Water and Nature: A Legacy?

Talk by Carola Hein, Professor and Chair History of Architecture and Urban Planning at Delft University of Technology and 2024-2025 research-fellow at the Paris IAS (Sorbonne Université Chair), during the Water and Nature: A Legacy? event at the Goethe Institute of Athens, with a film screening, a round table and an educational game organized as part of the Heritage in Focus program.

Onsite event, open to the public (free entry).
Talks in English.

Presentation

The topic of “heritage” is currently experiencing a real boom in attention in academia and politics, in cultural institutions and the media. Whereas in the past it was mainly associated with issues of private law, such as inheritance law, and in larger social contexts, in particular the preservation of architectural monuments, the meaning of the term “heritage” has expanded greatly in recent years. UNESCO, for example, has significantly expanded its protection regulations for human “cultural heritage”: for 20 years now, cultural traditions, customs, and foods have also been eligible for protection, such as the Byzantine singing cultures in Greece and Cyprus or the Berlin club scene, once considered avant-garde and subversive, but now threatened.

The Heritage in Focus event series, organized by the Goethe-Institut Athens in cooperation with the Humboldt Forum, addresses this topic and highlights various aspects from both German and Greek perspectives. Four panel discussions will address intangible urban (cultural) heritage (using the example of cinema and club culture in Athens and Berlin), the urban heritage of both cities, questions of “nation building” in connection with archaeological finds and demands for their restitution, and the complex issues of “nature and heritage” from a global perspective. The results of this series will be presented in 2026-27 as part of a thematic focus on “heritage” at the Humboldt Forum.

Program

Thursday, June 5, 2025 - Goethe Institute of Athens

7.30pm 10pm: Introductory remarks by Carola Hein
Round table: Thanos Andritsos, Max Bayer, Carola Hein, Giorgos Sachinis
Moderation: Daphne Dragona
Project presentation: Walmeri Ribeiro

10pm: Film screenings
- On the Other Side – Oil Islands by Walmeri Ribeiro (2025, 24')
In the presence of the director, in Portuguese with English and Greek subtitles
- Layer of Destruction by Costas Vrettakos (1980, 32')
In Greek with English subtitles
- Heracles, Acheloos and Μy Granny by Dimitris Koutsiabasakos (1997, 29')
In the presence of the director, in Greek with English subtitles

Music selection: Max Bayer (Spree:Publik)

Friday, June 6, 2025 - Dexameni Square, Athens

10.30am: Educational game
Discovering Hadrian's Aqueduct

More information