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The inauguration of the Cultural Centre of the
Onassis Foundation was held, with great success,
on December 7, 2010. The ceremony was honoured
by the presence of his Excellence, the President of
the Republic of Greece, Mr. Carolos Papoulias.
The Centre was welcomed by representatives of the
political, business and cultural worlds, including the
Minister of Defence, Evangelos Venizelos, the
Minister of Education, Lifelong Learning and
Religious Affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou, the
Minister of Culture & Tourism, Pavlos Yeroulanos,
the Minister of Citizen Protection, Christos
Papoutsis, the Deputy Minister for the Environment,
Energy and Climate Change, Nickos Sifounakis, the
Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and
Networks, Spiros Vougias, the Deputy Minister of
Labour, Anna Dalara and others. The event was also
attended by foreign ambassadors, directors and
executives of museums and cultural organizations,
academics, writers, directors, visual artists, collec-
tors, actors and many representatives from the liter-
ary and art worlds.
The Centre’s guests had the opportunity to attend a
special performance, designed and directed by dis-
tinguished Greek director Michael Marmarinos. The
main concept was based on presenting the place
through its occupancy by those who conceived it
and helped create it. The first “occupants” were
those that, throughout all this period, worked for
turning the Centre’s concept from a design and an
image into a building, intended to host productions,
artists and viewers. This cultural performance was
dedicated to human achievement. This way, the
Centre paid homage to the people who used their
ideas or their hands to turn architectural concept into
a tangible structure, carrying its own content. The
stars of the evening were the workers who actually built the
Centre.
In a highly sentimental atmosphere, the President of the
Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, Dr Anthony
S. Papadimitriou, spoke about the mission of the Cultural
Centre and, especially, the target of supporting contemporary
Greek culture.
Moreover, he stated: “Thinking that content is more important
than the package, thinking that people are always behind
small and grand visions, we asked Michael Marmarinos to
design and direct the Centre’s introduction to the public as an
introduction to art and culture. Thus, this inauguration cere-
mony becomes more than what the mere word implies, since
it combines literature, theatre, music, photography and cine-
ma. They all blend into a performance dedicated to the hon-
est eyes and the rough hands of the people who worked for
the construction of this building... Lots of people worked to
have it ready today: engineers, architects, project managers,
workers, foremen, offices employees; and they did work
hard.
“Today, being fully aware of the crisis we are going through, we
chose to present the major contribution of the people who
worked for creating the Centre, declaring that the Centre wants
to be open to all, without excluding anyone.
“So, today’s inauguration ceremony focuses on People, the
nucleus of every society and every form of art, with or with-
out a capital A. The Cultural Centre is a work of People. And
it is also a work of the Onassis Foundation people, at the
Foundation’s companies’ offices and the ships. Apart from
that, though, it is the result of a concept that was born many
years ago…”
The public was guided through the photo exhibition of Stelios
Kalafatis and Lia Nalnantidou, encountered living installa-
tions of persons, tools, portraits and materials, still images-
landscapes, sound fragments from the preparations, as well
as pieces of melodies that will be presented in the Centre
during the coming art year 2010-11. At the Central Scene of
the Cultural Centre, the Kamerata, along with mezzo-sopra-
no Mary-Helen Nezi, charmed the public under the direction
of George Petrou.
A grand inauguration ceremony for the
Onassis Cultural Center
The President of the Republic of Greece, Mr. Papoulias, with the
Minister of Culture, Mr. Yeroulanos, and the President of the
Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, Dr. Papadimitriou.
