NEW YORK – Project Initiator/ coordinator Eirini Linardaki announced a Kickstarter campaign for the Occupy Art Project #3 exhibitions at the Consulate General of Greece in New York and the Consulate General of France in New York.

The Curatorial Team includes Shani Ha, Julien Gardair, François-Thibaut Pencenat, and Eleni Riga with graphic design by Vincent Parisot. The Major Partner for the project is ARCAthens.

Linardaki noted via email that “we need financial help to cover our expenses for installation, printing and framing of artworks for artists who cannot travel, renting a car and paying for fuel to transport artworks within the city, removing artworks and returning them to artists all over the world, but also pay for nails, command strips, and other humble installation items.”

She continued: “We have been translating all of our texts for the exhibitions and for our publication with Analogues publishing house for contemporary art. We will create a map of initiatives and promote art networks and artists that question, explore and create new paradigms in contemporary and public art.”

“We are initiating phase 3 of our research project and exhibitions in New York City based on art networks and cooperations and how they create new paradigms in contemporary art,” Linardaki said, noting that “more than 120 artists and curators are invited to ‘occupy’ the Greek Consulate General and French Consulate General in New York!”

“The project is conducted as a cooperative effort by the Occupy Art Project team. It is led by independent artists and curators,” she said. “We would like to highlight initiatives that respond to socio-political shifts, activist approaches, community based and public art projects that aim to shift hierarchies and provide more representation and accessibility for artistic minorities (artists immigrants, parents, artists in reintegration, etc.)”

More information on supporting the project via Kickstarter is available online: https://bit.ly/3L9JQQi.

The Occupy #3 opening night takes place on Wednesday, February 9, 6-8 PM, at the Greek Consulate General in New York City and will feature a special program by Alina Bloomgarden and her MOTI team/Musical Performance by Dawud Rahman at 7 PM. Proof of vaccination, ID, and the use of face masks are mandatory. Register for the event online: https://bit.ly/3LdauIg.

Also part of the project, “Family as a Network” is an exhibition of ARCAthens Virtual Residency (AVR) Fellows. Linardaki (AVR2 Fellow) has invited Eleni Riga (AVR3 Fellow) to curate an “exhibition-within-an-exhibition” showcasing all of the AVR Fellows, bringing “together artists from different communities who attempt to show the multiplicity and hybridity of family and kinship making. The artists in this exhibition participated in the Virtual Residency program of ARCAthens during the first two years of the COVID-19 outbreak, developing close ties in hard times.”

The exhibition opens to the public on Monday, March 9 and will be open Monday-Friday, 10 AM- 2PM by registration only through Eventbrite. Proof of vaccination, ID, and the use of face masks are mandatory.