It’s nice to get off the station and your path will take you to something really unexpected. It is a case of a ten-minute walk from Neos Faliros station to the facilities of the once mighty PPC steam power plant on the west bank of Kifissos, at the intersection of Solomos and Dimitrios Falireos 1 streets. the most important monument of its kind in all of Southeast Europe. But most Athenians continue to ignore it, despite the PPC’s systematic attempts to reintroduce it since the middle of the decade, mainly as a place of culture.

On the occasion of the launch of the new production, the premises of the factory, which have never been opened to the general public before, are opened.

This is happening now, as from today one of the biggest visual projects of the season is unfolding in most of the old power plant with the exhibition “This Current Between Us” (42 works, 30 new productions, until March 12, 2023), which is edited by Panos Yiannikopoulos and Georgia Liapi, following a proposal by Eleni Kalaras of PPC. We would like to remind you that at the beginning of the year, another important artistic event took place in the same space – the exhibition “KPP Meets Art”, curated by Katerina Koskina. The difference between the two exhibitions is that, in connection with the release of new products, factory premises are opened for the general public, which have never been opened before. In this respect, this is the best opportunity we have ever had to tour the really small industrial “city” to which we owe the general electrification of the capital (first put into effect in 1903) and which we almost lost during the junta when the proposal was put on the table for its demolition to build a new administrative center. The exhibition includes extensive archival material from the organization’s Historical Archive, which is in dialogue with new productions of visual works by 36 artists: paintings, sculptures, visual installations, videos, sound works and performances. And the works are multiplied by the charm and unique atmosphere that exists in the space.

“PPC, since the post-colonial period, has always been aware of the historicity and importance of this site,” Ms. Maria Mavroidi, head of the archives and industrial heritage department of the organization’s Corporate Relations and Communications Office, tells me. “When the unit was closed in 1972 and immediately after the restoration of the Republic, the wise choice prevailed in the bosom of the then administration, which was that the reuse of space is at the same time the best method of salvation.” By the end of the 70s, the now closed division had become a very busy PPC training center. Educational functions are still held today, although a large part of the territory also houses the management offices of the organization. “Now I think that the main purpose of the factory is cultural activities, and over time, the idea of ​​​​a large checkpoint museum matures. The plan exists, and rightly so, because it is the first, largest and best preserved power plant in the Balkans.”

Modern high voltage projects

Xenia Georgiadu

Without a map or “guides” I walked with some caution through the main building and all the outbuildings. Projects were hidden everywhere, even behind closed doors. There were no signatures yet, so I stopped where my eyes were. Luckily! Reading rather than “seeing” is the most unsuitable way to join the work. A series of collages of stock photos of the company lined up in the hallway of the App Store. They depict PPC employees on company business trips. Later I find out that this is Eleni Bagaki’s work “Work, work, work, not work.” A little further on, I see a glowing sign by Athena Kumbaroulis “More than water, more than rain, I need electricity,” a comment about priorities in today’s world. In the instructors’ room, Hypercomf plays with the power of words. The inscription constantly “runs” before the eyes: “Solvers of electrical problems.” Their project is called “Electrotherapy”, a treatment that was advertised as a panacea for all diseases, but was quickly rejected. On the back of the workshop is an impressive work by ASKT graduate Despina Vaksevanidis. He used the old uniform of the checkpoint workers, fixed it with plaster and created a sculptural installation, which he called “High Voltage”. Energy is always produced by people. In a historic building from 1903, quite remote from the rest, I see an electric guitar floating in the air. Like a giant metronome, dimly lit, it produces sound and sets the time. This is the work of Dimitris Kamarotos “His heart beats against time.” In the basement of the same building, a video of the One Minute of Silence performance that Dimitris Papaioannou staged in this space in 1995, when people last gathered inside the emblematic building, is shown.