DESTE Prize Anniversary Exhibition opens at Museum of Cycladic Art
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
An exhibition marking the 18th anniversary of the biennial DESTE Prize, first established in 1999 to showcase Greece's emerging new artists, will be inaugurated at the Museum of Cycladic Art on Wednesday.
Entitled "DESTE Prize: An Anniversary Exhibition, 1999-2015" it will display works by all nine recipients of the prize so far, which are shown together for the first time.
This collaboration between the DESTE Foundation and the Museum of Cycladic Art forms part of the latter's “Young Views” program that aims to engage a younger audience, bring the public up-to-date with developments in contemporary cultural production, and provide a dynamic platform for the exchange of ideas on contemporary artistic creation.
"The DESTE Prizes and their operation all these years have given us the opportunity to become acquainted with alternating and continued generations of Greek artists, who in recent years have given us answers on how we can deal with the difficulties of the much-discussed crisis that plagues our country. And all of this through a process of dialogue with the international scene, which is at the core of the prize," said Giorgos Tzirtzilakis, a professor at Thessaly University architecture department and artistic advisor of the DESTE Foundation, during a press conference held in the Cycladic Art Museum on Wednesday.
Earlier, the head of the DESTE Foundation Dakis Ioannou had addressed the press conference and thanked the Museum of Cycladic Art for its cooperation, as well as the 60-odd artists that entered the DESTE Prize competitions over the years and the judges on the selection committees.
"The DESTE prizes, since 1999, showcase all that is most modern in what domestic artistic creation has to offer, supporting young Greek and Cypriot artists," said Sandra Marinopoulou, president of the N. P. Goulandris Foundation - Museum of Cycladic Art.
The artists participating in the exhibition are: Loukia Alavanou, Anastasia Douka, Eirene Efstathiou, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Maria Papadimitriou, Angelo Plessas, Georgia Sagri, Kostas Sahpazis, and Panayota Tzamourani.
The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue (Greek/English) that honors everyone who has contributed to the prize over the past eighteen years. Established in 1999, the DESTE Prize is awarded once every two years to a Greek or Cypriot artist living in Greece or abroad.
The exhibition will run from April 6 until September 17 and the entrance fee is 3.5 euros. For information on museum opening hours and other information visit the website www.cycladic.gr.
