Slowing down to listen in a world obsessed with speed: Tina Stefanou at ACCA

Greek Australian artist Tina Stefanou challenges the speed of modern life as her latest exhibition ‘You Can’t See Speed’ at Melbourne’s ACCA explores land, memory and the cost of progress

Tina Stefanou, 'You Can’t See Speed' / SBS Greek: Anastasia Rallis Credit: SBS Greek

Greek Australian artist Tina Stefanou’s latest exhibition “You Can’t See Speed” at Melbourne’s Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) is a poetic meditation on speed, land, heritage, and survival in a world obsessed with progress.

Stefanou, whose family roots trace back from the area of the central Greek town of Trikala to Black sea’s Pontus area, uses her multidisciplinary practice — combining voice, sound, sculpture, video, and performance — to question what it really means to move forward.

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Tina Stefanou at ACCA: Slowing down to listen in a world obsessed with speed

Tina Stefanou at ACCA: Slowing down to listen in a world obsessed with speed

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Traditional Pontian songs, videos of dances, and the ever-present mati (evil eye) symbol are not nostalgic tokens, but part of an ongoing conversation about identity, protection, and ritual in contemporary life.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the show is a large, site-specific stunt ramp emblazoned with ritualistic symbols — a literal structure of risk, spectacle, and collapse.

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art presents the first major solo exhibition by Greek-Australian artist Tina Stefanou, "You Can’t See Speed"

Working with ACCA, Stefanou acknowledges, has been a positive experience, though she’s deeply aware of the challenges facing artists today — from funding cuts to the precariousness of making politically engaged work in neoliberal Australia.

Tina Stefanou’s exhibition at ACCA is on view until 9 June 2025.

Greek-Australian artist Tina Stefanou at Melbourne's ACCA / SBS Greek: Anastasia Rallis