Draft:ATOPOS cvc

ATOPOS cvc, founded in 2003 by Stamos Fafalios and Vassilis Zidianakis, is a non-profit, cultural organisation interested in the expression and adornment of the human body. In 2010 ATOPOS cvc moved into 72 Salaminos Street, in the heart of the Metaxourgeio area of Athens. It researches and initiates innovative projects of contemporary visual culture in an ‘atopic’ manner. The word ‘atopos’, from the ancient Greek “άτοπος”, refers to that which is the strange, the unwonted, the eccentric and the unclassifiable. ATOPOS cvc has organised an extensive program of exhibitions & residencies. Also ATOPOS cvc is home to the RRRIPP!! Collection, a unique collection of paper clothing. The main program of ATOPOS cvc currently develops around its collection as well as Atopos Unbound, a collaborative cultural production program and #OccupyAtopos, the residency programme of ATOPOS cvc.

Location & History
The building at 72 Salaminos str. is a typical example of an Athenian townhouse with a courtyard and loggia. It was built in 1912 in the Beaux Arts / Neoclassical style and has remained in its original condition ever since. The building has been declared a historic monument and a work of art by the Greek Ministry of Culture.

In 2006 the building was restored and sensitively converted into the present multi-purpose space that today houses ATOPOS cvc’s offices and library, an exhibition space and the RRRIPP!! Collection that formed the basis of the first exhibition created by ATOPOS cvc, RRRIIP!! Paper Fashion. The unique atmosphere of 72 Salaminos Street has made it a favourite meeting place for ideas and people and it occasionally hosts events such as lectures, discussions, performances, workshops and exhibitions related to its research and programmes.

The building was transformed into a contemporary professional space by CF Company. In 2014 and 2016 CF included ATOPOS cvc in the Open House Athens programme.

RRRIPP!! Collection
In 2005, ATOPOS cvc started collecting paper garments for research purposes and for experimenting with new exhibition concepts in an object-inspired manner. The research focused on the 1960s popular, but short-lived, American fad of disposable paper dresses. Destined to be worn once and then thrown away, these mass-produced paper dresses represent the main core of the [http://atopos.gr/projects/rrripp-collection/ RRRIPP!! Collection].

Apart from the main core of the 1960’s paper dresses, the ATOPOS cvc RRRIPP!! Collection includes key pieces from the following fashion designers: Issey Miyake, Helmut Lang, Maison Martin Margiela, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Van Saene, Hugo Boss, and Hussein Chalayan among others. This new found interest in paper clothing also inspired ATOPOS cvc to create the RIPPING ATOPOS project, in which contemporary artists and fashion designers are commissioned to create their own works of art, inspired by specific pieces or the whole of the collection. Artists and designers such as Robert Wilson, Howard Hodgkin, Demna Gvasalia, Bas Kosters, and others either created new works of art or have transformed and revisited original items from the collection in the spirit of creative recycling.

#OccupyAtopos
The main focus of this programme is on interdisciplinary research and the study of contemporary visual culture of the human body. The programme emphasizes the embodied experience and the narrated character of the gendered and racialized body, personal and collective trauma, memory, systems of embodied cognition, as well as the relationship between the body, social justice, and ecology. Its mission is to observe and support the creative process of emerging artists, designers, curators and thinkers.

The programme consists of a series of residencies that produce through original research, site-specific installations and exhibitions, workshops, publications, lectures and discussions, performances, videos, experimental sounds, as well as other forms of original collaboration.

The residency programme has collaborated with Documenta 14 in Athens in the context of its artist residency programme from September 2016 to July 2017. Since 2019 the programme is collaborating with the non profit organisation ARCAthens.

Selected artists from the residency programme of ATOPOS cvc until now:

Camille Pradon, Carla Maldonado, Deniz Kirkali, Kasia Wojcik, Lily Consuelo Saporta Tagiuri, Maëlle Gross, Eleni Riga, Linnéa Bake, Tariku Shiferaw, Anita Bateman, Assaf Hiden, Alexis Fidetzis, Hope, Chloé Paré, Tomashi Jackson, Miranda Lash, Fenia Kotsopoulou & Daz Disley, Eleanor Vonne Brown & Roland Brauchli, Tom Konyves, Aimée Lê , Antigoni Tsagkaropoulou, FYTA, Andrew Spyrou, Salvatore Lacagnina, Paolo Do, Lydia Kamitsis, Ibrahim Maham, Ren Hang, Boris Hoppek, Craig Green, The Callas, Shoboshobo

Atopos Unbound
Atopos Unbound is the new international programme of ATOPOS cvc, proposing new ways of co-creation and co-production. Maintaining a close connection to the main program and focus of the institution on embodied experience, trauma, memory, and the relationship between the body, social justice, fashion/costume, and ecology, Atopos Unbound aims to expand its intersubjective viewpoint by collaborating with diverse cultural institutions and organizations.

Unbound by its physical location, this program will assume different forms with each collaboration, ranging from small publications, workshops, lectures, and discussions to large- scale exhibitions, hosted in the collaborating institution or in the public space.

Previous Atopos Unbound collaborations:


 * Unboxing Callas, in collaboration with the Greek National Opera
 * Bodies floating into the land, under the auspice of the Greek Ministry of Culture

Previous Exhibition in ATOPOS cvc

 * The Office of Hydrocommons, Group show curated by Eleni Riga
 * Revolting Bodies, Group show curated by Alexis Fidetzis
 * Revolting Bodies, Alexis Fidetzis Solo exhibition
 * #TextMe_FluffyLibrary, Antigoni Tsagkaropoulou Solo exhibition
 * FULL OF LOVE, Borris Hopek Solo exhibition
 * Ren Hang Solo exhibition
 * Kostis Fokas Solo exhibition
 * Clo’e Floirat Solo exhibition
 * Atopos Unlocked
 * David Marinos Solo exhibition
 * Peepee, The Callas Solo exhibition
 * ZZZzzzZZZZ, Shoboshobo Solo exhibition