In Conversation: Iwona Blazwick with Syrago Tsiara and Emma Talbot

12 Oct 2023 10-11am

Overview

Curator and Writer Iwona Blazwick OBE is leading a conversation on artist Vlassis Caniaris‘ (1928-2011) work and his legacy; joined by Syrago Tsiara, Director of the National Gallery, Athens and artist Emma Talbot.

09.30am – 10.00am: Breakfast reception

10.00am – 11.00am: In conversation

This talk is part of the exhibition Vlassis Caniaris: Selected Works 1960s – 1980s at the Hellenic Centre, which runs from 5 October – 19 November 2023.

Vlassis Caniaris (1928-2011) is one of the most important Greek artists of his generation. The exhibition includes both large-scale theatrical installations and smaller wall-based work featuring appropriated found objects as material and dealing with themes of immigration and social inequality that preoccupied Caniaris throughout his life. Produced in the period from the 1960s to the 1980s, it is the first solo presentation of the artist’s work in London since his exhibition Immigrants at the ICA in 1977.

Iwona Blazwick is a curator and writer. Formerly at the Whitechapel Gallery, Tate Modern and ICA London, she has curated numerous solo and group shows of modern and contemporary art around the world including three major projects in Greece with the NEON Foundation. She is lead curator for Arts AlUla and the curator of the 2024 Istanbul Biennale. Blazwick was also series editor of Whitechapel Gallery/ MIT Documents of Contemporary Art, and has published widely on artists and the institutions of art.

Syrago Tsiara is an art historian and curator. In July 2022, she became the director of the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum. Having curated over fifty exhibitions in Greece and other countries, she organises and/or participates in conferences, publishes academic papers, and delivers lectures, primarily focusing on the relationship between art and politics, memory, identity, curatorial practices, and the intersection of contemporary art with archaeological sites and the public sphere. She previously was director of the Contemporary Art Centre of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki and of the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, and served as the curator and national commissioner of the Greek Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

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