The Streets Belong to the People : Scenes and Heterotopias in the City
Part of : Γράμμα : περιοδικό θεωρίας και κριτικής ; Vol.22, No.2, 2014, pages 179-187
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179-187
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The street releases an aura of hospitality unmatched by the great halls and the formal venues. This is so because the street belongs to the people—it is of itself the stage of hospitality. By "hospitable," here, I mean, on the one hand, a site open and accessible to all, and even to roaming artists, and on the other, I mean something that befriends the strange, the unfamiliar, the unexpected; what you meet suddenly on the curve of a pedestrian walkway or at the edge of a square and at once you are distracted from dailyexistential cares and daily routines. While people were gathering without any clear objectives, besides demonstrating against the austerity measures of the economic crisis, the International Street Theatre Festival (Istfest) of Athens organized at that time, came to provide them with a significant "role": their participation in a multi-faceted theatrical celebration, with strong political connotations. In more ways than one, the street, (in the broader sense of the public domain, of the open, collectively shared urban and planned city space, returned through the Festival to the people, the original owners, in the particular form of theatre: disguise, artistic expression, dramatic narration and performance.
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References (1):
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