At it's first edition, the Contemporary Art Biennale of Thessaloniki has already proven to be a major art event in the Greek world, drawing not only several prestigious national artists, but also a great number of foreign participants. The location is also interesting, as Thessaloniki is historically and extrovert city and cultural centre of the Mediteranean space, a place where art and culture from all over the world are bound toi meet. Using this important heritage, the Biennale is also trying, with great success, to be a place for new art and ideas, from distinct geographical areas and art schools. In the spirit of the 21st century, an European city such as Thessaloniki also tries to encourage and sustain the melting pot of the multiculturalism, the clashing of contradicting ethnic and cultural identities.
According to the organisers, the main characteristics of the Thessaloniki Biennale are :
- the choice of new, interesting, original and bold works, many made by young artists, Greek and foreign, who thus have the chance of promoting their ideas and visions
- the presentation, in a cultural medium of the poorly known, yet talented artists, many of them being virtually unknown even in their own countries.
- trying to offer a bridge of communication and understanding between different artists from all over the world.
- placing the accent on important international issues, changes and crisese, that affect everyone's life and become subjects for contemporary art
- establishing partnerships and collaborations between artists and institutions, in order to support the creators, art dealers and experts in promoting contemporary artworks
- promoting Greek artists as a major part of contemporary European art world.
The Biennale has three sections, each with it's own curator and title, and more than one hundred artists have already participated or are bound to attend the Biennale, and the sheer number of works is by all means impressive.
2007-07-31
