M55

M55 - ACTION IN ART

ABOUT

M55- Non Profit Organization, founded in 2007 has as basic artistic aim to investigate, process and present social and environmental issues through artistic means and research methods. M55 is housed in a neoclassical building in the center of Athens.

M55 Projects in Action

M55projects is a space with a wide range of activities, whose mission is the development of Greek Photography and the expansion of it beyond the local geographical artistic boundaries. M55’s primary goal focuses on bringing forward modern age society issues, create awareness and stimulate cultural exchange. Aesthetically, M55 deals with several concepts and combinations of art and image, such as photojournalism, visual arts and other emerging contemporary forms of photography that focus on the conversation and interaction of the arts with different cultural and social environments. Moreover, co-production of interactive events with other European institutions and festivals constitutes a part of our mission which is the promotion and presentation of Greek photography to other countries. Besides the usual actions of a gallery, such as exhibitions and educational seminars, M55 is systematically active in order to update the Greek public and Greek photographers concerning the modern artistic movements that exist in Greece and also in various countries around Europe.

In the Footsteps of the Wild Nature of Ikaria

Creating New Collective Narratives

Ikaria is known for its biodiversity: steep slopes, abundant waters, ancient forests, herbs and vineyards, mountain peaks, seas, and trails compose the myth of longevity and the unique energy that characterizes the island.
Our research is a poetic approach to documenting the rich nature of Ikaria and its relationship with the island’s people.

MILA MOU GALANA

(ΜΗΛΑ ΜΟΥ ΓΑΛΑΝΑ, literal translation "My blue apples")

A performance-lecture on the subject of desertification, also on the ground that is receding beneath our feet, on the commons becoming private and the management of our common natural resources, a lecture accompanied/interrupted by cyclists who illuminate, by choruses of statistics and history, political readings, community memories, recipes for natural cultivation, words from landscapes and languages that are disappearing, conversations about animals, plants and waters that are disappearing, habits that are disappearing, habits that survive, a love song, a mourning song, a race between social memory and social oblivion, tsipouro (raki) and meze. The performance-lecture is illuminated by an improvised bicycle generator that the performers pedal in real time, making the performance energy self-sufficient.

ALEXANDRIA - The city we dream of

A wandering into the past, present and future of Alexandria

The project "The city we dream of, a wandering into the past, present and future of Alexandria” is about the multicultural and multilingual past and present of Alexandria. It aims at shedding light on the historical relationship of Europeans with the city through educational and artistic actions.

Residencies: journalism and arts

At the beginning of the economic crisis M55 started to operate as a residency for journalists and photographers, photojournalists who came to Athens to cover issues related to the economic crisis, the imposed austerity and in few years also, the migrant crisis that came to increase the already intense coverage of journalistic issues in Greece. The former exhibition space, served as a place of accommodation and exchange of knowledge/intelligence, networking, which accommodated the building of relationships and collaboration on projects. In the second phase of the economic crisis (after 2015), the general narrative and the then established austerity led to the reality that many artists -from all over the world- came to Athens to make sense of their work addressing the crisis or the crisis guiding their work. M55 as a residency housed many artists during their stay in Athens.

In the second phase of the economic crisis (after 2015), the general narrative and the then established austerity led to the reality that many artists -from all over the world- came to Athens to make sense of their work addressing the crisis or the crisis guiding their work. M55 as a residency housed many artists during their stay in Athens.

From 2020 to date, M55 has supported the Lycabettus Festival which started in October 2020-21, during the covid confinement period. In these two years over 50 artistic groups were presented, bringing to the Lycabettus and Strefi hills a presence of people and art (program here: shorturl.at/cCGT4, https://cutt.ly/SGTYmSx).

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THE PAST
Exhibitions, presentations, workshops

M55 started its activity with a photo exhibition that focused and explored the view of 7 photographers on the city of Athens before the Olympic Games (summer 2004). One year later, it realized an exhibition of 13 photographers and videographers titled "Transport" (2005), which examined the different means of transport, of people, of products in the modern world and how this started changing our lives. In the following years M55 collaborated with many festivals and cultural organizations in Greece (Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Photography Meetings of Kythira, etc.) and in Europe: Visa Pour l'Image Perpignan (France), Lodz Photo Festival (Poland), Fluss (Austria), Centro de la Photografia Europea (Italy) etc. Its activity mainly focused on inviting curators and directors of photography festivals to present their work and their photographers and to give a lecture or a portfolio review in order to get to know Greek photographers and their work. The exhibitions were often accompanied by workshops, for schools of photography, but also for elementary schools, on environmental or social issues, meetings of pupils or students of photography schools with the photographers presenting their work.Most of these activities were interrupted in 2011 with the onset of the economic crisis.