15’ Κneading, 26–29 March 2024, exhibition in Snehta Residency
Snehta Residency presented, in the form of a group exhibition, the works produced during the first phase of the SAIR (Sustainability is in the Air) program in Athens by current Snehta resident artists: Sara Garcia (Spain) and Small but Dangers ( Mateja Rojc, Simon Hudolin, Slovenia). The opening took place on Tuesday, March 26th 2024, at 19:00.
The exhibition was on view until March 29th, 2024 and was curated by Augustus Veinoglou and Matina Charalambi. The exhibition was organised with the support of the Ministry of Culture in Greece.
15’ Κneading
The process of baking fresh, yummy bread is based on particular steps that the baker has to follow, the first of which consists of 15 minutes of good kneading. The title 15’ Kneading stands as a metaphor for the artistic process and research done by the artists (Sara Garcia and Small but Dangers), during the first three months of the program SAIR, spent by them in Athens and at Snehta Residency.
The exhibition 15’ Kneading gives the viewers just an insight into Sara Garcia’s and Small but Dangers’ work, in the context of the SAIR program, after their interaction with the Athenian cityscape and the Greek mentality, history and culture that are strongly reflected on the works to be shown at Snehta.
Artists’ Statements
Sara Garcia “molding mourning mouths”
The work presented at Snehta represents the initial stage of the project and is still in progress. Titled “molding mourning mouths”, it explores food ethics, multi-species eating and, coexistence using bread and sourdough.
Multi-species eating reveals our interconnectedness with other forms of life. Both farming and eating are gestures that link us to ecologies in which ourselves, as well as others, are fed. Remnants of bread dated back to 14,000 years ago were found when agriculture did not yet exist. It seems that particular bread was made by wild wheat and is believed to have been used in rituals, a tradition that has persisted over time. Some of the goddesses and gods that constitute part of the imaginary that shaped our Western thought, such as Demeter and Persephone or Isis and Osiris, are related to cereals and/or death. The rituals around them were accompanied by seeds or bread as symbols of death and rebirth. In reviewing these ideas, ”molding mourning mouths” consists of a series of ceremonies in which votive offerings made of bread have been given to the Earth, to more-than-human-beings, and to the audience.
Small but Dangers “The Europe Archipelago”
Phase 1: The Island of Athens
a) Is an empty piece of paper folded into an object still empty? Does the image in the photo become three-dimensional if folded into an object?
b) Every object is future waste. Even when it is converted into an art object.
c) Art is not eternal! ... even though it is dead.
SAiR is a two year long project, which, through the operational strategies of four residential centres: in Ljubljana (MGLC Švicarija), Madrid (Matadero), Prague (MeetFactory) and Athens (Snehta) aims to encourage sustainable artistic practices and promote an inventive, ongoing creative exchange between artists originating from diverge cultural and sociopolitical backgrounds.
As a result, each of the selected artists from the countries mentioned above, is working on a specific research idea that will take its final form and be presented at the end of the SAIR program, in 2026.
Produced by: Snehta Resodency
Supported by: European Union; Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Culture and Sports
