Researcher and Professor of Cultural Economics and Cultural Diplomacy Kikos Papadopulos has great pleasure in announcing the inaugural SANTORINI BIENNALE OF ARTS 2012, taking place between the 1st July and the 30th September 2012.

 The SANTORINI BIENNALE OF ARTS 2012 aims to support the exchange of arts and experiences, whilst pursuing both a regional and international programme of cultural collaboration.  Determined by a fundamental need to cultivate a spirit of research, experimentation and excellence, the Biennale will act as a catalyst for cultural growth.

 “Nostalgia today is a form of reflection on the present, a way of taking a position on it… It’s a nostalgia not only for the past that was but for the one that could have been – in other words, a nostalgia for the future.”  - Viktor Misiano.

 The 2012 theme, ‘The Past: Memory and Nostalgia’, will examine intrinsic experiences and social relationships, inspired by how

humanity accumulates a catalogue of our personal fabric and how these collected manifestations shape the patterns of our lives.

The mission of the Biennale is to promote both emerging and established artists through a wide variety of disciplines; from Drawing, Graphic Design, Illustration, Collage and Comics, through Paper, Painting, Glass, Sculpture and Ceramics, to Photography, Short Film, Video Art, Installation and Industrial Design. This initiative supports an infrastructure for amélange of the arts through a didactic and experimental series of exhibits.

By means of an advanced framework of outreach activities the Biennale seeks to cultivate the emerging spirit of the island, inviting all participants into an open dialogue concerning new ideas for social change.

The Curatorial Team of SANTORINI BIENNALE OF ARTS 2012

Dimitra Bratika and Michalis Vlavianos (Photography), Sara Falanga (Glass Art and Graphic Art), iLya (Comics), Rajesh Punj (Sculpture and Installation), Alexa Kusber (Industrial Design), Tracey Holt Walkden (Ceramics), Tomas Poblete (Collage), Dear Paola (Paper), Nicky Peacock (Illustration), Simon Tarrant (Painting), Anneca York (Drawing) and Holly Bynoe (Video Art and Short Film).

Press Release SANTORINI BIENNALE OF ARTS May 2012

We are happy to announce the organization of the first Biennial of Art in Santorini, which will take place between July 1, 2012 and September 30, 2012.

Given that our country is in a very difficult situation which I think is not expressed only as purely economic, but primarily as “an economic mentality” crisis, the need “to create” in culture -and in the political culture areas also- may form trigger changes more profitable and efficient for our future.

Believing that many changes can initiate from the Culture, especially from the part of the culture that is defined by the arts, the Biennale of Santorini, Santorini’s authorities, private and other public bodies and professional curators decided to proceed in organizing this “artistic meeting” in a biennial way that for 2012 will study and examine the “The Past”.

Concepts such as tradition, time, memory, nostalgia and history will be under examination by famous and non famous artists coming form around the world where through different types of art forms they will try to define all those the past prescribe us for the future.