Τhe opening of the 17th Festival of Audiovisual Arts (23 May – 02 June 2024), which is the central anniversary event of the celebration of 20 years of the Department of Audio and Visual Arts (AVARTS) of the Ionian University, will be held on Thursday 23/05/2024 at 19:30 in the People's Garden.

Vasso Kavadia, head of exhibitions and activities of the Municipal Gallery of Central Corfu & Diapontia Islands, will open and coordinate the event. Greetings will be addressed by:

• The representative of the Municipality of Central Corfu & Diapontia Islands
• The Rector of the Ionian University Professor Andreas Floros
• The President of AVARTS Professor Andreas Giannakoulopoulos
• The honored guest Nikos Kanellopoulos, former President of AVARTS
• The honored guest Marianna Strapatsaki, former President of AVARTS
• The President of the AVARTS 20 Years Celebration Committee, Associate Professor Dalila Honorato
• The Art Director of the 17th AVARTS Audiovisual Arts Festival, Associate Professor Haris Marini

This will be followed by the performance “Journey Again” staged by Haris Marini and Christina Mitsani with the participation of AVARTS students and with music composed by Associate Professor Apostolos Loufopoulos. Five people, through improvisation, intuitively and physically allow themselves to meet in a common place.

Afterwards, Maria Kriga will conduct a guided tour of the group art exhibition “Moments of Encounter” at the Municipal Gallery of Central Corfu & Diapontia Islands, where artworks by the faculty staff of AVARTS combine different visual and diverse media to create unpredictable narratives.

Then the video “20 Years of the Department of Audio & Visual Arts”, a compilation of the main activities and events in the course of the development of AVARTS, edited by Tania Tsiridou, will be screened continuously.

The polyphonic sound installation Hybrid Nature by Thanasis Epitideios and Apostolos Loufopoulos, an immersive soundscape combining synthesised and natural sound, will be accessible throughout the event.

More details can be found on the following websites:

“Journey Again”: https://avarts.ionio.gr/festival/2024/en/events/572/

“Moments of Encounter”: https://avarts.ionio.gr/festival/2024/en/events/559/

Hybrid nature: https://avarts.ionio.gr/festival/2024/en/events/571/