Open Call for artists and artistic groups

Submission of plays: 20 May – 1 June 2022

What does the museum have to do with theatre? Can a museum hall be transformed into a theatre stage and a theatre text interpret a museum’s collection? What is museum theatre and what stories of movement can it highlight?

The Municipality of Athens is making an open call to adult artists and artistic groups to write and perform theatrical texts on the theme “Stories of Movement” inspired by the collections and history of selected cultural sites of the Municipality. The action “Theatre at the Museum” is implemented in the framework of the Culture Is Athens programme by the Culture and Sports Organisation of the Municipality of Athens (OPANDA) and Technopolis of the Municipality of Athens. In this context, the Industrial Gas Museum of Technopolis as well as the Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Angeliki Hadjimichali” and the Athens Municipal Gallery of OPANDA will be a source of inspiration for the writing of theatrical works and the natural setting for their performance.

The theatrical competition is being held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe. Taking the concept of displacement and refugeeism as a starting point and the city of Athens and the collections of cultural sites as a central axis, participants in the competition are invited to inspire and write a play and submit it between 20 May and 1 June 2022.

The three best theatre texts for each site will be selected by a jury of scholars and artists from the fields of museums, theatre and writing and will be transformed by their authors into theatre performances. In each venue, the three shortlisted performances will be performed on the same day and, after a vote, the audience and the jury will choose their favourite performance, which will be awarded a cash prize. The performances will take place between October and December 2022 and will be aimed at adults.

The “Theatre at the Museum” action is based on the Museum Theatre technique, according to which theatrical art is used as a tool for interpreting the museum space, expanding its narrative potential through the performance of a theatrical text.

Through the action, the audience is given the opportunity to discover the museum collections and their history through the vibrancy of theatre art. At the same time, artistic groups in the city are given the opportunity to create, interconnect and communicate with the public through the museum collections and through the museum spaces themselves. The concepts of displacement and refugeeism trigger art and combine the past with the present, aspiring to open up artistic – and not only artistic – dialogue in the city.

Detailed information, terms and conditions of participation can be found in the ANNOUNCEMENT of the Competition, which has been posted on the websites of OPANDA, Technopolis and the Industrial Gas Museum.

photo credits: National Theatre of Greece