Sowing Seeds: Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 July 2025

Sowing Seeds: 21 international artists respond to their time in West Attica on Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 July 2025

Wednesday 16 July
8.30pm
St Marina Festival, Aspropyrgos
Thanasis Serepa Farm (next to the Church of Agias Marina)
Aspropyrgos 19300

Thursday 17 July
8.00pm
[SiC] Space for International Cooperation
Nileos 6, Athina 11851

For two weeks a group of international art and design students have been exploring the unique environment of Athens, Elefsina, Aspropyrgos and the Thriasio Plain, connecting with local artists, communities and organisations.

The Shared Campus Summer School invites young creatives from around the globe to learn from the changing rural and post-industrial landscapes, and to critically explore issues of extractivism, globalism, and its ecological impacts. Through diverse creative practice this immersive residency also fosters exchanges with local communities, providing profound connections with the land, culture, and environment.

The young artists, who come to this place from far afield, reciprocate by sharing their responses and experiences through two public events, contributing to the Saint Marina Festival in Aspropyrgos on Wednesday 16 July, and hosting an exhibition at [SIC] space for international cooperation in Athens on Thursday 17 July. All welcome.

Participating artists: Karya Anliak, Anoushka Badola, Lia Bellini, Belén Fernández, Nevin Götschmann, Joana Felicia Hirt, Maeve Huthwaite, Yo Ichimaru, Ai Kawamura, Peer Langenheim, Maia Gazzella, Yana Nenkova, Caja Peters, Amalia Popescu, Arash Rafiei Karkavandi, Owen Sin, Hakata Takahashi, Ayano Ueda, Praba Velayudham, Yi-Ju Wang, Mingchi Yan.

Acknowledgements: The programme is curated by Heather Barnett, Andreas Kohli and Joëlle Bitton working in collaboration with Emilia Bouriti, the Syn+ergasia Art Platform, Georgios Papadopoulos and [sic] Space for International Cooperation. With thanks for all the creative encounters and collaborations with Athenian artists, designers and organisations including Loukia Minetou, Leonidas Agyros, BlueCycle, 3Quarters, Diti Kotecha from Théla, Maria Kampouri, Lara Alkisti Papadaki, and Tavros. With gratitude for the generosity of the people of Aspropyrgos as students have experienced the agricultural heritage of Aspropyrgos in collaboration with farmers such as Dimitris Hatzis and Antigone Liosi and tree growers such as Thanasis Serepas, and the cultural heritage through the songs of the spoken Arvanitika language by the singing group “Syn+Ergasia”: Mary Avraam, Eleni Dara, Koula Liosi, Mary Kapsala, Katina Neroutsou, and Kaiti Neroutsou.

SUMMER SCHOOL:
The Extractive Realities and Ecological Resonances Summer School in Athens explores issues of extractivism and its ecological impacts through a two-week residency connecting a group of international art and design students with local artists, communities and organisations, immersing them in the unique environment of Athens, Elesfina, Aspropyrgos and Thriasio Plain. The summer school allows them to learn from the rural land and post-industrial landscapes while fostering an exchange of insights and stories with the local communities providing a profound connection to the land, culture, and environment.
The summer school is organised by the Shared Campus Critical Ecologies group, encompassing myriad creative practices and discourses concerned with the ecological emergency that the world is facing and its impact on economies, communities and cultures. Educational activities aim to connect multiple voices, promote systemic thinking and strengthen the bonds between the arts, culture and sustainability.
Shared Campus is a cooperation platform for international education formats and research networks established by 13 leading international arts universities, schools and colleges.
Extractive Realities and Ecological Resonances is organised by University of the Arts London and Zurich University of the Arts, with 21 students attending from across the Shared Campus network: Kyoto Seika University, Taipei National University of the Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore, Hong Kong Baptist University, and City University of Hong Kong / School of Creative Media. The programme is curated by Heather Barnett, Andreas Kohli and Joëlle Bitton working in collaboration with Emilia Bouriti, the Syn+ergasia Art Platform, Georgios Papadopoulos and [SiC] Space for International Cooperation.
https://shared-campus.com/themes/critical-ecologies/