OCC (Greece)

Ariona S.A. – Onassis Cultural Centre

Profile of the organisation

The Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens, (OCC) is a division of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. Its activities cover the following areas: Contemporary Theatre and Dance, Music, The Visual Arts, Public Discussions and debates on issues pertaining to contemporary culture and society, Life-Long and arts-related education programs for all ages.

The OCC’s objectives are: to support, present and promote creative work by Greek artists, especially of the younger generation; to encourage dialogue between Greek and international artists and to present important international productions; to be actively involved in the implementation of new technologies related to artistic creation, content dissemination and education. The OCC’s infrastructure includes two auditoria, an exhibition area, workshop and rehearsal areas as well as ancillary support spaces.

The OCC has considerable experience in implementing technically demanding public events and creative productions, especially ones that have an interdisciplinary dimension. Furthermore, it represents a space in which a broad public can come into contact with the ideas and products generated by the consortium.

Role in the project

The OCC will be involved in:

  • the pilot on Dance. As a major centre for contemporary dance, the OCC will participate in a pilot that aims to exploit digital archives of dance performance for education and training purposes.
  • the Cavafy Archive proposes the creation of a multilayered digital application which will work towards showcasing the work of the important Greek poet to a larger audience. The application will house principally readings of the poems, facsimiles of the manuscripts, video recordings of the poems, commentary by leading scholars accompanying the poems. The application will constitute a hybrid pedagogical tool conceived and developed for the best social and civil use for technology.
  • horizontal actions such as dissemination and organization of workshop on educational creative re-use of content and the Hackathon in Athens.

Key Persons

  • Dr Christos Carras studied philosophy at Cambridge University and received his PhD from the Sorbonne in 1989. He was the project manager for the EU funded Medimuses network and from 2006 to 2009 the General Manager of the B & M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music. From 2009 he has been the Executive Director of the Onassis Cultural Centre, as well as the head of the music program of the Centre.
  • Afroditi Panagiotakou studied Musicology at Athens University and received her MA (Music Studies and Aesthetics) PgD (Arts Management) from City University London. From 2004 to 2009 she worked as Director of Marketing and Press of the Greek National Opera. From 2009 she has been the Vice Executive Director of the Onassis Cultural Centre, and  Head of Marketing and Communications. She is also responsible for coordinating the Constantine Cavafy related projects at the OCC
  • Dr Katia Arfara is Head of Theatre and Dance Department, Onassis Cultural Center, a researcher in contemporary art history and a curator in the field of performing arts. She is the author of Théâtralités contemporaines. Entre les arts plastiques et les arts de la scène and of numerous essays.  Her current interests focus on documentary theatre, new media practices, staged photography and installations.
  • Myrto Lavda studied History of Art and pursued her post-graduate studies at Teachers College of Columbia University, New York, in the field of Art Education. She has worked as in the Education Department of the MoMA and in the Education Department of the Museum of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art. Since 2010 she has been the head of the Educational Program at the Onassis Cultural Centre.
  • Alexandra Chryssanthakopoulou studied History at King’s College London and completed her MA in “Digital Culture and Technology” at King’s College London and MSc in “European Social Policy” at the LSE. She has worked in the Museum of the City of Athens as a Curator from 2007 to 2009. From 2009 she has been working at the Executive Director’s Office at the Onassis Cultural Centre as well as in the Department of Music of the OCC.