The mind the fact cultural initiative was created in 2016 by Yolanda Markopoulou and Ioanna Valsamidou. It is a hybrid model of artistic production that aspires to look to the Other, highlighting true stories that happen in our communities, in our cities, on our planet. Encouraging the collaboration of art professionals with non-professionals, mind the fact sheds light on important issues that remain in obscurity. The real-life protagonists and their stories are presented to the public and claim their own space through artistic creation. Through works which address diversity, pluralism, and multiculturalism, the participants of mind the fact suggest if not a different, at least a more honest worldview.
The first mind the fact festival took place in Athens in May 2017, introducing an artistic “microcosm” at different locations in the centre of Athens. Residents of urban and rural areas alike, refugees and immigrants, former pathological gamblers, homeless citizens and people living below the poverty line, teenagers, asylum seekers, women who have survived trafficking, and many others all took part. The theatrical performances, exhibitions and events of mind the fact were created through a system of carefully designed workshops that took place over a long period of time, with the collaboration of professionals from the fields of theatre, music, dance, and photography.
In the midst of a pandemic, the second mind the fact festival is coming to the internet in 2020, inviting audiences on an online tour of a festival “microcosm”. This year’s theme, “we need more space”, deals with the concept of space: digital, physical, personal, social, interstellar.
In these unprecedented conditions of social coexistence, people living in different parts of the world are joining their voices to create. Refugees living on different continents meet in a shared theatrical rehearsal on the internet. Our homeless fellow citizens talk to us about their own confinement over the phone. Native Americans are reclaiming their land, while European citizens are sending messages of solidarity and writing music for democracy. Artists everywhere are exploring new ideas and new ways of reaching their remote audience.
Direction – Artistic Curation: Yolanda Markopoulou, Ioanna Valsamidou
Design & Communications Consultant: Paris Mexis
Production Management: Vicky Strataki
Production: POLYPLANITY Productions