Electronic Music and Digital Arts Festival
3-5 June 2004
ATHENS - GREECE
Lavrio Technological and Cultural Park
What is Synch Festival?
Synch Festival is born this year as a multi-dimensional cultural event of contemporary trends and will take place from 3 to 5 June in the Technological and Cultural Park of Lavrio (TPPL) under the auspices of the National Technological University of Athens and the Municipality of Lavrio. During these three days and nights, the festival sites will host multiple music acts (live acts, dj & laptop sets) of at least 90 artists as well as audiovisual and visual acts (video art, installations, workshops) of greek and foreign creators. A plethora of digital application shows will be therefore presented, while the site will be marked and architecturally highlighted by the light design of greek and foreign photographers.
The idea
Stefi, one of the most established production companies in Greece, is activated in the field of organizing events as Stefi Events. Through the collaboration of Stefi Events and Apotheosis Entertainment, a group of young people who are directly involved in music production and electronic music promotion, Synch Festival aims at responding to the need for the existence of a wider institution for the promotion of contemporary international trends both in the field of the electronic music scene as well as in the wider field of digital forms of contemporary art.
The lack of a relevant organisation in Greece as well as the increasing need of young people for a comprehensive entertainment which can offer multiplicity of dimensions and choices and can also acquaint people with the wider field of digital creation are the main motives that led to the setting up of Synch Festival as well as to the need for its long term consolidation. The explosive development of the global electronic scene, the changes brought upon by the new technology means to the wider artistic process call for initiatives and institutions which will aim at updating and entertaining the Greek audience -mainly the younger ones- through the latest developments and trends in the art and technology fields at a global level.
The site
This synchronized meeting of art and technology will be held at the Lavrio Technological and Cultural Park (TPPL), a complex covering a big area, which apart from everything else also includes the first energy production plant in Greece. The Park was created through the efforts of the National Technological University of Athens for the conservation of the mining and metallurgical complex of the French Mining Company of Lavrio (GEML), the first -and now preservable- industrial center of modern Greece. The result is a renovated building complex of huge historical, architectural as well as aesthetic interest which includes the Arts and Crafts-Industrial Educational Museum.
The exploitation of a former industrial plant for cultural purposes constitutes a challenging venture for the organizers while at the same time functions as an attraction pole for the visitors. The selection of the Lavrio Technological and Cultural Park aims initially at the visitors getting together in an exceptionally interesting environment both from a natural as well as a scientific and technological point of view. Through Synch Festival, at the Lavrio Technological and Cultural Park, the old and the new can meet in an attractive counterpoint between the electronic sound and the digital application show and the natural history of the area.
Synch Festival, by presenting an alternative suggestion for cultural events in the 200,000 square meters of the Lavrio Technological and Cultural Park, wishes at the same time to contribute to the creation of conditions allowing for re-creating the contact between the specific area and the greater area of Lavrio with the urban web of Athens.
Contact Synch Festival
For more information, details, photographic material, interviews with the artists and anything else, you can visit the festival website: www.synch.gr