CHAMBER OF FINE ARTS OF GREECE
MINISTRY OF CULTURE, GREEK NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE IAA / UNESCO
(Information from 2000)
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CHAMBER OF FINE ARTS OF GREECE: Legal Person of Public Law, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, National Committee of the International Association of Arts (IAA/UNESCO), official State Advisor for Cultural Policy. It Is represented on state committees (Ministry of Culture, Ministry of National Education, Municipalities, Prefectures etc).
Its administrative Board Is elected every two years and it consists of 11 members. For the biennium 1996 -1997 the composition of the Administrative Board is the following.
MICHALIS PAPADAKIS, sculptor, President
YANNIS KAROUSSOS, icon painter, Vice President
RENA ALOUSSI-ILIA , print maker, Secretary General
KOSTAS ROTHOS, Treasurer
YANNIS MITRAKAS, painter, Curator Of the Department of Painting
ELISAVET VALVI, sculptor, Curator of the Department of Sculpture
YORGOS VLASSOPOULOS, engraver, Curator of the Department of Engraving
SOTIRIS VARVOGLIS, mosaic maker, Curator of the Department of Decorative Arts
PAVLOS SAMIOS, painter, Member of the Board
LILI BAKOYANNI, painter, Member of the Board
YORGOS SAPOUNAS, painter, Member of the Board
There are four departments, representing each discipline (painting, sculpture, engraving, decorative arts) and a Jury (24 members) for artists and artworks selection. Members of the above Jury represent the Chamber of Fine Arts on many State committees (prefectures or municipalities) for the selection of art works.
An artist has the right to become member of the Chamber of Fine Arts either as graduate from a School of Fine Arts or after an examination of his artistic creation and activities (at least, five years of artistic experience and creative art work).
The Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece has been founded in 1944. The Legislative Act that rules its existence find function is the Law 1218/1981. An important amendment, to the above law, but which has never been applied till now, is the Law 1854/1989 that concerns the allocation of one billion drachmas annually for the installation of art works on public buildings. This same Law has also some modifications on the function of the Jury of the Chamber of Fine Arts.
The Chamber of Fine Arts consists of 3.000 members approximately (2.050 painters, 400 sculptors, 150 engravers and 400 icon painters, scenographers, mosaic makers, graphic artists, decorators etc). All the members of the Chamber of Fine Arts have the right to apply for sickness benefit in case they don´t have another social security.
PURPOSES:
- The promotion of artistic creativity in Greece and abroad.
- The protection of the artists´ Interests.
- The organization of artistic events.
- The cooperation among artistic organizations within Greece and abroad.
- The development of art education and cultural information.
ACTIVITIES:
Exhibitions - abroad:
Cooperation with National Committees of the IAA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Museums (National Museum of Warsaw, Xyion Museum), Municipal Galleries (Bratislava, Kocice - Slovakia, Luxembourg), Cultural Centers, the UNESCO etc. In the past years there existed agreements of cooperation with the Associations of Artists of Cyprus, Bulgaria and the former Soviet Union.
Exhibitions inland:
Cooperation with the Ministry of Culture (Panhellenic Exhibition), National Gallery,
Municipalities and Municipal Centers etc.
Congresses:
- Congress on the Artistic education, 1983
- Symposium on the "Panhellenic Exhibition", 1987
- Congress on the Fine Arts, 1990
- Congress on the national and the international aspect of the Art - The contribution of the Greek art on the evolution of the European one, 1991
- Congress on the"Orthodox Icon painting nowadays tradition- evolution", 1993
- Congress on the visual art education in the Pedagogic Department of the University, 1994
- Congress on the Fine Arts "March towards 2000 - data - problematic - proposals", 1995.
Main activities of the last two years:
- 1st Inter-Balkanic Visual Creativity Symposium in Kalamaria - Thessaloniki, in cooperation with the Organization of the "Cultural Capital of Europe - Thessaloniki 97" and the Municipality of KaIamaria, 1997.
- Visual Arts Exhibition "Athens - Istanbul. face to face", Istanbul 1997.
- Exhibition of Sculpture, in cooperation with the Organization of the "Cultural Capital of Europe - Thessaloniki 97". Thessaloniki 1997.
Planned activities for 1998:
- Congress on the Artistic Education
- Ceramic Art "Plein - Air" between Greek and Turkish Artists, Island of Lesbos.
- Visual Arts Exhibition "Athens - Istanbul, face to face", Athens.
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Address: Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece, 11 Nikis street, GR-10557 Athens, Greece.
Tel. (+30.1) 3224806, 3240445, 3231230, 3245261, 3224428. Fax. (+30.1) 3240296.
