Exhibitions and Performances at WOW – Women of the World Athens 2026, the festival for women, femininities, and non-binary people

From March 27 to 30, 2026, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), in collaboration with the WOW Foundation, presents for the fourth consecutive year WOW – Women of the World Athens, the largest global festival dedicated to women, femininities, and non-binary people.

This year once again, WOW Athens seeks to address some of the most pressing issues surrounding gender equality, both locally and internationally, while offering a platform to voices that inspire and foster hope for a more just world.

From the SNFCC Reception area to the perimeter of Stavros Niarchos Park and the National Garden, the exhibitions of WOW Athens invite audiences to engage in a dialogue that extends beyond the boundaries of conventional exhibition spaces.

The interactive sculptural installation Temple of Transmission, a collaboration between the organization Each One Story and visual artist Marina Velissioti, shares stories of women that are rarely heard. The photography exhibition Together, Visible, presented in collaboration with MOMus–Museum of Photography Thessaloniki, highlights multiple facets of the female experience. Georgia Lale’s work Ameinokleia underscores the timelessness of gender roles, while The Hope Brigade presents portraits of women whose actions promote equality and social change.

The audience will also have the opportunity to experience two performances: Georgia Lale’s Tears for You and Me, which uses domestic labor as a metaphor for the sacrifices often expected from women in the name of love and family, and Eva Lampara’s poetic live performance combining spoken word and video, where breath becomes rhythm and silence gains presence.

Together, Visible

Photography Exhibition
In collaboration with MOMus–Museum of Photography Thessaloniki
Friday, March 27 – Tuesday, June 30
SNFCC Park perimeter

The exhibition brings together works by twelve contemporary photographers from the permanent collection of MOMus–Museum of Photography Thessaloniki, highlighting multiple aspects of the female experience: identity, memory, the body, social roles, migration, visibility, and belonging.

From self-portraiture and staged imagery to documentary photography, diverse photographic practices form a polyphonic narrative exploring how female presence is shaped, challenged, and redefined.

The participating photographers-Vicky Georgiou, Frantzeska Yiatzoglou-Watkinson, Nikoleta Zisi, Christina Kalbari, Katerina Kalogeraki, Natasha Kantemiri, Iliana Meidani, Fani Sarri, Olga Stefatou, Katerina Tsakiri, Katerina Chatzidimitriou, and Athina Chroni-approach photography as a means of expression, documentation, and advocacy, opening a dialogue between personal experience and public discourse.

Curatorial team: Maria Kehagioglou – Antonis Vlachos

Georgia Lale, Tears for You and Me

Performance
Saturday, March 28, 16:30–18:00
Sunday, March 29, 14:00–15:30
Small Agora

Georgia Lale, Ameinokleia

Friday, March 27 – Sunday, April 5
SNFCC Reception

Georgia Lale is one of the most consistent and recognizable artistic voices working on issues of gender equality and social justice. Through performances and visual interventions rooted in everyday life, she explores how gender stereotypes are constructed, normalized, and passed down across generations.

At WOW Athens, she presents Tears for You and Me, a work both satirical and sharp, using domestic labor as a metaphor for the sacrifices often expected of women in the name of love, partnership, and family. Activating her body and her relationship with the audience, Lale transforms a seemingly simple act into a commentary on the aestheticization of female suffering and its conversion into socially acceptable spectacle.

Alongside the performance, her work Ameinokleia will be presented at the SNFCC Reception, inspired by a funerary stele from Kerameikos. The theme of mourning–both private and collective–runs through both works, highlighting the enduring nature of gender roles and social expectations inscribed onto women’s bodies.

Each One Story / Marina Velissioti: Temple of Transmission

Interactive sculptural installation
Friday, March 27 – Monday, March 30
NLG Reception

Temple of Transmission is an interactive sculptural installation centered around a metal loom constructed from unconventional materials, bridging traditional female craft with lived experience. The loom functions as a transmitter: from its fibers emerge women’s voices, delivered through headphones placed on seats arranged in a circle around the installation.

Visitors are invited to sit, listen to stories rarely given public space, and weave their own meanings through the narratives. Individual listening becomes a collective experience, forming a temporary community through shared attention.

On March 28 and 29, a recording studio by the National Library of Greece will be available for visitors to contribute new stories, further enriching the evolving tapestry.

Concept & stories: Each One Story | Danae Dragonea – Daphne Anesti
Visual creation: Marina Velissioti
Sound design: Nikolas Kazazis

Eva Lampara, IN BETWEEN breaths

Performance
Saturday, March 28, 18:00–21:00
NLG Multipurpose Hall I

IN BETWEEN breaths is a poetic performance combining spoken word and video by EVArtist (Eva Lampara), where breath becomes rhythm and silence takes form. The artist recites her own poetry while video footage of her journeys through Athens in her wheelchair is projected.

Without stage or music, the work unfolds through pauses, breaths, and subtle shifts in time–inviting the audience not to watch, but to pause, even briefly, between breaths.

The Hope Brigade

Photography Exhibition
Until Monday, March 30
Perimeter of the National Garden

As part of WOW – Women of the World Athens, SNFCC, with the support of the Municipality of Athens, presents The Hope Brigade, featuring twenty photographs of women who inspire change.

Curated by the WOW Festival network, the project highlights women and non-binary individuals from ten countries working across urgent global issues-from climate justice and economy to education and health. First launched in 2021 in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture, the series now includes 150 portraits worldwide.

Ten of the portraits presented in Athens feature remarkable women active in Greece, each leading change in their respective fields.

Major Donor of SNFCC: Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)