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History



Pre History: From Poetry to Cultural Actions for Europe to European Projects

1994

Organization of Fifth Seminar, i.e. conference: ‘Cultural Actions for Europe’ with 135 participants from all over Europe. Contract: Flemish Government, Belgium with further support by the Ministry of Culture and Office for Tourism.

It was preceded by a poetry conference with 35 poets in Kamilari, Crete where they sounded out poetry to the topic “Poetry and Mythology”.

The singer Savinna Yannatou produced with the voices of the poeces cassette to the theme “the human voices in poetry” (see Beyond images/poetry).

As to major highlights, while Andre Loeckx spoke about fragmented cities, Louis Baeck enunciated the differences between the Mediterranean and Atlantic tradition for while the former incorporates economy into culture the latter upholds a seperation of the two and thereby neglects culture. Liana Sakelliou-Schultz expressed a new viewpoint about secularization insofar as she stated the state feels terrorized the moment culture begins to emancipate itself from the state. There were four plenary sessions and ten workshops linked to specific action fields:

1) The culture of international networking

2) Urban/Regional planning and culture

3) Transportation or the making of a new traffic culture

4) Dealing with unemployment or companies becoming learning organisations

5) Culture and economy with artists being hired to teach workers how to remain creative even under uncertain conditions

6) Civilization differs from culture as it involves institutions transmitting culture e.g. film, theatre, museums

7) Education and culture with Prof. Picht from College of Bruges working with Athenian students to bring about consensus as to educational needs

8) Language, literature, poetry impinge upon culture in both a direct and indirect way

9) Culture has to do with health, an example thereof being art therapy

10) European Capitals of Culture exemplified with Eric Antonis, artistic director of Antwerp '93 and Bart Verschaffel, coordinator of literature of Antwerp '93 leading the crucial discussion on how to evaluate this success story started by Melina Mercouri in 1983 with Athens first European Capital of Culture in 1985   

The Fifth Seminar adopted recommendations put forward by Alecos Alavanos with regards to the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

It concluded with a panel discussion about cultural actions needed for the Middle East in the presence of ambassador from Israel, David Sasson along with Louis Baeck and Alecos Alavanos. Louis Baeck said that Israel should not request military help but ask from Europe for scholars who can show the way on how to understand and appreciate the Arabic culture.

1995

Research co-operation in the European Projects ARTICULATE and LOGOS and this jointly with Thanos Contargyris, DIALOGOS.

ARTICULATE deals with evaluations of European Projects while LOGOS developed out of the key concept of cultural adaptation ideas on how to market products in a cultural diverse Europe made up of different languages and values.

By organizing a traveling conference throughout Crete (Iraklion, Kamilari, Chania, Kissamos and Malia) around the “Myth of the City” 15 poets and 15 planners discussed living conditions in cities to emphasize the need for untouched spaces (Paula Meehan), to consider the merging of rural and urban land as becoming 'rururb-land' (Brendan Kennelly), while there is the destruction of Sarajevo to be considered as negative example (Nikos Stavrolakis) with many more discussions about urban development, waste management and sustainability issues as well as what glance the urban environment in Paris means in reality (Bart Verschaffel). Poets like Katerina Anghelaki Rooke, Paula Meehan, Theo Dorgan, Brendan Kennelly, Baptiste Marray, Liana Sakelliou Schultz, Sofia Yannatou, Bruno Kartheuser, Pedro Mateo, and others voiced their poetic appreciation of life in contrast to architects like Juergen Eckhardt, regional / urban planners such as Phil Cooke, Anna Arvanitaki, Pavlos Delladetsima, and development experts like Socrates Kabouropoulos, in order to see if both cultural and technical viewpoints can be brought together outside specialization.

1996

Workshop in Kamilari, Crete: Planning and Culture while preparing for the Article 10 ERDF Project CIED. Juergen Eckhardt and his architectural office in Berlin designed at the same time a conference centre for Kamilari.

1997

Start of CIED: Article 10 – ERDF European project (Jan. 1997 – April 1999) with Volos, Greece as project leader and the cities Cardiff, UK; Galway, Ireland; Palermo, Italy and Leipzig, Germany as partners. Budget was 610 000 Euros with outcome ‘Good Practice Manual’ based on Political Declarations (Palermo April 1999) and the Volos Report: Framework Conditions for Planning Practice and Good Practice Manual

1998

‘From Nomos and Physis to Athens of Today’ – train exhibition organized with ‘Artists without Frontiers’ and Spyros Mercouris. The train went throughout Greece and stopped along the way at different locations. Hatto Fischer developed and realized for one wagon the theme "from NOMOS and PHYSIS in Ancient Greece to modern Athens". The concept was based on Robert Payne's "Ancient Greece" and followed the path taken by both poetry and philosophy since Ancient Times to the present.

Start of the European project LORE within TERRA– towards local observatories for regional development and environmental protection.

Organised in Thessaloniki, European Capital of Culture a seminar with Spyros Mercouris on the theme: ‘Vision and Experiences’.

1999

Organization of the Photo exhibition OSMOSIS together with Alecos Alavanos in the European Parliament, Strasbourg; then in Weimar as Cultural Capital City, and in June at the EU CIED conference in Leipzig. Photographers were asked to look outside their own cultural domain and to look into the cultures of the others with prime focus on Greece.

Organisation of the EU CIED conference in Leipzig with the Palermo Declaration being complemented by the Leipzig Action Plan.

Successful application of the EU project REINVENT within the CONNECT program initiated by the DG Culture and Education with artists becoming indicators as to what is happening in urban spaces.

2000

Work for the Cultural Committee of the European Parliament with focus on priorities for culture within the European Union.

Together with Spyros Mercouris, 5th of May as ‘Day of Culture’.

GO ON: start of the study group for an Internet Radio / TV GO ON in conjunction with research on the same topic for the GREENS of the European Parliament.

Support of the research work done under the guidance of Jesse Marsh, Atelier. The study was prepared for STOA of the European Parliament on the topic ‘Information Society and Cultural Diversity’

2001

Start of the work on the GO ON Internet Radio / TV concept to support the European Debate and provide information about Europe to citizens wishing to shape the European agenda.

Part of civil society in dialogue with the European Convention in preparation of the EU Constitutional Treaty and the place of culture within the European Union. This work was done together with Frederique Chabaud, coordinator of EFAH (European Foundation for the Arts and Heritage with seat in Brussels).

History of Poiein kai Prattein

2002

In December founding of POIEIN KAI PRATTEIN in Athens, Greece Dec. 2002

2003

Advisory work for Prefecture of Athens to European Project: CORONAS – Metropolitan Governance (approved 2003)

Examining ways to support the Greek Community in Alexandria

2003 - 2007

European Projects

2005

Start of Kids' Guernica

Together with PEACE WAVES organised Youth Festival in Torino to help prepare for Monitoring of Olympic Truce during Winter Olympic Games to be held in Torino 2006, and there experienced for the first time a Kids' Guernica mural being painted by an international group of youth, including Jad Salman from Palestine.

Poiein Kai Prattein under guidance of Thomas Economacos and Hatto Fischer let children paint a peace mural with the title "The War is over" and then brought by Thomas Economacos and Maya Fischer to the International Kids' Guernica 10th anniversary festival held in August in Ubud, Bali.

Organisation of the workshop on museums within the HERMES Project in Volos, Greece with special guest Carol Becker from the Chicago Art Institute.

Participation in a conference organised by the DELPHE group in Strasbourg about why development projects usually fail in the Third World. Key essay on this see "The sounds of the world drum" by Hatto Fischer under section 'International'.  A key focus of the conference was on the AIDS epidemic.

2006

Advisory work for Iraklion, Prefecture of Iraklion and Kastelli with regards to the RED CODE Project on Civil Protection.

Participation in Conference in Warszawa, Poland on the role of NGOs in local development.

Work with Spyros Mercouris and the Network of European Cultural Capital Cities to prepare the next General Assembly of the ECCM Network in Patras. In conjunction with the exhibition "Twenty years of European Capitals of Culture" curated by Spyros Mercouris, there was developed together with heritageradio network an online exhibition of "Twenty Years of History of Cultural Capital Cities of Europe". It was done in collaboration with students of Prof. Haritantis of the Technical University of Patras. The archive work of the history of European Capitals of Culture is an ongoing process.

Kids' Guernica Exhibition in Kastelli, Crete

Facilitation of SISMA conferences in Santorini and in Chios.

Civil Protection Exercise in the framework of the SISMA Project in Nafplion and Athens.

In August there was organised the HERMES Summer School in Volos: Challenges for Museums in the 21st Century

In September there took place the final Conference of the HERMES Project in Weimar, Germany.

2007

Organisation with Spyros Mercouris and the ECCM Network the General Assembly of the Network in Brussels, January 27th

Final Conference of SISMA in Perugia, Italy, March 23 - 25 www.sismaproject.eu

Kids' Guernica Exhibition of 18 paintings in Chios May 4th - 7th and further action in Izmir, Turkey end of September to complete the mural Chios-Izmir as sign of an intercultural dialogue to replace Delacroix's "Slaughter of Chios".

Symposium on "Productivity of Culture" and Kids' Guernica Exhibition held in Athens, October 18th - 21st at the Zappeion Megaron www.productivityofculture.org

2008

Kids' Guernica actions took place in:

 

Studies done about 'cultural planning', specifically about cultural planning in the digital age and 'role of multi media in museums' for the City of Volos.

2009

Work for the European Commission as independent expert with regards to Cultural Cooperation Projects.

Poetry Connection: This time Athens was linked to Berlin where 'Printemps des Poetes' wasorganised by Catherina Launay along with such special actions as by Ariadne Ghabel who let ten actors read the poem 'Promise' at Savignyplatz in Berlin on March 14 - 15. In a special program of 'Athens for real' of FM 104,4 of the Municipal Radio station and moderated by Alexia Amvrazi focused on this March 11th. Alexia Amvrazi read the poem 'promise' while Katerina Anghelaki Rooke and Hatto Fischer read their respective poems 'Transcriptions of a night mare' and 'Caves of truth'.

Organisation of Poetry Reading at Booze Cooperativa with 'open microphone' on 22.3.09 for Day of Poetry March 21

Kids' Guernica actions:

 

EUROPEAN Project: MeVin 2.0

An application has been filed for the MED Program with the Spanish region Murcia the lead partner.  With the City of Volos one of the seven partners, Poiein Kai Prattein shall aim to utilize the creation of a virtual museum of intangible heritage of Mediterranean countries as organisational tool for the Mediterranean Games to be held in Volos 2013.

Master Plan Studies

Anna Arvanitaki continues her coordination task of Master Plan Studies for the Greek cities Ionna, Larissa, Volos, Patras and Iraklion.

 

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