SEPTEMBER 2014
http://www.fbeaurain.com/Athens.html
There are many ways to travel and many ways to experience a country and its culture. It is not only a question of why you go and how long time you stay but it is mostly about what you do and with whom you meet. You can be either a tourist, a backpacker (same as tourist but you replace the tour operator by a Lonely Planet), a sailor, a vagabond, a refugee, an immigrate (you came for work), an expat (you’ve been sent for work) …
After 18 months spent in Liberia as an expat, I arrived in July in Athens and I think I have never felt so much as a tourist in my life. I’ve been living in Paris for more than 20 years and I have never climbed the Eiffel tower. I lived many years in Italy and literally ran away from the touristic hotspots. Oddly, since I am in Athens, my life is organized around the Acropolis area where we live me and my girlfriend. I somehow feel it as a shame of being a tourist but I am getting used to it and enjoying it. Moreover, as a tall blond guy there is no way for me to escape from my condition, so why shall I fight….
I want to dedicate this art residency to my touristic condition and to the tourist industry. Greece is a touristic hotspot and I am going to treat it as it is.
