Misconceptions and Assumptions: Narratives

Artist Nikolas Ventourakis will be presenting his current and past projects on the 13th of June at Thkio Ppalies on the occasion of his participation with artist Stelios Kallinikou at the group show 'Borderlines' at the Athens Photo Festival 2015.

Following the first part of the presentation, Stelios and Nikolas will ask the audience to participate in an open discussion about projected narratives and the differences and similarities between their projects and approaches to photography. Nikolas' latest project 'Borderlines - Defining Lines' is currently on exhibition at the Athens Photo Festival in a group show at the House of Cyprus, Athens.

'Borderlines - Defining Lines' is focused on the areas in and around the Western Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus. The Area, which is one of the two British Sovereign Territories created in 1960, is autonomous and has as head of state the British Monarch. There are no border barriers, no custom posts between most of the Area lands and the Republic. Normal civilian day to day life takes place along the peninsula and right next to and inside the border. It is hard to tell if you have crossed into UK land. Using modern technology and such devices as iPhones and services like Google Maps the border becomes apparent and real. These borders are open at all times. They separate the land at all times.

Nikolas Ventourakis is from Athens, Greece, and lives in London,UK, since 2007. He studied fine art photography at the TEI of Athens and completed an MA in Fine Art (Photography) at Central Saint Martins School of Arts in 2013. He was selected for the Young Greek Photographers exhibition at Athens Photo Festival in 2010 and in 2013 he exhibited 'Leaving Utopia', an abstract narrative about the social crisis in Greece, in a solo show in the main schedule of the festival. He is the recipient of the Deutsche Bank Award in Photography, a finalist of the Celeste Prize 2013 and was selected for The Catlin Guide 2014 and the Future Map 2013 as one of the top graduating artists in the UK. In Summer 2014 he exhibited at the Photographer’s Gallery, London, as part of the Fresh Faced Wild Eyed exhibition, was nominated for the Fotomuseum Winterthur Plat(t)form and the Magnum Graduate Photographers Award 2015. He is in the shortlist for the BMW/Musée Niépce Award. From October 2014 - April 2015 he was a visiting artist in residence at the California Institute of Arts with a Fulbright Artist Fellowship. His main subjects of interest are misconceptions and assumptions.