From 22 to 28 May 2023, Athens will host established and emerging artists who have a mentor-apprentice relationship through the Rolex Perpetual Arts Initiative.

Rolex is a company with a special feeling and eternal commitment to art. For at least half a century, as part of the Perpetual Arts Initiative, he has partnered with leading cultural institutions and talented artists from around the world to achieve excellence, preserve artistic heritage and pass on knowledge to future generations. It acts as a link between the past, present and future and supports a wide range of arts such as music, architecture, cinema, literature, theater, dance, etc. In this regard, he created the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, a mentorship program for young talents of well-known artists who take on the role of a mentor. By developing a teacher-student relationship, young artists have the opportunity to learn from leaders in their field, experiment and gain the necessary confidence to showcase their creativity and talent.

In 2023, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, Rolex will bring this great art movement to our country for the first time with performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, installations and discussions that will showcase the achievements and creative partnerships of at least sixty students and Rolex mentors. Throughout the week of May, Athens – the cradle of art and knowledge – will be filled with performances and art events in theaters, art galleries and public places. From May 26 to May 28, more than 30 dance, theatre, music, cinematography, architecture, visual arts and literature events will be held with the participation of the world’s outstanding artists, born thanks to the support of Rolex. From May 22 to 25, a four-day pre-festival program of workshops, specialty seminars, public discussions, musical performances and rehearsals will feature dozens of Greek Rolex artists, scientists and mentors, including Anne Lakaton, Phyllida Lloyd, Robert Lepage, Walter March and Colm Toybin.

It is worth noting that the Advisory Committee of the Festival and the pre-festival program includes Eleftheria Deko, designer of lighting, architecture and works of art, Katerina Evgelatos, artistic director of the Epidaurus Athens Festival, Sofia Exarchu, scriptwriter-director. award-winning production film in 2016 A parkKaterina Gregu, artistic director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis, drummer, composer and arranger, Euripides Laskaridis, choreographer/performer, founder of the Osmosis troupe, Ilias Papageorgiou, architect, founder and director of PILA studio, and Kostas Spatarakis, editor , translator and founder of Antipodes Publications.

Rolex Arts Festival Events

• Group exhibition at the EMST (National Museum of Modern Art) of eight Rolex Fellows in Fine Art, led by mentor Carrie Mae Weems.
• Group exhibition at the Piraeus Museum 138 – Benaki with the work of all fellow Rolex architects under the guidance of mentor Sir David Chipperfield (architect who designed the extension of the Athens Archaeological Museum).
• Screening in the courtyard of Piraeus 138 – Benaki Museum of short films produced by Rolex Fellows.
• Two play presentations: The Case of the Stranger(Happening from V Stranger) Whitney White, Rolex Arts Fellow, Athens Conservatory, with post-speech discussion presented by Rolex Mentor Phyllida Lloyd and BolThisRosolo exhibition at Polychóros Ω2 by art historian Sebastian Solorsano Rodriguez.
• Two dance performances at the Athens Conservatory: a performance by Rolex art scholar Khoudia Touré with an ensemble of Greek and foreign dancers, and a double performance by art scholar Eduardo Fukushima in solo and duet choreography by scholar Miles Thatcher.

• Two musical events, the first with a sound installation on the parallel stage of the Alexandra Hall of the Trianti Palace, organized by Rolex Music Officer Benfrost, and the second, a closing concert in the Palace Garden, with an ensemble from Egypt, Honduras and the USA, with the extraordinary participation of mentor GilbertoGil.
• Four installation projects at the Athens Conservatory created by Rolex theater and dance experts.
• Musical composition and custom performance, Artemis: Fountain (Artemis: Fountain)created for the choreographic fountains of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center by Rolex music scholar Paouchi Sasaki, mentored by the world-famous composer Philip Glass.
• word in ear: texts by Rolex Fellows in Literature, Naomi Alderman, Antonio Garcia Angel, Edem Avumey, Colin Barrett, Julian Fuchs, Julia Lee, Miroslava Penkov and Tracey K. Smith, read in English and Greek by eminent actors we met in the presentation at Amphitheater of the Athens Conservatory. The stories will be available for digital download throughout the Rolex Arts Festival.

Additional actions

Two separate events under Mentoring Beyond the Set will showcase how Rolex Fellows now inspire each other and collaborate across the arts. On the O2 Stage, Cinematography Research Fellow Annemarie Jasir and Literature Research Fellow Colin Barrett will present a script for a film they are working on together, with a selection of scenes performed by the actors. On the New Stage, Maya Zbib (theatre), Leigh Serle (dance) and Mateo Lopez (visual arts) will present Hearing the walls disappear (Listening What V Walls Wear turned off Their Color)dance performance they created themselves.

The public discussions that will feature throughout the Rolex Arts Festival are as follows:

• New Legacy: Selina Cartmell (theatre), Laura Foote (theatre), Sang Jijia (dance) and Junaid Jemal Sendi (dance) in a discussion about the social, cultural and environmental impact of their work.
• Creative Alchemy: Three companions and three mentors (names to be confirmed soon) in a discussion about the hard-to-define but essential qualities that spark creative relationships. It is coordinated by Orestis Andreadakis, Artistic Director of Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
• Lifelong Learning: Three accomplished artists (names to be confirmed) who have mentored and inspired their peers share thoughts and memories of people who have influenced them in their own lives.

The Rolex Arts Festival will also include a gala evening at the Cultural Center of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, where Music Fellows David Aaron Carpenter, Vasco Mendonza and Susan Platts will perform at the 20th Anniversary Ceremony, conducted by Music Fellow Josep Caballe-Domenech. El Sistema Greece Youth Orchestra, as well as with the participation of the a capella ensemble of the Greek group Chores.

It is worth noting that most of the Festival will be held in English with available translation into Greek (if necessary). Film and video works will have Greek and English subtitles. All digital audio project materials We whisper in your ear will be available in Greek and English.