{"id":95909,"date":"2022-10-31T16:22:34","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T16:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nationalgallery.gr\/anakoinwseis\/synentefxi-typou-apo-ti-nea-diefthyntria-syrago-tsiara\/"},"modified":"2022-10-31T16:51:47","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T16:51:47","slug":"press-release-by-the-new-director-syrago-tsiara","status":"publish","type":"anakoinwseis","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalgallery.gr\/en\/announcements\/press-release-by-the-new-director-syrago-tsiara\/","title":{"rendered":"Press Release by the New Director, Syrago Tsiara"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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PRESS RELEASE
\nMonday 31 October 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

New Director Syrago Tsiara gives the start signal towards a National Gallery for Everyone<\/h2>\n

The new Director of the National Gallery \u2013 Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Syrago Tsiara, presented the principles, artistic propositions and overall vision of her tenure at the Press Conference held today, Monday 31 October 2022, at the National Gallery\u2019s Onassis Foundation Auditorium. In the presence of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, and the Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports, Nicholas Yatromanolakis, Mrs Tsiara outlined the cultural and social impact that the organisation will strive for going forward, in an environment in which \u2018interpretation of cultural heritage, communication with the community in both the analogue and digital realm, and the promotion of critical thinking coupled with the sharing of knowledge and the cultivation of empathy sustain and expand the role of the National Gallery.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Minister of Culture took the floor first to deliver a greeting, stating: \u2018The National Gallery has the full support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. We are all fully aware that the Gallery today is very different to the Gallery that closed some twelve years ago for the restoration project to begin.<\/p>\n

The current facilities have increased needs, increased demands. Which means more money, more support \u2013 and that is certainly going to be provided. On the other hand, not only the National Gallery\u2019s facilities, but the collections and personnel under Syrago\u2019s guidance can produce events to contribute, in turn, not only to the Gallery\u2019s promotion and extroversion but also to augmenting the resources required.<\/p>\n

Many people, including many of our colleagues, used to believe that culture does not require a lot of money. This turned out to be completely misguided. Culture needs resources; all kinds of resources \u2013 financial, human ones. It is important for these resources to be reciprocally rewarding to culture itself. The National Gallery by all means has the right, as well as the ability, to claim the funds provided by the national resources of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the co-financed programmes available to us, the new NSRF 2021\u20132027 to be launched in the coming months.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports, responsible for Contemporary Culture, welcomed Syrago Tsiara to her new role, underlining the common goals of the Ministry of Culture and the National Gallery, to jointly ensure the organisation\u2019s historical continuity, adopting a holistic and integrated approach.<\/p>\n

This, he explained, requires care and interventions for the National Gallery\u2019s \u2018somewhat forgotten,\u2019 as he said, Annexes and the Glyptotheque at Goudi, as far as the educational programme is concerned, to which he attached great importance, as well as for the facilities, including the cafe, restaurant and shop, which together determine the overall experience expected from a museum by today\u2019s visitors. Acknowledging that the National Gallery is the \u2018custodian of the country\u2019s art history,\u2019 Mr Yatromanolakis also committed for the Ministry to supply the National Gallery with the tools required to equip the new Director to apply herself to the great artistic demands arising from a high-standard museum, such as the National Gallery today.<\/p>\n

After a video recapping the milestones in the National Gallery\u2019s history was screened, Mrs Tsiara committed herself to inclusion, sustainability, social permeability, public accountability, discernment, synergy and pluralism in the organisation\u2019s operation. On the basis of these principles and recognising that the National Gallery under the late Marina Lambraki Plaka\u2019s direction managed, albeit understaffed, to be popular and now has the infrastructure to respond to contemporary challenges and demands, she outlined the future course, stating: \u2018It is time to become more environmentally aware, diverse, open and inclusive, to bring the collections and history into a fruitful dialogue with the needs of today\u2019s society and contemporary intellectual currents.\u2019<\/p>\n

To achieve this goal, the new National Gallery Director explained, each exhibition will now be accompanied by a programme of public events, as well as educational programmes for different audiences. An emphasis will be placed on an interdisciplinary approach to a variety of topics through a multiplicity of genres and media, as well as on strengthening the National Gallery\u2019s interconnectedness with the international artistic and academic community.<\/p>\n

Reflecting these principles, as part of the temporary exhibitions programming for the years 2023\u20132024, the exhibition \u2018Konstantinos Parthenis. Painting an Ideal Greece\u2019 will be extended through early March 2023. The exhibition will be accompanied by an academic conference and a theatrical performance. An exhibition on \u2018Urban Experience\u2019 in visual arts and cinema in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s will be inaugurated in collaboration with the Greek Film Archive in the spring, open through the end of 2023.<\/p>\n

Moreover, to mark the 50th anniversary of the restoration of democracy in Greece at a moment when authoritarian forces emerge menacingly in Europe, the National Gallery is launching from spring through the end of 2024 a major international exhibition focusing on \u2018Democracy and Art in Greece, Spain and Portugal.\u2019 The exhibition, for whose preparation cooperation is already underway with museums and research institutes in Spain and Portugal, traces \u2013 for the first time internationally \u2013 common and unique historical developments in the countries of the European South. The exhibition will be accompanied by a<\/p>\n

conference, workshops, book presentations, screenings of documentaries and fiction films, public talks and other events.<\/p>\n

Regarding the permanent collection, Syrago Tsiara spoke about gradually introducing a mentality of diversity and inclusion, while promoting the historical and experiential perception of art through specific programs. She announced that the National Gallery\u2019s Glyptotheque in the Army Park (Alsos Stratou), the Library and the Archive are being reopened, while the Western European Art Room is also inaugurated, where a total of 47 works will be on display. After going through a conservation process which will be open to the public in a specially designed space, the French painter Charles-Louis-Lucien Muller\u2019s \u201830 March 1814\u2019 will also go on public view in the Western European Art Room in 2023. In addition, two new programmes will be implemented by the new Directorate, \u2018The Collection as Studio\u2019 and \u2018Intermediate Space,\u2019 introducing a variety of artworks and new interpretative approaches to attract returning visitors while at the same time giving space to contemporary art in a conversation with the historical collections.<\/p>\n

At the same time, serving the goal of transforming the National Gallery into a multifaceted, living organisation and encouraging a meaningful interaction among its members, Syrago Tsiara presented the planning for special events at all National Gallery Annexes. From the Coumantaros Art Gallery in Sparta and the Kapralos Museum in Aegina to the Nafplion Annexe, the Corfu Annexe and the Contemporary Greek Art Institute (ISET), the National Gallery brings art into everyday life by organising exhibitions, workshops, guided tours and educational programmes that appeal to all.<\/p>\n

To reflect this and realise the motto \u2018A National Gallery for Everyone,\u2019 education is central, introducing, alongside tried and tested practices such as guided tours and educational programmes, programmes suitable for children from 18 months old, themed guided tours on two Saturdays every month, as well as guided tours in English. Importantly, the National Gallery will collaborate with the Council for Refugees \u2013 Pyxida Intercultural Centre to contribute to the process of the integration of children and their families into their new social environment.<\/p>\n

Emphasis has also been placed on public communication, with new possibilities afforded by the National Gallery\u2019s refreshed official website (nationalgallery.gr) and other tools, on the assumption that the future of museums depends on adaptability, resourcefulness and the development of new models of communication and operation, not only in the analogue, but also in the digital realm. Syrago Tsiara emphasised that, \u2018From the immediate environment, the neighbourhood, the city, the country through to the international public, which we can reach today by the means offered by modern digital technology, the possibilities are endless.\u2019<\/p>\n

Setting a culture of synergy as a key requirement towards sustainability and resilience, the new National Gallery Director also spoke about the goal of strengthening the institution\u2019s cooperation with cultural and educational<\/p>\n

organisations in Greece and other countries, outlining her vision: \u2018The National Gallery holds a leading position in Greece\u2019s cultural life. In the future, it can, and must, increase its impact by undertaking international initiatives for artistic events and synergies on broader social, institutional and cultural issues, as well as by contributing to the improvement of the quality of everyday life.\u2019<\/p>\n

At the end of the Press Conference, the journalists were guided by Syrago Tsiara and National Gallery curators to the Western European Art Room, which is now open to the public. The event concluded in the new National Gallery Cafe \u2013 a spot with a spectacular view that aspires to become a meeting point in the city.<\/p>\n

#OurNationalGallery<\/p>\n

INFO<\/strong><\/p>\n

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