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Avtonomi Akadimia, an Open Air University

Avtonomi Akadimia has reactivated the idea of open-air education amidst trees, cicadas and birds, at the very same spot it once existed: at the Akadimia Platonos, a unique grove from where the word academy originates.

We will be acknowledging the Akadimia Platonos Grove, as part of the commons, protected by communities living with it. Carried by the air, ideas are born in exchange.

1:00 – 2:00 pm Welcoming and Qi Gong: Dragon Workshop
The day opens with breathing in the ecofeminist power of a Dragon.

During further two gatherings, Athens-based scientists, artists, indigenous activists and curators will let their recent books on care, ecofeminism, and animism unfold into a togetherness, forming a transformative educational cloud.

2:00 – 3:30 pm Picnic & Presenting Books on Care and Ecofeminism Part 1

3:30 – 5:30 pm Re-indigenizing the Future: Imagining Beyond the Anthropocene Workshop by Yasmine Amal

4:30 – 6:30 pm Presenting Books on Care and Ecofeminism Part 2

7:00 – 9:00 pm Northern Forest: discussion & film screening by Julia Lazarus

Avtonomi Akadimia in the Akadimia Platonos
Meeting point at the entrance opposite the Cooperative Café, Monastiriou Str. 140, Kolonos 10442, Metro Larissa M2, Metro Metaxourgeio M2, Bus 051, bus stop Kratilou,
or call WhatsApp +491609 6665057 if lost

Venue →
Plato’s Academy Park. Monastiriou 138-140, Athina 104 42, Greece
Date & Time →
Friday, October 09 / 1:00 – 9:00 PM
Language(s) →
English
Discussion with →
Joulia Strauss, Mouries Collective, Eleni Riga, Yasmine Amal, Jenny Marketou, Julia Lazarus, Onur Akgül, Inter Alia, Nikos Anastasopoulos, Seseg Jigjitova.
Hosted by Avtonomi Akadimia.

Related events

Friday, October 09
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Venue: Plato’s Academy Park

Welcoming and Qi Gong: Dragon Workshop

Workshops & walks. With Joulia Strauss.

Avtonomi Akadimia, an Open Air University

The day opens with breathing in the ecofeminist power of a Dragon. A Dragon, who either no longer exists, or does not yet exist, in the physically perceivable world, lives in the ether — αἰθήρ — in the “upper air,” or in the “fire air”: the element beyond the four elements, closest to air. The Dragon moves among the clouds, gladly escaping all neurotypicalities*, and teaches us to perceive the catastrophes of our time as a process. The Dragon trusts what it cannot yet see. We will become this Dragon by breathing the air of political healing: Vietnamese Qi Gong.

* the term used by the philosopher Báyò Akómoláfé while speaking of the monsters in positive light: according to him, the monster is every way that neurotypicality tries to adjust for the edges, all the ways it tries to capture something that doesn’t quite fit in into its linguistic frameworks
Báyò Akómoláfé, “May We Live in Interesting Times,” Schumacher Center for New Economics, 2024

Feminism & queer rights.
Friday, October 09
6:30 – 8:30 PM
Venue: ETERON

Archival Ghosts – Feminist & Migration movement archive

Workshops & walks. With Dina Kafterani, ROOTES | Migrants Memory Solidarity Collective, Eirini Dafermou.

A workshop for the ephemeral, the ever-moving, the endlessly transforming, colourful, elusive, and never merely alone: an archive made of clouds that can change the climate. One we will create by seeking out the stories that were left out -migrant, women’s, queer stories- and by deciding that everything that remained over, everything that was left behind, is our material.

What stories would we tell, and in what ways, if we listened to the subaltern? What language do ghosts speak, and might they, after all, keep us company?

Feminism & queer rights, Migrant rights.
Friday, October 09
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Venue: Plato’s Academy Park

Northern Forests: discussion & film screening

Film screenings & exhibitions. With Julia Lazarus, Onur Akgül.

Avtonomi Akadimia, an Open Air University

By Julia Lazarus.

North of Istanbul the formerly remote rural areas at the Black Sea are transformed by gigantic infrastructure projects. A new motorway ring cuts through the forests, separating pastures from farmland. The residents are  presented with a  fait accompli, their villages are turned into city suburbs. And as a result, all agricultural activities will become illegal within  a time span of 5 years. With the 3rd bridge and the new major  airport hub complete, the construction of the Istanbul Canal is about to begin. The Turkish activist group Kuzey Ormanları  Savunması organizes civil resistance against the destruction of  the livelihoods affecting both urban and rural populations alike.

Facing the anger and disappointment expressed by residents at countless local grassroots meetings, the group is working to establish shared goals among the people. The camera stays close to the group throughout the film and follows their small victories and many setbacks, while they discuss their ideas and notions of a possible common future.

Environment.
Friday, October 09
4:30 – 6:30 PM
Venue: Plato’s Academy Park

Presenting Books on Care and Ecofeminism Part 2

Panel debates & assemblies. With Joulia Strauss.

Avtonomi Akadimia, an Open Air University

Nikos Anastasopoulos: Nature, Anthropos, Architecture: Notes on Ecology, Sustainability and Participation

Inter Alia, kainkollektiv, Fundacja Performat, Avtonomi Akadimia: Constitution of Care Tarot cards

Seseg Jigjitova: Deep Freeze Graphic Essay

Feminism & queer rights.
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