Global Art and the Museum

Dear readers, after the Philippinean Vargas Museum we would like to draw your attention to a European institution this month. The State Museum of Contemporary Art of Thessaloniki is an outstanding foundation for the promotion of modern and contemporary art, both from a national and international perspective. Since its outset in 1997, the SMCA has been benefiting from the donation of the precious Costakis Collection, considered as the biggest collection of Russian avant-garde art outside Russia’s borders. In reason of this special gift, the SMCA entered immediately the international art circuit being an attractive venue for visitors as well as an interesting partner for foreign art institutions. Alongside several collaborations and exchanges with international museums such as the Tate Modern in London, the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the SMCA founded the Thessaloniki Art Biennial in 2007. While the Biennial aims to strengthen the presence of Thessaloniki and Greece in the major contemporary art scene, the participation to Artisterium in Georgia and to the Gyumri Biennial in Armenia hints a particular attention to alternative sites for the production and circulation of contemporary art.

Mission

The State Museum of Contemporary Art is one of the most prominent foundations in Greece which hosts and projects modern and contemporary art exhibitions. Its aims and achievements are based on and guided by six thematic actions:

– the administration of the Costakis Collection, the most significant Russian Avant-Garde Collection outside Russia, by organizing original productions, co-productions and scientific research programmes in Greece and abroad;

– the record and promotion of contemporary Greek art as well as the creation and support of common grounds for effective dialogue between Greek artists and artists from Europe and all over the world,

– the support of the synthesis of arts as well as the reinforcement of innovative and alternative artistic suggestions,

– the substantial cooperation and networking with cultural institutions in Greece, Europe and abroad,

– the usage of the most modern digital technologies in all related communication fields.

– the implementation of innovative educational programmes as well as access programmes for all social groups

Historical Background

The idea for the institution of the Museums of Contemporary Art began in a conference held in 1986 by the well-known actress, singer and politician Melina Mercouri. Mercouri conceived and supported the idea and took it upon herself until its fruition.

On account of Thessaloniki’s designation as the Cultural Capital of Europe in 1997, an advisory committee was composed for the foundation of the State Museum of Contemporary Art. The committee consisted of distinguished personas of the arts from Thessaloniki and Athens and Professor of Art History at the School of Philosophy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Miltiadis Papanikolaou as President.

In 1997 the Minister of Culture, Evangelos Venizelos passed a law in Parliament for the foundation of the State Museum of Contemporary Art. The first Board of Directors consisted of professors Dimitris Fatouros as President and Miltiadis Papanikolaou as Director. Concurrently, the renovated Moni Lazariston building was provided for the State Museum of Contemporary Art and its installations.

The Museum and the Costakis Collection

At the same time, the issue of the acquisition of the Costakis collection involved a number of state and private cultural institutions who supported the idea of the purchase by the Greek government and its installation in Thessaloniki’s new state museum.

George Costakis

After a lengthy and complicated process the contracts for the acquisition of the Costakis collection were signed on March 30th 2000. Following estimations by a special committee the amount was agreed upon by the Ministry of Culture and the owners of the collection and determined at 41.7 million€. The material, composed by 1,275 works of art consisting of paintings, sculptures, drawings and constructions, arrived in Thessaloniki in October 1998.

The Venues

The Moni Lazariston complex

The Museum is situated in the northeast wing of the Moni Lazariston complex which also houses a number of other cultural functions with a total area of 20,000 square meters.

The building was modified into a museum with modern European standards through the necessary alterations and add-ons to technological equipment and security and control systems according to international standards (temperature and humidity control systems that ensure proper climate conditions on a 24-hour basis, fire detection and suppression systems, emergency exits and security systems at visitor entry points). The Museum’s total area is 3,270 square meters. Moni Lazariston was built in 1861 by the monks of the order of Saint Vincent DePaul. Originally, the place functioned as an orphanage and later on as a catholic seminary of the Great Monastery of St. Lazaros. After years, the building was turned into a hospital and refugee shelter after 1922. The building indefinitely ceased functioning after the 1978 earthquakes. In 1980, Moni Lazariston was designated as a “historical monument” while the building restoration began and were completed by the Thessaloniki Cultural Capital of Europe 1997 Organization.

Dimitri Kotsaras&Jennifer Nelson, exhibition view at Transit-4, 2011

The exhibiting halls of the Museum are situated in the basement and on the ground, first and second floors, covering totally an area of 1400 square meters. In the basement floor beyond the exhibiting places (8 exhibiting halls), there are storage places, as well. On the ground floor, there are the reception desk, the sales office, the security systems control office, exhibiting halls, administrative offices as well as the preservation workshop. The Library, which contains an extensive bibliography related to the modern and contemporary European and Greek Art as well as Russian Avant Garde, lies on the first floor of the Museum. On the first floor, there are also administrative offices and a large exhibiting area. The second floor consists of offices of the Museum’s scientific staff, Directors and Secretariat as well as a large exhibiting area.

Port of Thessaloniki – Provlita Α, Warehouse Β1

In a joint agreement in June 8th 2001 by the Ministries of Culture and Commercial Shipping, Warehouse B1 of the port of Thessaloniki was turned over to the SMCA by the Thessaloniki Port Authority in order to house cultural events.

The SMCA converted the Warehouse to an exhibition hall. Necessary alterations were done to the building such as issues of security, lighting, climate control and all other mechanisms according to international museum standards. The Warehouse Β1, which is located at the eastern part of the Thessaloniki Port passenger terminal, consists of approximately 700 square meters. The exhibiting spaces lie on the ground and first floors as well as the hallways of the building, with a total area of 651 square meters.

The Warehouse exhibiting spaces house touring exhibitions of the Museum as well of the Contemporary Art Center and exhibitions organized by the institutions that collaborate with the Museum. The reception desk, sales office and control room are situated on the ground floor. The administrative offices and the conference hall of the Board of Directors are on the first floor.

YFANET

The YFANET industrial complex is located in the centre of the city. It was built during the beginning of the 20th century and used to be an industrial area of great importance (mostly as a textile factory) and influenced significantly the economic life of Thessaloniki especially during the 1920-1940’s period. The whole site covers approximately a 13 thousand square meters area, while the buildings consist of 18.000 square meters. After the statute issued by the Minister of Culture in 1993, YFANET was declared as a landmark and a characteristic sample of industrial architecture, while in 1997 the Ministry of Culture designated YFANET complex as the seat of the State Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2006 the Ministry’s of Culture Central Assembly for Modern Monuments decided the purchase of the complex to grant it as a seat to the SMCA and particularly to its departments, the Thessaloniki Center of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Photography and the Museum of Design. The purchase took place on 27th December 2006 with the support of the Third Community Support Framework for Greece.

An announcement for the preparation of the architectural study, financed by allocations of the state budget, will be declared, while the materialization of the project as far as the construction and transformation of the YFANET building into Museum of Contemporary Art, will be carried out through the Fourth C.S.F. Due to extent of the project and the location of the complex in the busy city center, the transformation of YFANET into a multidynamic museum of contemporary art is a grandiose project. It aims at restoring the complex and integrating it into the city life, by using modern artistic and cultural methods of great radiance with respect to the architectural character of the building.

The Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki

The CACT is an autonomous part of the State Museum of Contemporary Art and is located at the the Warehouse B1 of Thessaloniki’s Port. Its aim is to support all forms and kinds of innovative artistic activity. It does not function merely as an intermediary along the linear progression of artist – work of art – public, but serves as an active enabler, facilitating and encouraging communication between the artist and the public. The staff of the Centre pays close attention to social realities and stay abreast of international trends in contemporary art: “we participate in networks exchanging cultural products and experience; we seek to support young artists in their first professional endeavours, offering a platform to showcase their work and back it up with theoretical documentation.”

Alice Aycock, exhibition view at Islands Never Found, 2011

Besides being an exhibition venue, the CACT plans and implements its own in-house productions and seeks as well external collaborations abroad in order to support and promote art practice. The exhibitions’ focus ranges between the presentation of the latest generation of artists along with special tributes to established names. In order to reach a broader audience, the CACT is committed to planning diverse parallel actions and educational programmes, to enhancing communication through the use of the internet, as well as to staging artistic actions in the public space.

Collections

Apart from the Costakis Collection, the State Museum of Contemporary Art has been receiving several significant donations of works of art since its outset. The number of donations, which amount to about 318 art pieces, continue to increase to this day.

An important part of the collection has been donated by the Thessaloniki Cultural Capital of Europe 1997 Organization. The list of the donated works includes two sculptures by Greek-American artists Stilianos Antonakos and Chris Giannakos and one by Greek artist Yannis Ayramides. In addition to the donation of the Thessaloniki Cultural Capital of Europe 1997 Organization, a number of other pieces come from several workshops that were held on occasion of the 1997 Cultural Capital.

Furthermore, the colleciton comprises the works of distinguished artists, who wished to donate their works mostly on the occasion of an exhibition, but also independently of any event. Among the featured artists appear Chris Gianakos, Stylianos Antonakos and G. Vacalo.

International Activities

The Thessaloniki Art Biennial

With the support of the Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with other local cultural institutions, the State Museum of Contemporary Art supplied Thessaloniki with its first Contemporary Art Biennial in 2007. Achieved its secondo edition in 2009, this international initiative aims to place Thessaloniki and the entire country in general, into the Biennale art network.

According to the organizers’ statement, the peripheral position of Thessaloniki from the European centres of art essentially gives the Biennial the freedom to encourage and attract new avant-garde ideas and eventually contribute to the actual development of art, not to its recycling. The Thessaloniki Biennale aims to grant visibility to those artists who have difficult access to the European art stage, and therefore to act as a stepping stone that will bring artists closer to Europe. Thanks to the establishement of international cooperations, the Thessaloniki Biennial encourages further artistic exchanges, and seeks to place Greek artists in an interesting field of aesthetic dialogue in Europe and beyond.

2nd Thessaloniki Art Biennial, exhibition view of the main program at the Warehouse, 2011

Both for the first and second edition, the main body of the exhibitions and the artistic activities is accompanied by a series of parallel events, embracing a wide range of the artistic creation. The objective of this project is the public’s familiarization and participation with the current art scene, thus providing the audience with a convenient and friendly access to spaces which are not restricted to the museum’s walls.

Artisterium

Artisterium is the only contemporary art event in Georgia and it is supported by the Goethe Institute and the Ministry of Culture and Protection of Monuments of Georgia. The Artisterium 3 “Imagine the Future” was dedicated to the 100 years anniversary of Tbilisi History Museum. It was held between 2 and 10 of October, the participating artists were more than 120 in total presenting works in 9 venues in the city of Tbilisi. The State Museum of Contemporary Art is represented by the Greek artists Elli Chrysidou and Eftychia Ermeidou and the curators of the CACT Areti Leopoulou and Theodore Markoglou. In a report of their experience, the curators state: “Greek – Georgian foreign relations have been quite tight over the last decades. Many people from Georgia immigrate to Greece, seeking for a better future and many Greeks have been living in Georgia since antiquity. For a few days two Greek curators and two artist ‘immigrated’ to Georgia thanks to the Artisterium art event”.

The Gyumri International Biennial of Contemporary Art

In 2010 the SMCA participated in the 7th Gyumri Biennial of Contemporary Art for the third time. The exhibition Weak Monuments. The Polk case was this year’s participation. The architects Aristeides Aristeide Antonas, Alexios Dallas and Filippos Oraiopoulos, members of the Built Event group, proposed as an idiosyncratic system of reading the city’s urban fabric. They tried to describe Thessaloniki out of some selected crimes that took place in its public space during the 20th century. This particular collection was first presented in the framework of the parallel programme of the 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art. Thessaloniki is marked by famous murders; it is also an ordinary modern town where a lot of “insignificant” criminal acts take place.This particular presentation organized for the Gyumbri biennale is focused on the material selected from the murder of George Polk, the American journalist whose dead body was found on May 16th 1948 floating on the sea, in front of the White Tower, in Thessaloniki. All the murder cases cover not only the public or private life, but some of them are of huge historical importance with strong impact on the collective memory. The aim of the Built Event’s show was to question the “murder” in an urban scale: the project shows how a city is shaped by layers of receiving, recording and placing its murders.

Weak Monuments. The Polke Case. Exhibition view at the 7th Gyumri Biennial

Education

The State Museum of Contemporary Art particularly emphasizes on its educational role. The educational programmes follow contemporary educational methods, with the aim to bring students of all ages in contact with its permanent collections as well as with the museum’s temporary exhibitions. Educational programs are designed and conducted by the museum’s staff or by expert museum pedagogues who collaborate with the museum. The programs are adjusted to the age and the respective interests of each group in order to activate individual participation and initiative, so that the visit to the museums turns out to be a creative and pleasant experience.

Besides particular programs for children and students, the Museum also addresses to any social groups, through the organization of guided tours in English and Greek language.

Furthermore, within the framework of educational activities, the museum addresses to groups that have higher standards and specialized requirements. It organizes annual cycles of lectures in collaboration with Greek and foreign specialists on topics related to modern art as well as conducts scientific conferences with the participation of professors and students of Art history departments of Greek and foreign universities in order to exchange knowledge and experience, to examine closely specific scientific issues and to forward research.

Biennale Goes to School

The educational programme “Biennale goes to school” is a project of the State Museum of Contemporary Art, which is carried out by its educational team since April 2007. The main aim of the project is to raise a discussion around art-related issues such as new potential places and contexts for contemporary art, the role of art in the students’ everyday life, forms of art and museums, the 1st Biennial and the 2nd Biennial of contemporary Art in Thessaloniki.

Educational program for children an adults at the CACT

Parents and children visiting the exhibition In occasion of the exhibition ‘Sadok Sudai’, at Thessaloniki Center of Contemporary Art, will have the opportunity to obtain the autonomous educational program workbook from the museum entrance, which was especially designed by the museum education team, for them. The workbook enhances parents to realize autonomous museum visits without the premise of an existing knowledge and contains activities, games, information and subjects to discuss in order to support the children-adult-museum interaction as well as to enforce the relations within a family, through a free and pleasant way of expression and action. The workbook is accompanied by the necessary materials for the realization of the activities and children may continue work at home.

All information compiled from press material provided by the institution and from the museum official website.