ICΗTHΥOLATRY:
A Hybrid Performance of Water Deities
by Eva Giannakopoulou

PCAI presents

ICΗTHΥOLATRY

A Hybrid Performance of Water Deitie
by Eva Giannakopoulou

at PLYFA

Friday 27 & Saturday 28 January 2023
Starts at: 20.00

A co-production between Greece, Portugal and Italy
in the framework of the European project Stronger Peripheries,
co-funded by the Creative Europe

Polygreen Culture & Art Initiative (PCAI) presents "ICHTHYOLATRY: A hybrid performance of Water Deities", a performance conceived and directed by Eva Giannakopoulou at the PLYFA Industrial Park on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 January, in co-production with Artemrede (Portugal - in collaboration with the Municipality of Torres Vedras) and L'Arboreto (Italy).

Inspired by the theorist Astrida Neimanis' book "Bodies of Water" (2017), which introduces for the first time the concept of Hydrofeminism, according to which water, femininities, embodied practices and ecology are interconnected creating "new" future synergies, ICHTHYOLATRY is a hybrid performance with confessional elements about elderly, floods, fluids and menopause. It is based on research conducted in communities linked to rivers, lakes, torrents and groups of women, during the course of two research and two creative residency programmes carried out in Greece, Portugal and Italy, in the framework of the European project Stronger Peripheries: a Southern Coalition. The visual artist-director and the creative community jointly developed the dramaturgy and texts through personal confessions and interviews with individuals from the local communities of Piraeus, Torres Vedras, Portugal and Mondaino, Italy, in such a way that their content is an intellectual co-creation of all participants.

If water is the element from which all organisms originate, how could we possibly return to this original state of existence, removing the boundaries between evolution, genes, history, culture and nature? The answer to this question is what ICHTHYOLATRY attempts to answer, bridging the "gap" between past, present and future, between human and non-human forms of existence, jellyfishes and dogs.

The eccentric creatures of ICHTHYOLATRY - a warrior, a post-human creature, a female phenomenon and a fish - will inhabit the stage of the Plyfa Industrial Park and the stage of the Teatro Cine in Portugal to take a dive into a dreamy ocean of fluid possibilities. This is a performance that "dives" into an immersive universe of emotional and underwater coalitions.

Are you ready to swim?

* The performance is a new co-production of PCAI (Greece), Artemrede (Portugal - in collaboration with the Municipality of Torres Vedras) and L'Arboreto (Italy) in the framework of the European project Stronger Peripheries: a Southern Coalition, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. In 2023, ICHTHYOLATRY will also be presented in Portugal.

** The material of some costumes was created during a creative workshop with the audience attending the open rehearsal during the artist's artistic residency at Teatro Dimora L'Arboreto (IT).

*** The performance will be presented in Greek with English surtitles. It contains scenes of nudity and is recommended for those over 16 years old.

Direction and original concept: Eva Giannakopoulou Creative team/Artistic community: Marianita Karakosta, Eva Koliopantou, Maroula Papanastasi and Evgenia Vacalopoulou Texts: Eva Giannakopoulou, Marianita Karakosta, Eva Koliopantou, Maroula Papanastasi and Evgenia Vacalopoulou Lighting design: Nyssos Vasilopoulos Sound design: Pedro Pascoal Costumes Design: Eva Giannakopoulou Costumes Construction: Eva Giannakopoulou, Marianita Karakosta, Eva Koliopantou, Maroula Papanastasi, Evgenia Vacalopoulou Makeup: Eva Giannakopoulou, Marianita Karakosta, Eva Koliopantou, Maroula Papanastasi, Evgenia Vacalopoulou Performing on stage: Marianita Karakosta, Eva Koliopantou, Maroula Papanastasi, Evgenia Vacalopoulou Production management: Delta Pi Supported by the Brotherhood of Cefalonians and Ithacians Living in Piraeus and ΤwixtLab.

Information: pcai.gr, info@pcai.gr, +30 210 4060088 (Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm)

Tickets: 5€, by online reservation at ticketservices.gr
Ticket Office: Panepistimiou 39 (Pesmazoglou Arcade), Athens, Tel: +30 210 7234567

Plyfa Industrial Park, Building 7C: Koritsas 39, Votanikos, Athens, 104 47
Access: Metro Line 3 (Keramikos stop), Line 2 ) (Metaxourgio stop),
Bus 836, 856 (Sp.Patsi stop).

About PCAI

PCAI is a nonprofit organization, founded by Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Polygreen CEO, as a means to increase environmental awareness through an annual programme of commissions, contemporary art exhibitions, art residencies, workshops, conferences and events. The organisation implements its objectives through three areas of activity: its mainly commissioned-based art collection, its annual program of cultural projects and the support it offers to artistic initiatives and artists sharing its environmental concerns. In 2019 Kika Kyriakakou, PCAI's artistic director, initiated the organisation's artist-in-residence programme with a residency jury of esteemed members like Hans Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine artistic director, and Krist Gruijthuijsen, KW Institute Director. In 2021 PCAI became an official nominator for the Earthshot Prize, the significant environmental award established by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Website: pcai.gr

About Stronger Peripheries

Stronger Peripheries is a large cooperation project co-funded by the Creative Europe Culture Programme, gathering eleven arts' management organizations and three research institutions from ten Southern-European countries. It is the first project to be implemented by the Southern Coalition, an informal network that connects locally anchored cultural practices in a European South, aiming at overcoming isolation and boosting the skills of artists, cultural professionals, and audiences. Stronger Peripheries questions and discusses the notions of "south" and "peripheries" from a socio-political and socio-cultural point of view, providing an opportunity to renegotiate our identities through culture and the empowering confluence of cultural differences.

Website: strongerperipheries.eu