The new season of THE ERA OF IMAGES focuses once again on sociopolitical issues, prominent figures in artistic creation, origin stories from the Greek diaspora, the formation of collections, and works and artists who encourage and are inspired by the concept of coexistence. Highlights of the new season include, among others, South African artist of Greek descent Penny Siopis with her retrospective at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), the DEMOCRACY exhibition at the National Gallery, MOMus in Thessaloniki and the history of its collections, NEON’s Space of Togetherness exhibition at the School of Irene Papas, and the 50th Venice Biennale—a staple and pinnacle of the show since 2003.

"The Era of Images" presents the exhibition "DEMOCRACY" at the National Gallery-Alexandros Soutsos Museum (11/7/2024 - 2/2/2025) Katerina Zacharopoulou meets its director and curator Syrago Tsiara in search of her interpretations of the relationship between art and political history in Southern Europe, as revealed in this first major international exhibition dealing with the relationship between art and democracy during one of the most decisive periods in the history of Southern Europe, when three countries, Greece, Portugal and Spain, transitioned from an authoritarian regime to a democratic constitution. More than 55 artists and artist groups from Greece, Spain and Portugal participated in the exhibition with 140 artworks. Specifically, the exhibition focuses on the 1960s and 1970s, the transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes, and the role of artists in claiming political freedoms, with the main thematic axes being 'The Face of the Enemy', 'Resistance', 'Rebellion' and 'Insurrection'. Syrago Tsiara refers to both the sections and specific works in the exhibition, while we see and hear, through archival material, the testimonies and opinions of three iconic Greek artists who acted and reacted during this period. They are: Demosthenes Kokkinidis, Theodoros and Vlasis Kaniaris. During the exhibition, Costis Kornetes, historian of the 20th century in Europe and professor at the University of Madrid, will give his views on this historic decade and the exhibition.