SPHINX 2021 BIENNALE

BIENNALE OF HIDDEN THEBES

SOCIAL SCULPTURE

 

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SPHINX biennale

open call

 

SPHINX biennale was founded in 2015 and concerns the connection of the city huge cultural stock with contemporary art, cleverly promoting a global reflection aimed at social life itself. Its work is created by artists, researchers and citizens within the real social fabric of the city where there are designed and realized multiple artistic, cultural and social events that mobilize large sections of the population in various fields of science and change the moral and aesthetic dimension of life, proposing a new ontology. On this basis, the concepts we are working on are those of "holistic art", "social sculpture" and "human ecology".

 

The impasses of the modern world and human misery are necessities that force the reorientation of art to a morality in favor of a human ecology that trusts the creative ability of all human beings and leaves the future of the planet in them. We consider social sculpture as that theoretical vehicle that restores the lost, primordial content of social participation in contemporary art, revealing that deep thread that connects the past with the modern world. In this way the SPHINX biennale expands and gives a way out to similar concerns that are practiced in Europe and in the world. More information on social sculpture can be found at the following link on the official website: https://www.sphinx-biennale.com/social-sculpture-2018

 

 

The SPHINX biennale 2021

ANTIGONE - LIMITS AND BORDERS

 

 

The international biennale SPHINX, raising the bar in the contemporary intellectual search this year, by persistently exploring the foundations of human meaning and the impasses in the identity of the human being-culture, proposes, through a multifaceted international artistic call, the artistic search with the theme: ANTIGONE - LIMITS AND BORDERS. The subject seeks to explore the limits of modern inclusion, and the role of women by referring to the corresponding question of human limits posed by the face of the mythical Antigone, princess of Thebes, in the eponymous Sophocles Tragedy. What we want is to examine the broader concept of incarceration, inclusion as a social and cultural condition, its reasons and texts, violence and hated rules, the mechanics of identity, surveillance and punishment in the modern world. The world news come here to give us many examples.

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The biennale that will take place from 2-17 October 2021 with exhibitions and events in two (2) different places in the city, but also in various outdoor spaces, will be attended by artists from around the world, the student community, students of Schools of Fine  Arts and the public, precisely in that context of social coexistence and osmosis, of the enormous cultural tradition with modern culture, that which enriches and highlights the present city.

 

The SPHINX biennale, connecting the rich, ancient cultural heritage with the international space of contemporary art, combines them in parallel with the needs of education and cultural expression of all ages, inventing and intensifying conversational actions of Greek and international art. For this reason, on the one hand, it recommends horizontal models of communication between the local and the international space of art and culture, and on the other hand, vertical local systems of action between artists, the public and students.

 

​Detailed exhibitions:

 

A. International art exhibition in the city of Thebes on: "ANTIGONE, LIMITS AND BORDERS / ANTIGONE - LIMITS AND BORDERS"

B. Exhibition of Greek visual artists at the Archaeological Museum of Thebes on "Modern culture and the tradition of texts". The big book, of the artistic group "Horizon of Events".

C. Presentation of the art installation on "The Limits of Appearance", by the artistic group of the Sphinx.

D. Art exhibition of the student community of the area with the theme: "Antigone, Boundaries and Borders".

E. International symposium open to the public on the theoretical form of "social sculpture".

F. Educational - artistic event with the participation of the public

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Projects / artworks

 

Artists are invited to propose work in full relevance to the above subject, in painting, sculpture, installations, multimedia, performances or any other genre that can express creatively on the subject. Important elements are considered both the originality of the expression, as well as the philosophical-semantic element that gives new dimensions to the above reflection. More information on the subject can be found in related texts presented here.

 

There is no size limit for projects. Each artist can suggest a work, sending his proposal by filling in the special form and attaching 1-3 photos, drawings of the work or a link (myspace, YouTube, Vimeo, personal URL…) in case of video. The proposal should be sent to thebes.sphinx@gmail.com, no later than August 15, 2021. The cost of examining the proposal is € 20 which should be deposited in the bank account of the SPHINX biennale IBAN GR66 0172 1550 0051 5509 8489 926, BIC: PIRBGRAA) while at the same time the proof of deposit should be attached to the proposal.

 

The selections of the works will be made by a special committee of artists, curators and academics and until August 30 the selected ones will be informed by a letter in their personal e-mail, while at the same time their names will be announced on the official web site of Sphinx.

 

Those interested can download the participation form. The same form contains the terms of participation that are considered to be accepted upon submission.

The selected works must have been received under the responsibility of the artist by the organizing committee of the biennale, no later than September 15.