The Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève and La Cité Bleue join forces for an evening dedicated to dialogue between visual arts and Greek popular music, on the occasion of the launch of artist Paolo Colombo’s publication The Second Time (Nero Editions, November 2025).

Reopened in 2024 after renovation, La Cité Bleue holds particular significance in the history of the Geneva Contemporary Art Center. Alongside numerous other cultural, artistic, and musical initiatives, it was in this hall, known at the time as Salle Simón I. Patiño, that the Center began its activities: between 1974 and 1978, it organized exhibitions, concerts, performances, conferences, screenings, and festivals. Adelina von Fürstenberg, founder and director of the Geneva Contemporary Art Center (1974-1989), invited many major artists to present their work.

On December 6, the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève and La Cité Bleue invite you to a conversation between Paolo Colombo, Andrea Bellini (Director of the Centre), Leonardo García-Alarcón (Director of La Cité Bleue), and Muriel Brandt (Head of Cultural Mediation). This roundtable will revisit the historical ties between the two institutions and discuss the artistic practice of Paolo Colombo.

The evening will continue with the concert Guitar and Bouzouki — Shaping the Mosaics of Rebetiko, performed by Theodora Athanassiou and Alexandros Kentris, two leading figures of the young Greek music scene. Through a subtle dialogue between guitar and bouzouki, they explore the musical heritage of rebetiko — between exile, melancholy, and freedom — revealing its expressive and contemporary power.

PROGRAM 

17h30 — Doors open, welcome & bar, exhibition of photos by Egon von Fürstenberg
18h30 — Panel conversation with Andrea Bellini, Leonardo García-Alarcón, Muriel Brandt and Paolo Colombo
19h30 — Concert by l’Ensemble Ancoretto with Theodora Athanassiou and Alexandros Kentris
20h30 — Bar & book signing by Paolo Colombo

Catalogue: Paolo Colombo, The Second Time, Nero Éditions, 2025 (FR / EN / IT), 25 CHF, special price for the book launch : 15 CHF
This monography was published with the generous support of Fondation Jan Michalski

INFOS & ACCESS

Saturday, December 6, 2025
La Cité Bleue, Genève
Av. de Miremont 46, 1206 Genève

>>> Tickets (20 CHF)