There is indirect, rather than direct, support by the state for literary and artistic creativity. In the case of literature, these take the form of bulk purchasing of literary works by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In the case of photography, the Ministry co-operates with private galleries to support the “photography month”, providing an opportunity for the sale of photographic work. In addition, there is an obligatory 1% of the budget of public buildings to be allocated to the acquisition of art works.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has established a universal honorary pension scheme for recognised writers and artists, however, the pensions given through this scheme are very meagre, and the scheme is currently being evaluated. Law 2557/97 makes indirect provisions for a number of issues relevant to the promotion of creativity and the role of creators, from literary, dance and drama prizes to the creation of galleries or art, education in the performing arts, and support for artistic and cultural associations. The Ministry has introduced a new scheme for supporting performing arts groups that need a space for rehearsals, by offering the venue of Tae Kwon Do built for the 2004 Athens Olympics free of charge for such use.
Festivals supported by the Ministry of Culture include the Documentary Festival of Thessaloniki, the short film festivals of Drama (300 000 EUR annually), the Naousa digital shorts festival, the Ancient Olympia film festival for children and young people with workshops and movies for children, Ecofilm in Rhodes, Health Films festival in Kos, the “Agon” festival of Mediterranean archaeological documentaries, the Mediterranean festival for new directors taking place in Larisa; also, the International Science Films and the Athens International Animation Festival.
Comments are closed.