Radio Free Europe: Paris as Stage, History as Signal

Radio Free Europe presents a selection of works by artist Kosmas Nikolaou, developed during summer of 2025 as part of his residency. His practice can be regarded as a form of artistic archaeology, unearthing myths and hidden stories to construct a narrative that is equally intimate and geopolitical.

The title Radio Free Europe evokes both the radio station founded in 1949 at the rise of the Cold War, based in Munich, and the 1981 R.E.M. song, which highlights the interaction between politics and pop culture. The exhibition is conceived as a prelude, each of its element appearing fragments from a film in the making.

Initiating by the battle for cultural influence throughout the Cold War, the works explore how Western ideology was conveyed through the media and through art, and how these strategies shaped both institutions and personal memories. Through works reminiscent of archives—sound pieces, photographs, maps, letters—a layered narrative emerges, in which individual stories contribute to a collective voice. Background is the city of Paris, its architecture, public spaces, and history. Paris becomes both a backdrop and a silent protagonist, conjuring its appearances in cinema and pop culture, as in Jean-Jacques Beineix’s film Diva (1981). Thus the ‘archives’ and the city merge with personal memory, transforming the space into a stage where historical fragments resonate with current issues surrounding politics, public space, and culture.

Kosmas Nikolaou (Greece) is currently in residence through the ‘EMΣT | National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens x Cité internationale des arts’ programme.