it happens in Thessaloniki / ART and the case of illusory masses
10th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
Seen nothing due mainly to my illness. You can still catch up until Sunday for some gems in the dirt. I do not agree with the choice of the central axis around which the whole festival evolves and I am not in the least interested in its main ‘focuses’ once again. By the way, I am heavily into a ‘documentary phase’ so if you have anything to suggest I would be very grateful. If you feel like suggesting please stay at the bizarre or at least the ‘off-beaten’ path.
Two weeks ago I went to see the exhibition of Pablo Picasso’s Suite 347 at Teloglion Foundation. If there is something to be said is simply “amazing”. In fact there are no words to express the feelings correctly and to properly describe this ‘art-achievement’. Created at a very late age, past 80, and in minimum time, some months, this collection of engravings done in 1968, bears the sign of grandeur. ‘Un-repetitive’ and original at extreme degree for a sum of 347 pieces, this suite is a work of a genius pushing once more the medium to its limits, exploiting it beyond exploitation. This could only have been accomplished by a master of ‘river-flowing’-like creativity and power like Picasso. One of the true fews.
However this great ‘ultra-highlight’ exhibition brings forth another great matter, sadly descriptive and indicative of a whole foul attitude. This particular exhibition is rightly overexposed and everyone should go and see it. Everyone should take their kids along [and it would be better if I did not hear anyone talk about obscenity]. But this is not just it. The day I paid my visit to the foundation was a Sunday and it is easily explainable that there were many people visiting also at the same time. What is not explainable is the fact that we are talking about a really large crowd, the exhibition spaces literally crammed with people. It was just a Sunday, the exhibition had started already a month ago and it would end more than a month later so what was all this buzz about. This is what is going on there almost all the time, especially on weekends.
To add to this surreal, for Thessaloniki, situation, much to my surprise, I saw the other day full page ads of a local mobile telephony provider talking about the exhibition, urging people to go and visit it, even offering half-price coupons at their shops for the exhibition tickets. All that seem just fine but is not.
There is no thriving art community in Thessaloniki. No big informed and of acquired taste audience nor even a simply artistically adventurous or at least artistically conscious audience. Of course there are many people here pursuing their deep interests in arts one way or the other but no such thing like the masses at Teloglion. People feel obliged to attend such events even if they mean nothing to them. But that is not enough. These who create and promote these obligations should care more for creating and maintaining a solid art background for the possible audience. This will lead them to Suite 347 and “Suite 347s” in the future. It is a great thing that all these people saw the Suite but that should not make them feel exactly active concerning art. They should look for more on themselves and on a regular basis. It is not an obligation, it is not something that needs to be done [although it needs], it is something that someone must feel like doing it before there is a meaning in its ‘needed to be done’ or ‘must-to’ status. It is a great pity if the need or “need”, even worse, for art is fulfilled only spasmodically and scarcely by major and popular events like the one discussed here. These meet all the requirements for the highest level of this need completion but just sticking to them is not the right and the desirable solution.
The exhibition lasts until 16/4.
