Prospects for culture from new regime

Artists and intellectuals tell Kathimerini what expectations they have from the new administration and what they know not to expect

What can the world of culture expect from the new government?

We directed this simple question to artists, museum directors, theoreticians — the people who produce and manage culture, who live and breathe it.

We didn’t expect any surprises, innovative ideas or detailed platforms, but we know that in recent years people in the world of culture have come closer to power, whether as its audience, its interlocutors or its opposition.

More and more frequently, artists and intellectuals are on political leaders’ agenda. This is not true only of the Left, which has traditionally retained closer ties with artists.

But keeping company with those in power has not blunted the acumen, nor changed the criteria of the artists and intellectuals who responded.

Their responses reveal a sense of reality, irony and healthy anti-establishment reflexes. They make semantic distinctions, subtly satirize election campaign announcements, remind us of post-election amnesia, and show that they know their own path is a lonely one.

They all proved to be well-informed about problems in the world of the arts, able to suggest specific solutions and aware of how much the social factor influences their art.

But they have no illusions about what will happen after the elections. They are realistic, balanced skeptics, who have not lost their combativeness.

Let’s see what they have to say.