Athens Insider’s Top 5 Culture Picks for June 2023

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1. Theodoros Currentzis and John Cale at Athens Epidavros Festival

As always this world class festival offers Athenians and visitors the opportunity to experience outstanding performances in the homeland of theatre across an array of exceptionally atmospheric venues. You can read our full profile of the festival here(link), but our two favourites from this month’s music program at Herodes Atticus theatre, at the foot of the Acropolis are, Theodoros Currentzis, bad boy of classical music, conducting his highly anticipated Utopia Orchestra on June 15, and John Kale, founder of the Velvet Underground, accompanied by his band and the Athens Philharmonia orchestra on June 19. It’s always magical to witness musical genius in the shadow of the Parthenon under the stars.

www.aefestival.gr

2. Cutting edge music at Subset Festival

The lesser-known little sister of Athens Epidavros Festival, Subset is an edgier program of new music curated at Athens Conservatoire that takes place June 21-25. This year, in the newly renovated masterpiece of modernist architecture, you can hear Ergon Ensemble perform Reich and Richter, join a workshop on composing and acoustic translation with Sébastien Roux, and dance the night away to Electro Indigo. The line-up includes two new commissions – from contemporary Greek ensembles TETTTIX and Trigger Happy – created especially for the festival.

https://aefestival.gr/subset-festival-festival-neas-moysikis/?lang=en

3. Barack Obama headlining SNF’s Nostos Festival

It’s festivals galore this month as summer season warms up in earnest. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation has built its Nostos Festival around the theme of Mental Health this year, and boasts guest speakers of impressive standing such as President Barack Obama and actress and founder of MindUp Goldie Hawn. Across June 21-23, SNFCC will host an inspiring range of conversations exploring the ethical, activist, and research based ideas now occupying the increasingly central subject of psychological wellbeing.

www.snfnostos.org/en/

4. Akram Khan’s Jungle Book Reimagined

Sensational British choreographer Akram Khan has reworked Rudyard Kipling’s family classic The Jungle Book into an environmentally conscious feminist tale for our time. Inspired by his mother telling him stories from female characters’ points of view as a child, and his eldest daughter asking him “Why can’t Mowgli be a girl?”, Khan uses his phenomenal talent as a master of dance and theatre to bring the wisdom of the animal world to life in an uplifting way that speaks to all generations.

https://www.megaron.gr/en/event/akram-khan-company/

5. Polys Peslikas at ARCH Athens x Radio Athènes

This dual exhibition between Arch and Radio Athènes shares archival material from Cypriot artist Polys Peslikas that ranges from paintings and drawings to photographs and film. Under two titles – at Arch, This Delusive Sentiment, and at Radio Athènes, And leaned shoulder against the window – the twin shows collate a lifetime of unique research and creativity through the mind of this underappreciated talent. Paper works from the nineties sit with iPhone photos and Instagram elements, mapping a personal timeline that resonates with the history of our era. On view until September.

www.archathens.org; www.radioathenes.org