EMΣΤ is pleased to present VOICES, a three-channel video essay about the history of channelling practices. The work weaves together archival material, found footage, and original content to trace the evolution of New Age spirituality, its symbiotic relationship with emerging technologies, and its role as a tool for personal and collective transformation. Following the european premiere of the work in 2025 at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien where Athanasiou was on a residency funded by EMΣΤ, VOICES is now presented for the first time in the artist’s home city.
The work is deeply personal, drawing from the artist’s experiences of channelling with her mother as a child and incorporating interviews with her grandmother, an artist in her own right. In this way, VOICES functions both as a historical investigation – tracing a type of spiritual family tree – and as a poetic reflection on what it means to ‘own’ a voice. The act of channelling becomes a metaphor for transcending individual boundaries; a form of outsourcing deeply entangled with gender. Within this paradigm, the feminine body is positioned as the ultimate medium of communication.
BIOGRAPHY
Margarita Athanasiou graduated from the Slade School of Fine Arts, Media Department in 2012. Through video, installation, performance, and digital media, Athanasiou’s practice explores contemporary mythologies, spirituality, technology, and online cultures.
Solo exhibitions include: VOICES, TECHNE, BAM Brooklyn, NY, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2025); The World, MISC, Athens (2022). Group exhibitions include: Fall Exhibit, ONX NY, New York, Cosmic Girl Boss, Gallery Im Turm, Berlin, (2026); Esoteric Algorithms and Re-Enchanted Technologies, Panke Gallery, Berlin (2025); Hell Remains, Haus n Athen, Athens, What is channelling, (lecture Performance), ONX NY, New York (2024); Sheltered Gardens, Diomedes Botanical Gardens, Athens, Weaving Worlds, ACG Gallery, Athens (2022); Witchcraft for Love Politics, Feminist Research Center, Athens (2021). Fellowships / awards: Surprise Award, Sprint Art Book Fair, Milan, ONX NY Fellow, New York (2024); Onassis Tailor-Made Fellowship (2022); ARTWORKS Artist Fellowship Stavros Niarchos Foundation (2021); Onassis AIR Exchange Fellowship (2019). Residencies include: Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, funded by EMΣΤ (2025); ONX, New York (2024) Saari Residency, KONE Foundation, Mynamaki, Finland, Onassis Air, Athens, (2022); Capacete, Rio de Janeiro (2019).
CREDITS
VOICES, 2025
Video essay
Three-channel video installation, 7.1 sound
Duration: 43′
Created by Margarita Athanasiou (research, writing, drawing, animation, narration, editing, etc.)
Sound Design and Original Score: Aliki Leftherioti
3D model and mocap assistance: Sneha Belkhale
Additional 3D animation: Andreas Labropoulos
The research and development of VOICES was supported by Onassis AiR and Onassis ONX. The first presentation of the work was in the context of TECHNE 2025 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (ΒΑΜ) in New York, curated by Onassis ONX. It is presented in Athens for the first time at EMΣΤ.
SPONSORS
