Framer Framed

A still from the film ‘About the footprints, what we hide in the pockets and other shadows of hope‘ (2021) by CHTO DELAT

About the footprints, what we hide in the pockets and other shadows of hope
Live-stream link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xc-utKe8Ck
Language: Greek
Subtitles: English

The 84-minute film is the outcome of CHTO DELAT’s experimentation with integrating key texts by Zapatista spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos within the educational process of learning the Greek language. Along with a seminar delivered by architect Stavros Stavrides in the Open School for Migrants in Piraeus, in which he described the strong relations between the Zapatista movement and political activism in Greece, this process created a new paradigm of learning — somewhere in between real and imaginary concepts.*

The performance on which the film focuses integrates two narratives: the first based on texts written by the Zapatistas, where Durito (a fictional beetle character) metaphorically describes the core sociopolitical ideas of the movement. The second is based on the personal histories of Piraeus Open School participants, refugees who came to Greece from different places of the world. The students worked closely with Stathis Markopoulos, a puppet maker, director and puppet theatre professional (Ayusaya Puppet Theatre), who introduced them to the basic methods of shadow theatre. Their collaboration resulted in the production of a performance as a finissage to this project. Read more about the process.

In this film, one sees how reality intertwines with fiction and how our imagination gives us the ability to overcome our world’s cruel limitations, creating a shadow of hope. Finally, the film importantly reflects on the difficulties of learning and cultural production during the pandemic, and how we deal with brutal limitations imposed on us.

ABOUT

CHTO DELAT was founded in early 2003 in St. Petersburg by a workgroup of artists, critics, philosophers, and writers from St. Petersburg, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod with the goal of merging political theory, art and activism. The name of the group, meaning what is to be done?, derives from a novel by the Russian 19th-century writer Nikolai Chernyshevsky.

State of Concept Athens is the first non-profit contemporary art institution with a permanent location and a yearly program to operate in Greece. Founded in 2013 by art critic and curator iLiana Fokianaki and based in the neighbourhood of Koukaki at the centre οf Athens, it is an independent platform that fosters the appreciation for local and international contemporary art and the growth of artistic and curatorial practice.

The Piraeus Open School for Migrants is a voluntary based association which works on educational and training support for the cultural advance of immigrants, refugees and vulnerable social groups in Greece.