AS ONE: MAI + Neon, an artistic project for raising consciousness in Greece

Abstract

This master thesis examines the project As One developed in 2016 by the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI) and NEON, a Cultural and Development Organization of public benefit in Greece. As One was held at the Benaki Museum in Athens, where it crossed with a parallel program of performance and intangible art and consisted of a participatory social project lasting seven weeks and based on the Abramović Method. NEON and MAI shared the same vision: to promote the art of performance, to contribute to the acquaintance and education of the broadest possible audience and, last but not least, to highlight a new generation of performance artists in Greece. As Abramović said “People are tired of just seeing art in museums, they want to be inspired, to participate”, and on his side, Dimitris Daskalopolos, the founder of NEON, affirmed “I believe in people, their appetite to change this place”. The analysis of the project will focus on the artistic and the managerial aspect of this production, and more specifically, on how the institutions collaborated, how the artists worked, and the audience participated in the event.