Exhibition extension, screenings and guided tours
Shinrin-yoku 森林浴 Forest bathing
J. & A. N. Diomedes Botanic Garden
Due to high attendance, PCAI’s exhibition Shinrin-yoku 森林浴 Forest Bathing is extended until September 29 at the J. & A. N. Diomedes Botanical Garden giving the opportunity to those who have not yet visited the largest botanical garden of the Eastern Mediterranean to enjoy the therapeutic effect of nature through a parallel program of screenings and guided tours, both with free admission for the public.
The exhibition title borrows the Japanese expression Shinrin-yoku 森林浴, translated into English as forest bathing. This term alludes to the ancient habit of spending time close to nature, among trees and wild plants, absorbed by the surrounding wilderness, without the distress of electronic devices and the fast pace of everyday life. Artists Lynn Hershman Leeson, Éric Baudelaire, Aiko Ohno, Asako Masunouchi, Nikomachi Karakostanoglou, Maria Antelman, Raffaela Naldi Rossano, Malvina Panagiotidi, George Drivas, Dimitris Ioannou, VASKOS (Vassilis Noulas & Kostas Tzimoulis), Eva Stefani, Michalis Afolayan, Campus Novel, Maria F Dolores & Sofia Dona aim to give through their works new interpretations to the immersive experience that nature can offer. The exhibition is curated by Kika Kyriakakou, PCAI Artistic Director.
The works by the 15 participating international and Greek artists, ranging from sculpture, installations and photography to AI, illustration and film, interact with the botanical garden, its surrounding forestry area, its water-lily ponds, clearings and greenhouses, underlining their function as conservation sanctuaries of thousands of species of flora, while being a home for various specimens of local, wild fauna.
On September 19 and 20, at 8 pm, Eva Stefani’s Bathers (2008) and Éric Baudelaire’s A Flower in the Mouth (2021) will be screened in the clearings of the botanic garden. As part of the parallel program, a series of free guided tours for the public will take place on September 13, 14, and 21, at 5 pm.
The exhibition is held with the support of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the French Institute of Athens, under the auspices of the Embassy of Japan in Greece and in the context of the institution 2024 Greek-Japan Year of Culture and Tourism.
GUIDED TOURS & SCREENINGS PROGRAMME
13, 14 and 21 September, 5.15 pm – Guided Tours
Arrival time 5.00 pm. Free admission
Language: Greek.
Reserve your seat, HERE: https://forms.gle/JbvfrmAH3yJ888jL7
19 September, 8 pm – Screening
Eva Stefani, The Bathers, 2008, 46’
*The film will be prefaced by the director
Acclaimed filmmaker Eva Stefani has created a documentary dedicated to Greek spa towns and the people who rush to visit them. Life in spa towns moves slowly and at a pace reminiscent of other decades. In this lazy atmosphere, the elderly feel free to do things that their social environment forbids them.
Reserve your seat, HERE: https://forms.gle/4bpZeUTTdhg1CLy8A
20 September, 8 pm – Screening
A Flower in the Mouth (67’), 2021, Éric Baudelaire*
*A Q&A with the director will take place before the screening
Prix Marcel Duchamp winner, Éric Baudelaire, takes inspiration from Pirandello’s play “The Man with the Flower in His Mouth” (1922) and creates a film in two acts. The first act, filmed as an observational documentary in the world’s largest flower market, is followed by a fictional second act about a man, afflicted by a terminal illness, encountering a stranger in a train station bar.
Reserve your seat, HERE: https://forms.gle/4bpZeUTTdhg1CLy8A
**On 19/9 and 20/9 at 7.30 pm there will be a free shuttle bus service from Aghia Marina metro station to the Garden. The shuttle bus will return to the metro station after the screenings.
VENUE: J. & A. N. Diomedes Botanic Garden
The Julia and Alexander N. Diomedes Botanic Garden is one of the largest Botanic Gardens in Greece and the East Mediterranean. It was founded in 1951, at the bequest of Alexandros Diomedes and it operates as a Legal Entity of Private Law. With the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and under the supervision of Konstantinos Mitrakos, Professor of Botany of the University of Athens, the configuration works, based on the blueprints of Professor Herta Hammerbacher of the University of Berlin, were completed. In 1975, a major part of the works was finished, and the garden opened officially to the public. The space is open every day with free entrance.
Details on how and when to visit here: www.diomedes-bg.uoa.gr/access-en
Duration: Until September 29, 2024
Opening hours: Daily during the Botanic Garden opening hours (from 9 am to sunset)*
Address: Iera Odos 403, Chaidari, 12461, Attica
Free entrance, by timed ticket booked in advance via diomedes-bg.gr/booking
*The Diomedes Botanic Garden will remain closed when the weather conditions are considered dangerous for a possible fire. Visitors should be informed before visiting the exhibition.
More information: civilprotection.gov.gr/arxeio-imerision-xartwn
Spread the word using the hashtags: #ShinrinYoku #forestbathing #pcai #diomedesbotanicgarden
