Having “Culture is Athens”, a three-year project, as a springboard, we aim to upgrade, highlight, and unify the city’s cultural fabric. To do so, we primarily use our two competitive edges, the cultural organisations of the Municipality of Athens, the City of Athens Culture, Sports & Youth Organisation (OPANDA) and the Technopolis City of Athens, with their experienced personnel and significant know-how.
The Culture Office of the Mayor of Athens undertakes innovative initiatives promoting the contemporary cultural aspect of Athens. At the same time, through the Athens Culture Net, we foster new collaborations and possibilities, investing in creating synergies with other cultural organisations in the city.
We have joined efforts with the Athens Film Office, Athens Anaplasiasis S.A., Athens 9. 84, the Athens Municipal Maker Space and Innovathens.
City of Athens Culture, Sports and Youth Organization (OPANDA)
The City of Athens Culture, Sports and Youth Organization (OPANDA) serves exactly the values described in its name: it enhances the unbreakable link between culture and sport in Athens. Through its activities, the arts, letters and sports become an integral part of the lives of Athenians, contributing to their welfare and the formation of modern, collective consciousness, forging thus further the city’s cultural identity.
OPANDA is not just another agency of the Municipality of Athens. It is an active cultural, sports and creative learning organisation which listens to the city’s vibes and acknowledges its current needs. It regenerates the neighbourhoods and brings culture and sports to the residents and visitors’ everyday life, young and old, regardless of gender, nationality, social group or age. With music and theatre performances, art events and exhibitions, festivals and high-quality services in specially designed sports facilities, OPANDA strives daily to offer the “salt” of life, and well-being, to the citizens of Athens.
Technopolis City of Athens
The Technopolis City of Athens is housed in the old Athens Gasworks. This unique industrial monument has been transformed into the most vibrant cultural venue in the city’s heart, open and accessible to all, with more than 1.000.000 visitors a year.
Technopolis’ vision is to enhance the development of different communities and contribute to improving the quality of life of Athenians and visitors to the city.
Concerts, exhibitions, performances, screenings, educational programmes and activities of the Industrial Gas Museum, seminars dedicated to new technologies, initiatives for developing entrepreneurship and innovation by INNOVATHENS powered by Samsung and social events are just some of the 900 events that take place every year at Technopolis.
Culture Office of the Mayor of Athens
Recognising the need to develop a single strategy for cultural activities and the city’s cultural heritage management and enrichment, the Mayor of Athens established the Culture Office of the Municipality of Athens, headed by art historian, museologist and exhibition curator Katerina Koskina. The Culture Office cooperates with all cultural institutions of the Municipality, public and private institutions, companies and Embassies in Greece and abroad.
At the same time, it promotes cooperation with international and European Organisations and networks of cities abroad, organising programmes and events to highlight the past and promote the contemporary cultural aspect of Athens.
Athens Culture Net (ACN)
The Athens Culture Net (ACN) is the cultural network of the Municipality, an umbrella organization for all cultural institutions, large and small, public and private, creating an active cultural and artistic framework for people living in the city, visitors, artists and institutions. The network was developed based on the idea that collaboration is an essential element for the success of cultural communities and aims to provide support, solutions and networking to increase access to quality cultural programmes in all neighbourhoods of Athens. At the same time, the network aims to promote the contemporary culture of the capital, along with its unique past, making Athens an attractive and welcoming tourist destination.
Athens Film Office
Being the cradle of dramatic art and storytelling, Athens created the Athens Film Office to support international and Greek film productions with a range of services. To make Athens a film-friendly city, thus helping the local economy and the Greek Film Industry, the AFO assists producers in finding suitable locations, issuing the necessary permits, advising on government financial assistance programs, etc.
Athens Anaplasiasis S.A.
The Athens Anaplasiasis S.A., according to its statutes, aims, among others, to redevelop areas within the boundaries of the Municipality of Athens and restore listed buildings and newer monuments. Consequently, it may finance and implement all the design work required for upgrading cultural sites within the municipality of Athens. The Athens Anaplasiasis S.A.. has the resources and the competence to implement the necessary studies to complete this strategic plan.
Athens Municipal Maker Space
The Athens Municipal Maker Space is the first public maker space in Greece, a modern structure which combines creativity and technology daily, promoting thus the digital transformation of the city. Practically, it is a space that offers the equipment and the know-how to experiment with ideas and possibilities and eventually build whatever you want, feeling that all the people and tools are there to help. Athens is the first city in Greece to offer an open maker space to its citizens, making technology accessible, affordable, and valuable. Since 2017, when it first opened its doors at the Serafio, with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation as its founding donor, more than 12.000 people and 226 institutions have visited the Maker Space for information and collaborations. It operates under the scientific supervision of the TUC TIE Lab of the Technical University of Crete and the support of the Information Technology Company DAEM S.A.
ATHENS 9. 84
Athens 9. 84 was the first non-state radio station in Greece. It began its operation on May 31, 1987. Since then, it has been producing and broadcasting non-stop informative, cultural, economic and sports radio content, meeting the challenges of times and the needs of society. It was, is and will be the official station of the city. It updates its music and songs daily, combines information with culture, supports the arts, promotes small and large scale events, reaches every neighbourhood, and embraces the efforts and initiatives of groups and individuals in research, innovation, entrepreneurship and society.
Athina 9.84 broadcasts live 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. Athens 9. 84 is the City Radio.
Innovathens
Innovathens is a modern, open space fostering new entrepreneurship and digital skills. It is the meeting point for people with innovative ideas who want to turn them into business, a vibrant organisation aiming to meet the modern and ever-changing cognitive needs of people seeking employment in an increasingly demanding work environment. To achieve all this, Innovathens brings together business consultants, entrepreneurs, prospective investors, academics, researchers and qualified mentors who offer their services with consistency and high professionalism. Located in the heart of the city, it operates in one of the old Gasworks of Athens, in Gazi, converted initially to cover its needs and is organically integrated into the Technopolis City of Athens.
Athens Culture Net Members:
Art Athina, Atopos Contemporary Visual Culture, Athens School of Fine Arts, Contemporary Social History Archives, Library of the Hellenic Parliament, British Council, Byzantine & Christian Museum, French School of Athens, French Institute of Greece, General State Archives of Greece, Gennadius Library, Athens Network of Museums and Cultural Institutions, Syngrou Network, Jewish Museum of Greece, National Library of Greece, National Glyptotheque/National Gallery, National Opera House, National Archaeological Museum, National Archaeological Museum, National Theatre of Greece, National Historical Museum, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Hellenic Children’s Museum, Hellenic-American Union, Zappeion Exhibition Hall, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, B&M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music, The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy, Goethe Institute, Instituto Cervantes, Pushkin Institute, Instituto Italiano di Cultura, Hellenic Cosmos, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, Athens Film Society, Athens Concert Hall, National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, Acropolis Museum, Kostas Kotsanas Museum of the Ancient Greek Technology, Herakleidon Museum, Elias Lalaounis Jewellery Museum, Museum of Cycladic Art, Benaki Museum (Koumbari St, Piraeus St, Islamic Art Museum, Ghika Gallery, Toy Museum), Museum of the City of Athens, “Lillian Voudouri” Music Library, Athens Biennale, NEON, Numismatic Museum, OPANDA, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, War Museum, Polyeco Contemporary Art Initiative [PCAI], Onassis Stegi, Greek Film Archive, Technopolis of City of Athens, Athens Epidaurus Festival, Athens Conservatory, Czech Centre, Onassis Library
Athens Culture Net Partner Institutions:
Athens Art Network, Antonopoulos Bros, Read to the Others, Network for Children’s Rights, EAP 17/Kostas Tsioukas, Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra, European Centre of Animation and Arts (Art-EAC), Thales+Friends, Opsis Theatre Company, PROSOPO Theatre Organization, Kinitiras, WORDS [CAN] DO IT, MikroPolytexneio MicroGeographies, Forms of Expression, NOITI GRAMMI Theathe Group, Urban Dig Project, Panhellenic Association of Professional Translators Graduates of the Ionian University, PYRNA, KETHEA STROFI, HYLE[matter]HYLE, FPMK, 3 137, Action Aid/Epikentro, AnoMia, Art Vouveau, ARTENS, ARTWORKS, Balkans Beyond Borders, Bijoux de Kant, CHALLEDU, Creo Dance Company, El Sistema Greece, Free Thinking Zone, Literature.gr, Locus Athens/Tavros, Mind the Fact/Polyplanity Productions, Miss Dialectic, Monamas Theatre Company, Mum Social Club, Orila, Platforms Project, Radio Atenes Institute, Snehta Residency, so7, Soma, Spectrum, State of Concept, T.A.F. / The Art Foundation, The Greek Story, Tidal Flow Art, Vasistas, Ventus Ensemble, Victoria Square Project, We Need Books, World Human Forum
