(Greece-China Opening Ceremony)

The official opening of the Greece-China 2017 -Year of Cultural Exchanges and Cooperation in Creative Industries took place at the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens, on 27 April 2017. The event was attended by a Chinese official delegation, headed by Mr Liu Qibao, member of the Politburo and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Greek Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Yannis Dragasakis, as well as a multitude government officials and cultural figures.

Following short speeches by Greek Culture minister Ms Lydia Koniordou, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture & Sports, Ms Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, the Director General of China International Publishing Group, Mr Zhang Fuhai and the Assistant Minister of Culture of the PRC, Mr Yu Qun, the two sides inaugurated the Cultural Year by signing an Agreement on the Development of Film Co-production and a Memorandum of Cooperation in the “Project of translation and publication of classical and modern literary works of China and Greece”.

The exchanges that will take place during the Greece-China Year, said Ms Koniordou in her speech, will cover a wide range of manifestations of culture: literature, cinema, theater, music, contemporary visual art, as well as artworks of the past. The programme of exchanges will also cover the field of creative industries in general, as well as that of cultural management and the promotion of cultural wealth through modern research and technology, e.g. conservation and underwater archeology.

A highlight of the official ceremony was the  demonstration of a Chinese tea preparation ritual to the sounds of a Chinese group of female musicians from the city of Hangzhou, following which the guests visited two Chinese exhibitions that are currently being hosted at the Byzantine and Christian Museum – one on the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and one titled Chinese Stories, Innovation in Traditional Art & Technology  of the city of Huangzhou and attended a concert of Greek music by ‘Aenaon” String Quartet of the Athens State Orchestra and classical singers of the Greek National Opera.