The vision of Melina Mercouri

Poster for ECCM exhibition "Twenty years later" in Patras 2006 curated by Spyros Mercouris

Melina Mercouri had originally proposed in 1985 that Europe should be united by culture. When she did that then she thought of the European Capitals of Culture as an independent institution. She wanted to bring people together, to foster discussions between artists and scientists, and to let citizens participate in what shapes culture and civilization by learning out of experience.

Culture relates to a concrete meeting place, in order to allow the 'self' to locate itself through culture in time and space within the community. At the Canadian pavillion of Expo '67, the name 'Katimavik' borrowed from the Inuits was used to designate a pyramide standing on its peak to signify this. In Ancient Greece, besides the 'agora' there was the Pynx where the ECCM Network renewed its declaration in favour of former, current and future ECoC cities.

Meeting places allow people to come together. That leads to fruitful exchanges especially when these spaces are used to compare and to link ongoing reflections of what has been experienced (le vecu) to questions about pending decisions and subsequent consequences if certain actions are taken. At all times, there is a need to stay in contact with reality, best done by allowing for ongoing dialogues and a questioning of reality by means of the imagination.

As all of this together is never fully self understood, it becomes be a cultural way to deal with failures, short comings, disappointments, wrong expectations. Since Ancient Greece, it means to apply measures of man while human reason should not be ruled by fear, but practical wisdom. And since this is also not self understood, as it cannot be taught, the working with cultural premises created by artists requires the need to be free to imagine what tasks lie ahead

Historical account by Sypros Mercouris

On November 22, 1983 at Zappeion Megaron in Athens, the then Minister of Culture Melina Mercouri gathered all Community Culture Ministers together, in order to submit to them the following main question: “How is it possible for a Community which is deprived of its cultural dimension to grow?” and continued: “our role as Ministers of Culture is clear. Our responsibility is a must. Culture is the soul of Society. Therefore, our foremost duty is to look at the foundations and nature of this Community. This does not mean that we should impose our ideas. On the contrary, we must recognize the diversities and the differences amongst the people of Europe.”

Then Melina Mercouri said something which holds still today, for the “determining factor of a European identity lies precisely in respecting these diversities with the aim of creating a dialogue between the cultures of Europe. It is time for our voice to be heard as loud as that of the technocrats. Culture, art and creativity are not less important than technology, commerce and the economy.”

Following the declaration signed by the Heads of Government in Stuttgart on 19^th June 1983, where for the first time cultural co-operation acquired real meaning, the agreed aim was to achieve a better knowledge by each member of the community of their cultural creativity and common history and culture. This declaration gives us both the opportunity and the stimulus to proceed to specific proposals. Melina proposed immediately to designate each year a European city as a Cultural Capital of Europe. She wanted to create an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe and to give a cultural dimension to the community and a more attractive image.

The European community, a commercial and economic community up to that point, had not given special attention to its cultural dimension and Cultural Ministers met not as a EU Council of Ministers in charge of culture, but only informally. Yet the gathering of the Ministers of Culture in Athens on 22^nd November 1983, stirred the waters.

When our country proposed to the Ministers of Culture the event of the Cultural Capital, it did so in the belief that through enquiry into the roots of European Culture and by discovery of a new cultural identity, a real contribution would be made through culture to Europe and as concept realized on a yearly basis could enhance the reinvigoration both of the citizen’s participation and the governance of Europe.

Also, it was certain that though efforts to achieve a higher quality of life the event of the Cultural Capital would expand to cities of European countries outside the Community according to the principles of Democracy, pluralism and rule of law.

The proposal was unanimously accepted and the institution of European Cultural Capital was created with Athens being chosen first Cultural Capital of Europe for the year 1985.

This honorary distinction was not only offered to Athens solely for its long contribution in the area of Culture, nor for its accomplishments in art, literature and science which have left their mark on the cultural growth of Europe, but also because, once again, Greece had the inspiration and taken the initiative to propose a new cultural event, essential for binding together the countries of a future politically unified Europe.

Though first on the list, Athens had from the beginning a wide vision of this cultural event and its prospects. The concept of the event of Cultural Capitals of Europe shows the character of each city which is nominated, with its history, tradition and contemporary creativity and to be a meeting place for discussion and exchange of ideas, where artists intellectuals and scientists would bring their work and efforts together towards the promotion of European thought. The Cultural Capital ought to be a means for allowing every citizen to be more than mere spectator and to participate directly in the shaping of a European consciousness. Each citizen should himself feel, comprehend and define the new relationships arising from a new identity amongst contemporary European policies and conditions.

Given the importance of citizen’s participation let there were four principal concerns linked to the concept of European Cultural Capital Cities:

how to shape attendance in such a way as to make it into a full participation in cultural events
how to promote and to deepen the understanding what people see and experience when participating in the cultural events initiated by European Cultural Capital Cities
how to enter a dialogue between cultures of Europe
how on the basis of all these experiences strengthen the willingness to support and to give shape to Europe’s process of unification (which is not the same as expansion and integration, the terms currently used to describe the European process).

The aim was above all to achieve a going beyond egoistic standpoints as the receptivity of culture depends largely on citizens learning and participating in events on a give and take basis.

Note: Spyros Mercouris became the first coordinator of a European Capital of Culture once Athens had received the designation for 1985

A viewpoint about Melina Mercouri

by Alexis Alatsis - Artistic director of Patras 2006

"... going back to Melina’s vision: Melina had to me (she had) always the same impact because the difference of Melina to all the other politicians who were involved in this process is that Melina was a visionary person. Melina didn’t care that much about the realistic implementation part of this dream. To her it was very important to formulate the dream, to make it start, because Melina had this power, to know, she had this instinct to know that when you start something, it was exactly what I was telling before about the dynamic. You have to start something and then you (have) to be very confident that the dynamics of what is starting are creating a wave and this wave has its own life then and it can go further because the wave does not end. In the sea you can see the waves. They seem to end but in reality one wave creates the next and then the next and the next. There is no end to this movement. You have to create the first wave. And she did it. We are will be always be thankful in Europe for those kinds of persons like Melina that had the visions. Some of them had other visions for the European Union, much more on the legal part, on the financial part. Melina had the cultural vision and I think Europe knows it."

Note: see the full interview with Alexis Atlatsis, artistic director of Patras 2006 made by Hatto Fischer 24.2.2006

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