Re/member Your House

The Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève is pleased to present Re/member Your House, which combines the first retrospective of Greek artist and filmmaker Menelaos Karamaghiolis with the project the AfroGreeks by Athens-based collective Døcumatism.

Re/member Your House, uniting two separate shows under a single title, will showcase on the one hand Døcumatism’s ongoing collaborative project the AfroGreeks and, on the other, Menelaos Karamaghiolis’s complex approach toward the moving image, presenting his video works and installations in the form of a solo exhibition.

In a career spanning four decades, Menelaos Karamaghiolis has been able to reveal the extent to which documenting real life can be an important starting point for art that is both contemporary and topical. His films record reality in a personal and poetic way, inviting the viewers to bring their own meanings to the scenes they witness. His unique approach questions the effects of cinema on society while also inspiring audiences to engage with film in interactive ways. In the context of his solo exhibition, Menelaos Karamaghiolis has decided to pay tribute to his friend Stelios Faitakis (1976–2023), an extraordinary Greek painter with whom he shared not only a passion for Byzantine Art but also a sense of tireless civic commitment. A dedicated room presents four paintings by the artist.

Døcumatism, the collective Karamaghiolis founded in Athens in 2009, gathers a group of filmmakers, artists, curators, historians, social workers, researchers, and educators with the aim of fostering public dialogue and exploring possible solutions to crucial social issues. A common aspect of his personal work and the missions led by the collective is the commitment to making the “invisible” visible. Through art actions, films starring real-life heroes, and stories that break barriers and stereotypes, the Døcumatism team makes film art a functional tool for those living on the margins of society.

Among the collective’s most important work is its ongoing project the AfroGreeks, which encompasses a series of videos, interviews, social interactions, and events. Creating a network within the communities of second- and third-generation members of the African diaspora in Greece, Døcumatism has over the years assembled an extensive audio-visual archive that strives to position the history of the African communities as an integral part of the Greek national narrative and history.

In Geneva, the AfroGreeks will be presented under the coordination of Døcumatism member Grace Chimela Eze Nwoke, a Greek anthropologist and performer. The exhibition will include a large number of video installations, live events, and an archive/laboratory with the research behind the project.

Re/member Your House
the AfroGreeks by Døcumatism
Curated by Grace Chimela Eze Nwoke

Re/member Your House
Solo show by Menelaos Karamaghiolis
Curated by Andrea Bellini

Opening: Tuesday, October 31, 2023
November 1–December 23, 2023