FLOW – Long duration performance in public space

In 2023, with the long-duration performance “24 hours in the city | Like a Shadow | Thessaloniki”, the artist Alexandros Michail, walking in public spaces “like a shadow” for 24 hours gauged social interaction with the unfamiliar through his body, provoking countless and varied reactions from a very broad audience. The performance went viral, and people of all ages and social classes spoke about the shadow man” and recognized him in the streets.

https://vimeo.com/user171558113

This year, continuing his research on the dynamics of human body interaction with public space, the artist introduces to the audience of Thessaloniki the long-duration performance FLOW, a physical exploration of the dialectical tension between the internal and the external, the private and the public. Self-restricting within an open spherical architectural structure placed in busy locations throughout Thessaloniki (like an inverted panopticon), Michail transforms himself into an exhibit. A living sculpture in perpetual flow, constantly altering shapes in a slow but steady manner. Combining his training in mime dynamics, physical theater and dance as well as his experience as a model for artists, he will allow his body to move autonomously, like in free association, in a state of “total participation”. One movement follows another, governed by an internal logic without conscious involvement, entering the absolute present and a state of unified fluidity, where everything merges: inside and outside, above and below, environment and self, swirling in a vortex of increasing vulnerability within the public space. It is a physical and spiritual trial of immersion and emergence, inspired by Pre-Socratic philosophy and rites of passage, reminding us that the only constant in the physical world, in life and in human experience is continual change.

Conception – performance: Alexandros MichailidisSet design: Fotis SagonasCostume design: Maria KaradeloglouCommunication design and execution: Lia KesopoulouPhotography: Christos KyriazidisDocumentation of the action (photos and videos): Minas TsitsisProduction: vatiras

With the financial support of the Ministry of Culture. In collaboration with MOMus – Museum of Contemporary Art and the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Department of Culture and Tourism. The non-profit organization vatiras, based in Thessaloniki, is a center for art, education, and culture. Through the production of artistic events and the implementation of educational programs, it aims to contribute to the dialogue between the arts and contemporary society. So far, it has presented the works:

• – 24 Hours in the City | Like a Shadow | Thessaloniki – a long-duration performance in public space [conception – performance: Alexandros Michailidis, participation in the “Open Theatre Stage of the City” Festival, organized by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, 2023]*

• – Masks of the Night – theatrical performance [conception – direction: Alexandros Michailidis, participation in the “Open Theatre Stage of the City” Festival, organized by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Aneton Theatre / T Theatre, 2024]*

Alexandros Michailidis, performance and installation artist – director

He studied Contemporary Performance (Live art) and Physical Theatre in London, where he lived for 7 years, collaborating with significant representatives of the contemporary art scene and the English National Opera. Since 2013, based in Thessaloniki, he has been working in Greece and abroad. A fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation, he has been awarded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s ARTWORKS program, the Ioannis S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, and the International Festival of Physical Theatre and Mime PANPHYS. He was nominated for Best Director at the Queer Theatre Awards. He participated with a solo performance in the group exhibition AS ONE, organized by NEON+MAI (Marina Abramovic Institute). Recently, he directed Masks of the Night and became widely known for his long-duration performance 24 Hours in the City | Like a Shadow | Thessaloniki. His work has been presented at events and venues such as: Biennale Architettura 2018, La Biennale di Venezia (Venice), Battersea Arts Centre (London), Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival (Nicosia), Macedonian Opera & Ballet (Skopje), Other Music Academy (Weimar), Benaki Museum, Piraeus Municipal Theatre, Argo Theatre (Athens), State Museum of Contemporary Art, Pedio Drasis Kodra, Goethe-Institut, T Theatre, Aneton Theatre, Open Stage (Thessaloniki), Akropoditi International Dance & Dance Theatre Festival (Syros), Kozani State Theatre, etc. He has collaborated with the State Theatre of Northern Greece, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, etc. He is a founding member and artistic director of vatiras.

Fotis Sagonas, Visual Artist and Architect

His works have been exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York, the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, the Center for Contemporary Art Thessaloniki, etc. In 2012, he received the Fulbright scholarship for visual arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and in 2018, the ARTWORKS artistic award of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. From 2018 to 2022, he taught courses in spatial representations, visual arts, and architectural design at the Department of Architecture of the University of Ioannina. He is a member of the artistic group that represented Greece – through the collective work Xerometo/Dryland – at the 60th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.

Maria Karadeloglou, Set Designer – Costume Designer

A graduate with honors of a Master’s degree from the Department of Theatre of the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, specializing in Set Design – Costume Design, she has been awarded as a member of the design team at the Prague Quadrennial 2003 – 10th International Exhibition of Scenography and Theatre Architecture. From 1994 to 2004, she was an assistant to the set designer Apostolos Vettas. Since 2011, she has been a member of the theatrical group Passatempo, with which she co-founded the T Theatre in Thessaloniki in 2014. She has collaborated with the National Theatre, the State Theatre of Northern Greece, the Experimental Stage of “Techni”, the Thessalian Theatre, the Kozani State Theatre, etc.