to the overall narrative?
KG. While there is no single thematic narrative, there are several intertwining threads, and many common points of reference and dialogue as well as conceptual and aesthetic affinities between works. While there is a feminist undertone, the exhibitions are not exclusively about gender and identity issues but also social and political issues, and the entanglements between them. What many of the artists share, especially in the re-hang of our collection in the exhibition WOMEN, together (with work exclusively by female artists) is an interest in materiality and the handcrafted, existential or humanistic issues, and the ephemeral nature of all things. Here, there are several works that incorporate and re-signify objects and materials extracted from the domestic/everyday environment which are transformed through meticulous manual sculptural processes and fragile gestures.
The complexity of human existence and the quest around perennial questions of life and death are evident in several works, as is a preoccupation with entropy, breakdown, decay, and fragility, reflecting the current state of uncertainty. Enquiries into the body as a site of contestation and the multiple renderings of its meaning in relation to domesticity, work, sexuality, and self-representation are also explored. While the majority of works are not focused on the female condition per se, there is an underlying preoccupation with questions of equity or oppression and difference. Finally, there are artists who probe issues regarding history, memory and collective/cultural identities centering around the critical geopolitical position of Greece and its immediate geographic surrounds in South East Europe, the Mediterranean, and the former Levant. These are the territories of the former Ottoman Empire, and with them come a multitude of suppressed or marginalised histories that lay dormant in the wake of new nation building in the twentieth century. The legacy of this history and the current history of the wider region with its rich historical, cultural, and socio-political narratives lie at the heart of ΕΜΣΤ’s renewed collection policy. For the rest, the 14 or so solo exhibitions that will be on view during the whole of 2024, deal with a wide variety of issues seen from a female perspective: from migration and work, domestic violence, and ageism to issues of representation, the influence of the Internet and the correction of art history.
F. Drawing from your extensive international experience, how do you perceive the role of museums and exhibitions in shaping global conversations around important themes, such as gender equality and representation in the arts?
KG. I’ve been very lucky to work in several institutions, both public and private, in Greece and abroad, and each was very different. EΜΣΤ is by far the biggest challenge by virtue of its sheer size (20,000 square metres) and because it is a relatively new museum that has only recently begun to carve out a history. ΕΜΣΤ has the advantage of being a truly a 21st-century museum, since it was only founded in 2000. It also occupies a very distinctive geographic and geopolitical space as we have the good fortune of being neighbours with countries of the MENA regions and also having a Mediterranean identity. Greece is in a pivotal position in relation to the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, areas rich in historical and cultural narratives. This is something that has played a role in determining the vision for the museum – especially the collection policy – together with my own curatorial interest in international and Greek artists working with social and political issues.
Our aim is to carve out a distinct position in the international museum ecosystem by reflecting its rich geopolitical space at the nexus of East and West but also developing an exhibitions programme that talks about what matters in the world today. And we don’t want to mimic Western mainstream institutions. Someone coming to see a museum of contemporary art in Athens does not want to see the same things they have seen in London, Paris, Amsterdam, or Berlin.
ΕΜΣΤ is a 100% publicly funded institution, which functions at an arm’s length. There is no government or private interference that influences artistic decisions. This is an incredibly privileged position to be in but also a necessity to develop a certain critical mass which has an effect on our constituents. While it comes with some challenges, it is also a position which is necessary for art and artists to function: a position of freedom. I believe that a public museum like ours must have a social and educational function, which today consists of promoting awareness of political, social and environmental issues, producing knowledge outside dominant narratives and mainstream circuits, and also supporting artists in the best possible way. This is why we announced, from the start, that we will be paying fair wages to all artists and cultural practitioners who work for or in the museum; the latter are remunerated depending on the kind of work they exhibit or produce.
F. Looking ahead, what are your hopes for the future of gender representation in the art world, and how can institutions like ΕΜΣΤ continue to contribute to this dialogue?
KG. It is cultural identity that particularly interests me, and how this is shaped and constructed. Recently this aspect of identity has also played a key role in the narrative we have explored as we constructed a renewed mission and direction for EMΣT, in particular its identity as an institution. At a time of institutional crisis for arts organisations, EMΣT has carved out its own position, true to the hybrid identity of Greece, which has been shaped both by Eastern or Levantine as well as European and Western influences. Our programme will always include women artists, curators and educators and we hope to inspire others to follow our example. But apart from that we need to remember that change needs to be implemented structurally and that you have to practise what you preach.
There’s no use doing exhibitions by women artists if at the same time, you don’t have equal representation of women in positions of responsibility in a museum.
By continuing to talk about the issue of gender equality, and not treating it as a fashion or passing fad, we can collectively keep the discussion going and influence future decision making processes by changing the way people think about these issues.
F. How has your Greek heritage influenced your perspective as a curator and your approach to the arts?
KG. My Greek heritage has definitely influenced my perspective as a curator and my approach to the arts in the sense that I’ve always been aware of the influence of one’s surrounding geography and culture. I’ve always seen art as part of a wider context, whether social, political, geographical or cultural; it was never just art-for-art’s sake. I grew up in an environment with opinionated parents where hot debates were always ongoing. My father was very socially and politically minded, he experienced both WW2 and the Civil War as a very young man – events that shaped him for the rest of his life, and my mother was a 60’s flower child, so the former was an advocate of pacifism, social justice, egalitarianism and the common good, the latter had a very libertarian view on life and was a very progressive and emancipated woman. Also from my grandparents, I learned about the experience of World War II, in a very vivid manner. And at school I was especially interested in the theory of knowledge, history and politics. All of that has shaped the way I see art and work as a curator.
WHAT IF WOMEN RULED THE WORLD? is a multi-part year-long programme exclusively dedicated to the work of women artists or artists who identify as female. On 8 March 2024, International Women’s Day, Part II of the exhibition cycle will inaugurate six new projects by five artists. Part IV now showing. On until November 2024 at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMΣT).
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ΕΜΣΤ
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Conversation with Nancy Bugeja. Thank you Katerina Gregos and ΕΜΣΤ.
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