To look at the night sky and the moon from within the remnants of an industrial ruin is to witness a profound collision of temporalities – the cosmic and the man-made, the eternal and the decayed, the sky that continues and the structure that failed.

It is a moment of resonant paradox:
Where steel beams, rusted and twisted, become ancient observatories.
Where the voids of broken roofs frame the moon as if it had always been waiting to be seen through them.
Where the machinery of human ambition, now stilled and skeletal, becomes a theater for the celestial – a place to remember that we once built toward the sky, and perhaps we still do, but differently now.

And just like that, sometimes the unthinkable happens and a ruin is brought back to life to become a vessel where memory and possibility breathe side by side.

To look at the night sky from within a place like this is to realize that nothing is ever truly abandoned. That even rust can gleam under the stars. That the skeleton of industry, when left open to the air and the cosmos, can be a sacred architecture. Here, the moon becomes a visitor – sliding through gaps once meant for cranes. The planets rise like beacons of slow time, reminding us that not all cycles are broken. Meteor showers don’t just pass overhead – they fall into the body of the ruin, turning it into a theater, a temple, a wound stitched open for the sky to enter. And those who gather here – artists, wanderers, listeners – become part of the renewal. They do not simply observe the heavens. They respond, refract, echo – with sound, light, movement, ritual. In doing so, they reanimate the space, turning abandonment into gathering, stillness into rhythm, architecture into invocation.

Cosmic Theater is a site-specific exhibition, performance and installation series unfolding within a reclaimed series of storage units in the industrial zone of Piraeus – a long-abandoned, recently rediscovered space where layers of memory, identity, and silence resonate in the architecture. The center-piece? A small courtyard, nestled inside the structure offering a unique “window to the sky” – framing the heavens above, offering a direct and contemplative line of sight to the celestial bodies that rhythmically pass overhead. Here, the night sky acts not as a backdrop, but as a protagonist.

Each event in the series is carefully timed with astronomical phenomena – meteor showers, lunar eclipses, planetary alignments – transforming the space into a ritual site where the cosmic and the earthly intertwine.

An invitation to attune – to light, weather, motion, and breath. The installations and performances act as temporary observatories of wonder, reframing the sky as something intimate, perceptible, alive.

In retrospect, Cosmic Theater is not built to be just an invitation to star-gaze.
It is an invitation to participate in an observatory of feeling, a portal to what already exists –  space, silence, shadow, orbit.
It invites us to look up, then inward – and then to create from that gaze.

Acknowledgments:

The exhibition & event series “Cosmic Theater” is happening as part of the wider “Topoi & Diadromes” programme designed by Panagiota Kamperou and Kosmas Karavas.

“TOPOI & DIADROMES” marks the beginning of a lasting series of events, exhibitions and projects created by the team of .sympan and LABPIREE SUPERSTUDIO.

The event series will be hosted at .sympan space : In the heart of the Agios Dionysios neighborhood, where the sounds of the harbor blend with the city’s pulse, LAB PIRRE SUPER STUDIO reimagines the entrance of a hidden old residence into a modern concept space and gallery. This well-concealed universe within an industrial shell transforms into a vibrant meeting place for design, art, music, and cultural explorations. LAB PIRRE SUPER STUDIO invites visitors to a space where concepts and emotions take center stage.

https://labpireesuperstudio.com/el/sympan/about/

Supported by the team at LAB PIREE Superstudio : Housed in an old harbour machine shop, LabPiree connects the narrative of a historic raw aesthet and the continuous research for renewal and innovation. In this philosophy, tiles, ceramics, industrial and handmade artisan materials, sanitary products and design objects find a place inside LabPiree’s showroom. 

https://labpireesuperstudio.com/lab-piree/

Participating Artists : Natalia Manta, Martha Panagiotopoulou, Irene Ragusini, Yannis Mantzaris, Marios Stamatis, Dimitris Tampakis, Panos Alexiadis, Giorgos Tserionis, Elli Antoniou, Looper, Louis Philippe Scoufaras, Petros Efstathiadis

Art Direction : Marilena Kranioti, Ektoras Theoulakis

Key Dates :

Opening Hours :

*Monday & Tuesday closed, Wednesday & Thursday Event, **Monday & Tuesday open by appointment