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Western Civilisation, Greek Theatre, Cultural Heritage - common roots Proposal by Manolis Sormainis

If Greece can offer anything in terms of culture, then its Ancient Dramas, including the accessibility due to the language. British people can play much better Shakespeare than anyone else, but the Greeks can do this: play Ancient Dramas. The idea would be to create new types of workshops that involve three levels:

A group working in Athens ought to be created, but not tied to this city, for it should have the possibility of travelling around.

Of the arts, this must not include only theatre, but also dance theatre (e.g. Medea or Pina Bausch in Wuppertal).

The idea is to create a kind of international cultural centre in which this group performs and where others can unfold activities with themes like 'Shakespeare's influence upon French theatre'. That is diverse themes should be proposed by groups and member states of the European Union prior to starting work at the centre in Athens. For the selection and decision, as well as financing of these proposals an international committee or jury should be constituted, in order to have a programme on a yearly basis for these kind of activities.

A main theme ought to be:

Changing experiences and different civilisations.

This involves the media and culture in a contemporary sense, for in all that kind of activity or movement something must be said to people, for most of them do not know anything about the 'Europe of Cultures'.

Some solutions are in sight, when people begin to say:

"I am European, not Greek".

Indeed, the main slogan of the Fifth Seminar ought to be what Peter Gut suggested:

"learning out of differences"

A 'Europe of Cultures' and an 'European Culture' does not exist as long as people do not believe that it exists. There is still a long way to realize this within cultural learning processes.

There is a need to look at this within the framework of what might be called the 'secularization of culture': the emancipation from institutional frameworks impeding rather than encouraging cultural developments. That means the relationship between 'culture and institutions' must be seen within the question 'what is practical', 'what is possible over time', 'what needs to be realised step after step'. Even though there are sometimes creative leaps possible, most of the time developments in culture come when arbitrariness is reduced and trust in the next step has increased. Fear resides in not knowing how concrete people can become through such activities.

There are also other, very much related themes: the poor European cinema. Indeed, there is a need to respect European film makers and to give them a chance, so that their films reach the audience.

Thus the proposal is this: to create a centre for cultural activities in Athens. It can include theatre, music, dance theatre, poetry, cinema, video and 'lectures'. It should be steered by an European / International Committee which will program things and / or activities on a yearly basis. This will form the parts and indicate what can be prepared in advance of specific cultural activities related to the suggestions made to the centre.

All of this does not need to partake only in Athens or in any specific town. The idea is to get away from specific localities as the idea of festivals attaches too much meaning to them and anyhow there are too many festivals taking place throughout Europe. No, the new idea for travelling around while trying to bring things together, culturally speaking, came as a result of experiences in Antwerp '93.

There is a need to combine amateurs, professionals and theatrical places. The latter does not need to be a specific place, but could be anywhere: street, restaurant, ship etc..

The concept for the co-ordination of such cultural activities through an active centre must be so forceful as to be able to solicit financial support from the European Union, in order to make possible such an undertaking.

One specific aspect should be kept in mind. In the United States with all of its specific cultural difficulties with diversity, there prevails the slogan that the best form of defence is the attack. Hence ways must be thought of to get people interested in such an undertaking, in order to give money for such a purpose. It must include cinema and video, if it is to promote European arts and cultures in a serious manner.

Already one proposal can be made to the Fifth Seminar, namely that the Sixth Seminar in Munich ought to be accompanied by many more cultural activities than the ones planned for this one taking place in Athens at the beginning of June.

The main thing: all these things must pass through newspapers and TV: why this Fifth Seminar in Athens, Greece, what it does and what it intends to do, in order to have 'people' come closer to the cultural reality of Europe.

Every cultural activity accompanying the Fifth Seminar (Poetry symposium in Crete on the subject 'Poetry and Mythology') should be video taped, for otherwise it does not exist in people's minds.

Cultural activities must create an atmosphere of 'mutual trust and respect', while becoming aware that there are still many 'cultural borders' especially in the minds of intellectuals and artists, but not so much by any comparison in the minds of business men who have grasped already the essence of European integration much faster and better.

The European Cultural Self-Understanding must be based on the common heritage: Ancient Greece. At the same time, everyone within Europe must realise that there is a need to find in the others support for our common cultural existence and we must know that.

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