Athens
09
06
2023
CULTURE

Iannis Xenakis retrospective opens at Contemporary Art Museum on June 29

The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) is opening a large-scale exhibit on Greek-French avant-garde composer Iannis Xenakis on June 29.
The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) is opening a large-scale exhibit on Greek-French avant-garde composer Iannis Xenakis on June 29.

It is considered the largest retrospective of his work on a global scale, and is curated by experts from both Greece and France, besides EMST - in particular, curators from the Musée de la Musique-Philharmonie de Paris, the Estate Iannis Xenakis, and the Center for Contemporary Music Research-Athens Conservatory. It will also be the most extensive presentation of his music to a Greek audience, organizers said.

The exhibit of the multifaceted artist, who died in 2001, will run on two floors of the Museum, the ground floor and the third floor.

On the ground floor, the exhibition will focus on innovative approaches to music by Xenakis, who was trained as an architect and was a leading figure in the use of mathematical models in music. "Iannis Xenakis: Sound Odysseys" will be the most extensive presentation of his original work, unpublished sound material, architectural plans, and photographs, arranged into six units.

On the third floor, the show "Xenakis and Greece" will review the composer's complicated relationship with Greece and the cultural context of his work, including his founding of the Center for Contemporary Music Research now housed at the Athens Conservatory.

EMST will include sideline events (projections, recitals) that underline Xenakis' contribution to contemporary music.

The Xenakis exhibition is part of the Museum's policy of highlighting the work of important artists of the Greek diaspora.

It will run to July 1, 2024 (next year).
For visiting information, please see https://www.emst.gr/en/category/exhibitions-en.