Free time: Alexandrou
Saturday, November 3, 12:00 – 14:00, Fanosthenous Street and at the nearby tavern, Vassilis Grill House, 11 Fanosthenous Street, Athens
Duration: 2 hours
In case of rain: Vassilis Grill House, 11 Fanosthenous Street
The event is inspired by the book “The Mission Box” by Aris Alexandrou, who lived in this area, in addition to a local youth initiative, to transform the Square and Fanosthenous Street into an educational space, for social technology skills, ways of collective decision making, based on collective practices of the past.
A general, in 1946, orders his soldiers to sustain manually the mechanism of the town clock, so that order is reinstated, despite the fact that the clock does not function. A young soldier reacts against this authoritarian command suggesting the annihilation of the clock, converting the Square into a space for collective decision making and action. He channels the public into a discussion, a “world café” at the local tavern, around the issue of “keeping something that does not work”, relating it to time; the time we spend insisting on old models, in addition to the way we lay out our daily life, constricting the depth we allow for crucial subjects.
This is the fourth and final, of a series of artistic events tracing the work of Greek writers in the city of Athens, reinforcing the connection of Athenians with literature, through experience, in addition to highlighting specific sites through books. Each event contains a collective action, voicing issues of daily city life related to time.
It is part of the #UrbanDig_Ushakova artistic project of Ohi Pezoume company.
The program of "Athens 2018 - World Book Capital" is realized due to the support of its donors and supporters. The Major Donor is Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Gold Donors are the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation and CORE Construction. Institutional Donors are the Onassis Foundation, the Wellfare Foundation for Social and Cultural Affairs, Athanasios Laskaridis Charitable Foundation and the Greek Collecting Society for Literary works. Valuable contributors are Aegean Airlines, Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" and Urban Rail Transport S.A.
Photo by Maria Toultsa