Xirómero/Dryland – Announcements – e-flux

Xirómero/Dryland: Greece’s Representation at the 2024 Venice Biennale

Xirómero/Dryland, the project that will represent Greece at the 2024 Venice Biennale, is an interdisciplinary collective work conceived by Thanasis Deligiannis and Yannis Michalopoulos created alongside artists Elia Kalogianni, Yorgos Kyvernitis, Kostas Chaikalis, and Fotis Sagonas. The Greek participation is curated by Panos Giannikopoulos.

Investigating the Experience of a Village Festival

The work consists of a piece of agricultural irrigation equipment which synchronizes a sound, video, and lighting installation in real time. It investigates the experience of a village festival, drawing on the experience of the panighíria—local folk festivals—of Thessaly and the area of Xirómero, in western Greece, which lends the work its title. The work navigates the political potential of sound and music and the impact of technology on rural landscapes and cultural diversity.

The Significance of Village Festivals

In between ritual and entertainment, the village festival is charged with content and meaning. It is connected to agricultural work; it is born of—but also begets—the community’s internal time cycle which follows the pace of irrigation and other agricultural tasks. It helps the community form an image of itself as well as maintain social cohesion and connectivity.

Utilizing Architectural Features for Symbolism

Xirómero/Dryland also utilizes the architectural features of the Pavilion of Greece to evoke images of agricultural warehouses or the religious architecture that is so often the backdrop of the panighíri. The watering apparatus at the center of the Pavilion delineates a circular perimeter in the space of the pavilion.

Water as a Central Point of Reference

Water—as a central point of reference here—is seen as a prism through which to reflect on issues of scarcity or abundance, as well as on its social connotations. As the watering system switches on, it sets a specific pace and marks the time like a clock suggesting specific routes for the viewers to follow. Inside the Pavilion, viewers become participants, on-stage becomes off-stage, the performative gives way to the everyday. This incessant interplay between ‘representation’ and reality is reproduced within the work itself.

Creating Associations and Shifting Perspectives

Xirómero/Dryland attempts to create associations between a geographically contextualized experience and the global condition; to facilitate shifts of perspective between dominant and marginalized cultural subjects which seem to open up a liminal space for the articulation of new meanings.

Commissioner/Organisation

• EMST | National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens
• Head of Production, Pavilion of Greece: Yannis Arvanitis
• Head of Communication and Press, Pavilion of Greece: Maria Tsolaki
• Exhibition Production: Giorgos Efstathoulidis—Constructivist Exhibitions, Antonia Chantzi

EMST

• Artistic Director: Katerina Gregos
• Administrative and Financial Director: Athina Ioannou

Research for Xirómero/Dryland was commissioned by the Onassis Foundation and conducted in the context of the Margaroni Residency by Onassis AiR Fellows: interdisciplinary artist and composer Thanasis Deligiannis and dramaturge and philologist Yannis Michalopoulos. The two of them brought together a team which includes visual artist and filmmaker Elia Kalogianni, photographer and documentary filmmaker Yorgos Kyvernitis, sound engineer and designer Kostas Chaikalis, and visual artist and architect Fotis Sagonas.

Press Enquiries

For all media enquiries, please contact Maria Tsolaki.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 2: Zero Hunger
• SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• SDG 15: Life on Land

The article discusses the experience of a village festival and its connection to agricultural work, rural landscapes, and cultural diversity. It also explores the themes of water scarcity and abundance, as well as the global condition. These issues align with the goals of Zero Hunger, Clean Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Life on Land.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding, and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
• SDG 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
• SDG 11.4: Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.
• SDG 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.

The targets identified relate to sustainable food production systems, agricultural practices, water-use efficiency, water scarcity, protection of cultural and natural heritage, and conservation of terrestrial ecosystems.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator 2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture
• Indicator 6.4.1: Change in water-use efficiency over time
• Indicator 11.4.1: Total expenditure (public and private) per capita spent on the preservation, protection, and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage
• Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area

The article does not explicitly mention indicators, but based on the identified targets, these indicators can be used to measure progress towards sustainable agriculture, water-use efficiency, investment in heritage preservation, and forest conservation.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: e-flux.com

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