REVIEW: Tatlin’s Dream / Utopias. The Eternal Return

It is one of the few times in recent years in Athens that I leave an exhibition with two very strong feelings: the first is a sense of fulfillment, and the second, the sense of an exhibition of international standards. And what do I mean by that? As far as the first feeling — fulfillment — is concerned, through the exhibition “Tatlin’s Dream / Utopias: The Eternal Return” at the Athens Conservatory, curated by Dimitris Trikas, we have a rich and very powerful show, backed by an enormous amount of work that an experienced eye can immediately recognize. Most of the artworks, with very few exceptions, were created specifically for this exhibition and align with its concept — something quite rare, especially when it comes to new, large-scale productions in a country where the funds available to both curators and artists are minimal. As for the second aspect — in a Bauhaus building designed by Ioannis Despotopoulos, which houses the Athens Conservatory — Dimitris Trikas has created a small curatorial miracle. The exhibition serves as a model of coexistence and dialogue between art and architecture, both in the exterior and interior spaces. Works such as Katerina Botsari’s staircase that leads us straight into the dream; Dimitris Alithinos’s work from the 1970s that speaks of utopia and the end of an era; Kostas Christopoulos’s work with its deeply wounded political discourse, contrasted with Antonis Volanakis’s lightness of everyday utensils that nonetheless embody the fragility of social structures; Maro Fasouli’s enormous knitted artwork created of slides that depicts another reality; Nikos Giavropoulos’s video, where explosion is evident, in contrast with Nourako’s sculpture — white and translucent on a wooden base, balancing the playful with the realistic, the past (the Conservatory building) with the future — all bear witness to the fact that Trikas’s great advantage as a curator is that he takes risks. He takes risks not only in the choice of spaces — from Dromokaiteio and Elaionas to the Baggeion, the University of Athens, and the Athens Conservatory — but also because he does not rely on the same artists as a comforting habit, nor does he reproduce artistic models mechanically. On the contrary, he works hard, with passion and anxiety, to articulate his own personal voice within the contemporary visual art scene, to express his ideas — but above all, he works deeply and on multiple levels. That is what sets his exhibitions apart, with this latest one, for me, holding a distinguished place. He treads delicately between the major and the minor, giving meaning and creating dialogue through the Talks, Performances, and Guided Tours that he tirelessly organizes throughout the exhibition’s duration. In doing so, he demonstrates that an exhibition is a living organism that pulsates and vibrates — and within this environment, it includes the viewer as a participant. Ultimately, its role is social, because what matters to him is society, community, and the human being. Efi Michalarou

Participating Artists: Dimitris Alitheinos, Dimitris Ameladiotis, Filippos Vasileiou, Kostis Velonis, Babis Venetopoulos, Vasilis Vlastaras, Stratis Vogiatzis, Antonis Volanakis, Vasilis Gerodimos, Nikos Giavropoulos, Giannis Grigoriadis – Giannis Isidorou, Sofia Damouli, Anastasia Douka, Giorgos Drosos, Katerina Zafeiropoulou, Thodoros Zafeiropoulos, Pinelopi Thomaidi, Nantia Kalara, Fotini Kalle, Babis Karalis, Zisis Kotionis – Marianthi Efthimiou, Alex Louloudis, Architects of the Whale (Iris and Lida Lykourioti), Eirini Mantinau, Anastasīs Meletis, Nikos Moschos, Eleni Mouzakitou, Mania Benisi, Katerina Botsari, Nourako, Maria Papanikolaou, Dana Papachristou, Pinelopi Petsini, Nikos Podias, Panos Profitis, Dimitris Rentoumis, Kyrillos Sarris (1950–2024), Fani Sofologi, Marios Spiliopoulos, Athanasia Tsatsou, Giorgos Tserionis, Maro Fasouli, Marios Fournaris, Gioula Chatzigeorgiou, Marios Chatziprokopiou – Antonis Antoniou (video editing), Ce_Lab (Christos Charisis and Eleni Molyva), Kostas Christopoulos, Poka Yio

Photo: Artwork by Kostas Christopoulos, Installation view “Tatlin’s Dream / Utopias. The Eternal Return”, Athens Conservatoire-Athens, 2025, Photo: Dimitris Lempesis

Info: Curator: Dimitris Trikas, Athens Conservatoire, Rigillis & Vasilissis Georgiou B 17–19, Athens, Greece, Duration: 2/10-1/11/2025, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 13:30-21:30, Every Wednesday and Friday at 18:00, a guided tour is conducted by the curator Dimitris Trikas