This May, the Hellenic Diaspora Foundation presents its first international project, Oikeiōsis, a multi-sensory solo exhibition by Greek artist Pavlina Vagioni at Spazio Tana, near the Arsenale entrance, as part of the 61st Biennale Arte. Curated by Dr. Laura Augusta, Director and Chief Curator of the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston, the exhibition engages the Biennale theme In Minor Keys.

Oikeiōsis explores the transition from isolation to kinship through Stoic ethics and pre-Socratic cosmology. Across two rooms, it employs elemental materials including sound, light, reflection, and salt. The first room, Neikos (strife), features a polygonal plexiglass cube that multiplies and fragments visitors’ reflections. The second room, Philotes (harmony), contains six warm rock-salt seats surrounding a hexagonal mirrored structure. When occupied, the seats trigger responsive sound and light. Vagioni, a classically trained singer and composer, created a layered vocal soundscape in minor chords that builds gradually, incorporating her soprano voice and referencing the Orphic declaration “I am a child of Earth and Starry Heaven.” The installation seeks to produce the Tartini effect, a psychoacoustic phenomenon where combined frequencies generate a perceived third tone.

Pavlina Vagioni: Oikeiōsis (Kinship) / Hellenic Diaspora Foundation. Venice (Italy), May 6, 2026.