NEMO MEETING 2003 - REPORT ON GREEK MUSEUMS
Legislation
Museum administration has been affected by a presidential decree which has been in force since June 2003 and regulates issues relating to the internal organisation and structure of the Ministry of Culture and the museums under its supervision. According to the new organigram of the Ministry all archaeological museums holding collections dating from the prehistoric period to the 19th c. are supervised by the newly-established Directorate of Museums, Exhibitions and Educational Programmes. In addition, Departments of a) Museums, Exhibitions and Educational Programmes, b) Documentation and c) Conservation are established in all Regional Services managing archaeological museums throughout the country and the staff of these Services are distributed accordingly.
Seminars – Conferences
In the framework of the Greek presidency of the E.U. during the first semester of 2003, a seminar on the enhancement and promotion of cultural heritage of European significance was held in Athens and Delphi. The seminar strand dedicated to museum management focused on three issues, a) the call for an improved communication between museums and their local communities, b) standards development and museum accreditation and c) the organisation of temporary exhibitions Attention was drawn to the prohibitive cost of insurance covering museum items on loan, as well as to the differences in the existing insurance cover systems in the Member States.The representative of the European Commission stressed the need for discussing the issue in depth at a conference in Brussels with the participation of museum professionals from the Member States.
2003 was earmarked as European Year of People with Disabilities. In this context, the Ministry of Culture organised a major conference on the theme of access to culture and sports for people with disabilities. The principles informing the design of cultural spaces, even virtual ones, accessible to the disabled, educational activities and other services provided in museums, the training of museum personnel are some of the issues on the agenda.
Museum infrastructure
Moreover, an assessment of the current state of affairs with regard to museum infrastructure for the disabled is under way and special measures intended to facilitate access to a number of state museums and sites are planned to be implemented by the summer of 2004. It is also worth noticing that, in the light of the organisation of the Olympic Games in Greece next year, works of refurbishment, including the redisplay of permanent collections, are currently taking place in many archaeological museums throughout the country.
Museum and Heritage Days
Besides the ICOM International Museum Day, Greek museums celebrated the Springtime of Museums (Printemps des Musées), a European museum day launched by the French Ministry of Culture and placed under the auspices of the Council of Europe. Various events under this year’s theme, i.e. Mysteries and Discoveries, took place in archaeological museums and were promoted through a common publicity campaign. Museums also participated in the European Heritage Days celebration, the national theme being Sports venues, cultural sites.
Sofia Tsilidou
Ministry of Culture
Directorate of Museums, Exhibitions and Educational Programmes