Virginia Mastrogiannaki presents the performative reading of the Greek Constitution. The artist engages in a laborious and reflective performance lasting 4.5 hours. The effort, perseverance and endurance of the artist’s body, which is somehow transformed into a musical instrument to achieve the difficult goal of reading this fundamental text in its entirety, allude to the necessary mental, spiritual and physical commitment required to achieve high goals, such as the conquest, consolidation and deepening of democracy.

The work reading in/reading out is a performance that the artist presented on 30 March 2019 at the Conference Hall of the Old Parliament at the National Historical Museum (produced by MOMus – Experimental Arts Centre / Thessaloniki, with the support of Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Greece, curated by Areti Leopoulou). It is being presented again this year at the amphitheatre of EPMAS, curated by Sophia Elise Bouratsis, due to the importance of the work and its relevance to the theme of the exhibition DEMOCRACY.

The artist regarding her work:
reading in/reading out

“The Greek Constitution is the fundamental text on which the entire legislation of the country is based, regarding the rights and obligations of the citizen, as well as the organisation and the basic operational rules of the state and its institutions. It is an essentially political text, free of party affiliations, and is the basic axis on which the country’s constitution has been articulated since 1974.
The text of the Constitution of Greece is written to be read internally, as a study. Its phonetic reading requires meticulous plasticity and elaborate punctuation marks, which help the listener to follow and understand it. The utterance of speech is interwoven with the function of breathing and is coordinated with it involuntarily. Performative reading reading in/reading out is accomplished by maintaining speech uninterrupted, both on exhalation and inhalation. Reading in/reading out with its “unwinding”, continuous reading seems to transform the human body into a wind instrument.”

Υou may read here more about Virginia Mastrogiannaki

Saturday 18 January 
At: 13.00

Onassis Foundation Amphitheatre

National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum

Curated by: Sofia Eliza Bouratsi

Admission is Free
*Guests may enter and leave the amphitheatre at any time during the performance.