Rebranding Athens as the Creative City of European South. The Contribution of Documenta 14. A Critical Approach

Styliani Bolonaki

doi:10.6092/issn.2612-0496/13537

Authors

Styliani Bolonaki National Technical University of Athens, Greece

Styliani (Stella) Bolonaki is an Athens-based artist and a postdoc researcher at the National Technical University of Athens/NTUA. Her research questions the connections between contemporary art industries and new urban policies, strengthening counter-discourses on cosmopolitanism, post-colonialism, class, and gender. Bolonaki holds a Ph.D. from the School of Architecture of NTUA. She also holds a MA degree in Art in Architecture from the University of East London, and a degree from the Athens School of Fine Arts. Bolonaki has contributed to such scientific conferences as “City, Environment & Climate Change” (Athens, 2021), and “Political monuments from the 20th to 21st century: Memory, form, meaning” (Thessaloniki, 2019) among others, and has published a range of critical articles about the role of art practices in the city.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2612-0496/13537

Keywords:

Creative City Athens, city branding, creative-led urban renovation, post-colonial urbanism, cultural industries

Abstract

The following article presents a very brief review of the impact of the art institution Documenta on the Athenian urban environment aims to give an answer to the question of how and why the art exhibition “Learning from Athens” gained such popularity in urban and economic developers, locally and globally, that has not yet led to enough critical discussion on the cultural, and political researchers. The article approaches two views on this impact. One linked to the Athenian urban ruins of the Greek economic recession through which emerged a new (exotic) touristic destination to the European periphery. And the other linked to the politics of the Creative City which function as the main strategy of the present Athens cultural-led gentrification including heritage and planning politics, real estate, touristic, entertainment, and creative industries. The article is setting up a number of important questions to cultural and political researchers about city rebrand processes and the generated change and innovation produced; the social inequalities in particular.

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Rebranding Athens as the Creative City of European South. The Contribution of Documenta 14. A Critical Approach

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