Faces of the Hero

If you're reading anything Greek-related these days, you've probably figured that 2021 is kind of a big year for Greeks. As the whole country celebrates its 200th aniversary since the Greek Revolution—and as we are covering Athens' related events—so does the city's biggest cultural hub, the SNFCC. Putting together a diverse and multifaceted agenda of performances, visual arts exhibitions, lectures, readings and educational programmes for adults and children titled Faces of the Hero, the SNFCC will aim to explore the archetype of the hero from ancient times to today through art.

Now of course, there are a lot of things happening in this series, and the centre has made sure that visitors can attend both physically and online for most events. Should you find yourself at the Green Roofs of the park, you'll notice some iron outlines of human figures—120 of them in fact. That's Georgios Xenos' Passers-by exhibition, a tribute to the anonymous hero figure. Head for the Southern Walks of the park for another installation by Xenos, the Seven Gates. At the Agora you'll come across famed Greek sculptor George Zongolopoulos' installation, The Vision of a Public Sculpture, and his massive Zalongo Monument, a 18m x15m statue made of 4,300 limestones.

Moving things off the SNFCC campus, as in on the other side of the Atlantic, watch out for the Faces of the Hero Transatlantic Art Exhibition that will premiere in public spaces in New York and Athens on July 2021. Students of Athens School of Fine Arts and the Parsons School of Design will exhibit their works that examine the meaning of "hero" and "heroism" for free at both campuses.

Teaming up with The National Library of Greece, exhibits from important documents from the era of the revolution will be available to the public at the library grounds of the SNFCC.

Come summer, more than 300 dancers from the Lyceum Club of Greek Women (a volunteer organization founded in 1911 for the sake of preserving and presenting Greek cultural traditions and folk customs), will perform more than 70 traditional dances from all over Greece right across the SNFCC, dressed in the respective local costumes.

For the complete programme and updates on date changes, availability and streamable content, please make sure to check here.