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Ποιειν & Πραττειν – Poiein kai Prattein
As to a brief history of this NGO, it should be said that poets, including the poetesss Katerina Anghelaki Rooke, gave the name. Poiein kai Prattein means 'create and do' and exists as non profit Urban Society since 2002; before that, the poets called themselves 'Touch Stone'.
Stepping stones towards this NGO were among other things:
- the organisation of the the Fifth Seminar, 'Cultural Action for Europe' in Athens 1994,
- the conference 'Myth of the City' bringing together 15 poets and 15 philosophers, architects, planners to talk about living conditions in cities and which was held in Crete 1995,
- the Article 10 ERDF Project CIED standing for 'Cultural Innovation and Economic Development', the Interreg III B CADSES Project HERMES and SISMA along with the MIRIAD 21 Project in 2003 - 2008 which included creation of an the Internet Radio, to be found at www.heritageradio.net, studies of museums and of successful cultural planning strategies, vulnerability studies of cultural heritage with regards to seismic related activities, civil protection exercises,
all while pursueing interests of civil society striving towards good practice together with other NGOs and political authorities.
Create and do
POIEIN KAI PRATTEIN departs from two observations; the first was made by Karl Marx in the introduction to his dissertation, namely that the languages of productivity and creativity have become separated and if anyone is to be addressed in a language that speaks to the ‘human self consciousness’, then in a language that brings together again these categories.
The second observation was made by Thomas Kuhn in ‘Structure of Scientific Revolution’, who said ‘energy’ as term in Ancient Greece meant something unified, while today ‘energy’ in relation to the atom or what scientists would say differs from what a mother implies when she refers to the 'energy' needed to bring up children nowadays.
To bring together people in an energized way for cultural actions means working on a humane language. Given Adorno's dictum that "self understood is only that nothing is self understood", epistemological reflections of terms in use e.g. sustainable development are needed. Michel Foucault in 'les mots et les choses' attempted this in terms of paintings showing a change in the logic of representation out of which Structuralism as school of thought emerged. He referred as well to an archaeology of knowledge. Still, philosophy cannot be complete without poetry and without heeding simple dreams about a fullfilled life. People need to know what can bring them together and what real actions can make a difference if sustainable development is to be attained.
It is the purpose of POIEIN KAI PRATTEIN to improve the life of citizens in cities and regions within Europe and the world as perceived by this non profit Urban Society from its office at the foot of the stairs leading up to Lycabettus Hill in Athens, that is at the corner of Skoufa and Lycabettus.
Stairs leading up to Lycabettus Hill
Efforts are made to link culture and planning while undertaking European projects. Since 2005 Poiein Kai Prattein has also become engaged in Kids' Guernica actions. Given the origin of Poiein Kai Prattein being a group of poets, it is naturally of interest what poetry is being written throughout the world. Following aims have manifested themselves in actions and writings:
- Culture and the Arts
- promote and support the arts, in particular poetry, literature, translation, theatre, dance, visual arts (painting, sculpture, video, photography), music, cultural heritage, film, architecture and other artistic activities
- ‘culture as theory: the way of perceiving things and human beings’
- Planning
- further good practice in planning / refine planning methodologies through culture e.g. continue the ‘Myth of the City’ dialogue between planners and poets / Master Plans for Cities / urban and regional development / review European spatial planning policy and tools used so far
- ‘planning is the anticipation of changes without blocking future developments’
- Synthesis
- Planning methodologies can be refined through culture if that leads to creative cities while regions become open to innovative processes, so as to further ongoing demands for quality work and to ensure that social and economic cohesion respects also the aesthetics of space and meaning of places.
- Cultural synthesis is what gives people the energy to articulate conditions for the fulfillment of needs mediated by human understanding of alternatives to the present.
- Topos, logos, anthropology and other key Greek terms can form the basis of a new understanding of epistemology and etymology, so as to ensure that meanings are sustained over time in the cultural sphere otherwise defined as the ‘invisible infrastructure’. A shadow of doubt would come from Calvino’s cities existing in the imagination of people seeking concrete orientation but not finding the philosopher in the building, but outside, underneath a tree and a bit away from the street.