Heretics / Ketzer artistic survival within the infinity of compliance
The first exhibition of the diptych, Heretics / Ketzer opens in Athens (27.10-1.11) as a part of Back to Athens 2026 | Popup-Preview, followed by a second presentation in Vienna from 23 - 27. 11.
Participating artists: Gianluca Capozzi Dominykas Cinauskas Die 4 Grazien (Mela Diamant, Susanna Schwarz, G.Maria Wetter) Petra Forman Eugenia Grammenou Faidra Karantzou Andrea Kurtz Clemens Luser Mads Marone Christos Metaxotos Wendelin Pressl Elio Samara Susanna Schwarz Olga Shapovalova Christiane Spatt
Curated by: Georg Georgakopoulos Organised by: APART With the financial support and under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, with the support of the Austrian Embassy Athens. Coordinated by CHEAPART, participation, Athens Intersection.
Heretics / Ketzer
As societies evolve, unconventional thinkers seek to develop their own perspectives without dissolving into conformity. Yet the medieval perception of modernism as sacrilege, condemning its bearer as a heretic deserving death, has not entirely vanished. How fiercely one must struggle to seek a space for survival within the vast oceans of conformity—and claim their space in the firmament of the arts. The belief that art is immutable, that artists are bound by the aesthetic conventions of their time, and that immortal art is impossible stands in stark contrast to a world where heretics dare to create the unexpected, challenge conventions, and risk being burned at the stake. In the exhibition diptych Heretics / Ketzer, international artists are invited to present their spaces of survival, where resilience and constant negotiation become acts of artistic existence.
Curated by: George Georgakopoulos
Since 2012, Back to Athens has invited us to return to our city and rediscover Athens through a different perspective, exploring its everyday life, buildings, routes, history, and culture through the works and interventions of participating artists. This year’s edition, entitled Back to Athens 2026 | Popup-Preview, takes place in CHEAPART’s historic building in Exarchia Square, where two former bars are transformed into the backdrop for an unexpected, three-part artistic production. The program unfolds in three phases: opening on October 21 with the exhibition “ROBOMANTICS,” continuing on October 27 with “Heretics / Ketzer / Αιρετικοί,” and concluding with “austrogenous zones” on November 9. Within these dark spaces, unfolds a dramatic journey through image and sound, a simulation of emotions and struggles between a living past and a present that seems to have worn away prematurely. Thirty-five international artists and curators come together in the heart of Athens, at CHEAPART, a venue that has served continuously since 1995 as a meeting point for artists and cultural practitioners, a breeding ground for new ideas and pioneering artistic perspectives, and living proof that culture remains a timeless means of escape in an age of futile passions, confrontations, and barbarity.
Heretics / Ketzer October 27 - November 1, 2026 Back to Athens, International Art Meeting 2026 | Popup Preview 25 A. Metaxa & Themistokleous 68, 10681 Athens, Exarxeia Daily, 17:00–21:00
November 23 – 27, 2026 Splitart Projects, Wien Georg Georgakopoulos, Michalis Argyrou Radetzkystrasse 4, 1030 Wien