The Chamber of Aetoloakarnania organized in Greece the final 4 training workshops within Creative@hubs project.
In August 2022 in Mesolonghi with topic: “POP ART” the keynote speaker, Andrea Valleri, was referred to his work which has a strong influence from classicism and draw themes from ancient myths, literature, and philosophy. His work, is based on archetypes and letters, giving meaning to a timeless memory that the artist himself derives from the recovery of historical memory. More than 60 people were participated in this workshop.
On 21 September, 2022 in Mesolonghi with topic: “TWO COUNTRIES, ONE HISTORY – Greek Culture of Italy meets Mother Greece” the 3 keynote speakers, Fernando Pensa, Lefteris Dakalakis and Christos Vlachogiannis, were highlighted the ten-year relationship of the Greek Cultural Association “Nuova Koinè” with the Cultural Center of Greek-Italian Friendship of Messolonghi ʺNea Koinèʺ which was sealed with the twinning of the Municipalities of Messolonghi and Salerno in 2018. Over the years, many actions were implemented such as exchange of school trips, cultural exchanges and cultural exchanges at all levels (tourism, tasting, musical events) with reference to the historical interaction of the two regions (Southern Italy – Greece), the creation of which is the Griko (Grecanic) language, a dialect of Greek mixed with Italian elements spoken by the Greek-speakers of Italy, whose presence in this region dates back to prehistoric times. The book “Once upon a time in Castriniano” by Fernando Pensa was presented and relevant passages were read that highlighted the charm of fairy tales in both countries. The workshop was attended by 34 people.
On 5 October 2022 in Agrinio with topic: “Creation of works of art from recyclable materials, painting on raw materials & aging techniques in the manufacture of images” the 2 keynote speakers: Antonis Nastoulis and Alexandros Stratoulis were referred to the separation of style in Byzantine art and hagiography, identifying the geographical areas where they appeared. They referred to the way in which they approach a material in which a hagiography or a religious theme has to be painted, based, on the one hand, on usability but also on whether it will have a good market value. They also referred to the creation of art from recyclable materials and the aging techniques in the manufacture of images. Extensive reference was also made to the e-commerce platforms and the possibility given through them, the artists to showcase their works and increase their sales. The workshop was attended by 32 people.
On 2 November 2022 in Agrinio with topic: “Sources of funding for creative and cultural businesses, associations, organizations & bodies” the 2 keynote speakers were: Andreas Tsiliras and George Sarlis, cultural managers of the MOSAIC Hub. The first speaker was referred to the “Registry of Cultural Bodies”, which is the only open funding tool of the Ministry of Culture, he developed the subject of invitations, to whom they are addressed and to whom they are not, he talked about the main thematic sections they cover, as well as what is required for the submission proposals and by what criteria they are evaluated. The second speaker, was referred to European funding and the writing of proposals for them. He analyzed the difference between a European program and a European project and developed its characteristics, as well as the basic conditions and the procedure for submitting a European project funding proposal. This last workshop exceeded all expectations in terms of interest and participations, as more than 120 people were attended the seminar.
The organization of workshops by the Chamber of Aetoloakarnania is a concrete reply to the needs of the local creative and cultural industries, emerged after a survey conducted in 2020 by the Institute of Regional Development – Panteion University. The local creative industries can contribute to the local economic development however, they lack of significant skills as creativity, economic knowhow related to the innovative business models, so they need to be trained about these topics in order to become more competitive.