Niki Koutouzi’s residency project explores collective voice and memory through the lens of the Ancient Greek theatrical chorus (χορός)—an ensemble that spoke, sang, and moved in unison to express public feeling, narrate events, and express philosophical commentary. The project draws on both its historical role and contemporary reinterpretations.Set in the Athenian suburb of Nea Ionia—shaped by successive waves of migration, from the 1923 Asia Minor population exchange to present-day border regimes—the project engages with living traditions including rebetiko (ρεμπέτικο), oral storytelling, ritual, and textile-based crafts. Through fieldwork and embodied experimentation, Koutouzi will examine how such practices hold and transmit memory across generations. The project will experiment with rhythm, gesture, and polyphony to reimagine the poetic-political form and function of the Chorus as a medium for collective voice and memory. During their residency, Koutouzi will develop a new body of work: a sculptural and filmic installation that articulates experiences of precarity and belonging.
