Creative Entrepreneurship Questionnaire

Here you can find the responses of Mrs. Margarita Dalamaga, creator of Aggelon Vima.

· Could you tell me a few words for your activities in the creative sector?

Aggelon Vima was created in 2005. It was a cheap building that my family afforded to buy in 2000 because i had the desire to create it into a place of arts, theater and music. I had asked from Mary Tsouvalidou, who was intercessor but above all a friend of mine, to find us a building. She found it quite quickly, we also took the decision rapidly. The building was sold by the family which had also created it. The creation of it had started in 1905 by Kokkinoi brothers and then it passed through the whole family. From their grandchild we bought it.
Aggelon Vima wants to be a meeting place of East and West through the arts; so it hosts theater, music performances, arts and flavors. The domain of flavor is a new activity in which we get into with our Bistro, that Giolanda and i created. Our aim is to provide to people who are always on the run, work a lot but want to have a real connection with culture, a place where they can enjoy an artistic exhibition, for which is responsible Regina Argyraki an exceptional partner and expert of the field, and we also have a theatrical and musical stage. Concerning the theater i choose a specific subject every year, which is the guide so as to find the suitable repertoire. The diligence and research of the subjects are my responsibilities. How i do this? i choose the subject depending the needs of society. I don’t believe that i am an omniscient receiver but usually i take the corrects decisions.

· Do you believe that practicing creativity in one sphere has a broader impact on other spheres like places, the economy or/and the society? Could you give me some examples from your experience;

I support this opinion 100% but at this moment the society can’t respond at the wanted extend because of the economical “illness”, opposite of robustness. Right now people don’t have money to approximate the culture as they want. With our prices we try to make affordable the aspects of culture that we provide here. But people are “torturing” and I am sure that this cultural system could work much better if society and economy also did.

· Has the Greek crisis boosted culture-led partnerships and innovative initiatives?

The economical crisis boosts the presentation of several small teams, a fact that it’s not a negative thing. On the other hand, it harmed people’ soul because they became more predatory as a result of their economical needs. So collaborations have become more difficult in several occasions.

· Do you believe that the creative sector as a whole is a pillar of promoting a nation’s and a city’s image? Is it provoking transformations in the reputation of a country and its people? In which ways? Could you share some thoughts in the light of your experience?

It can change the image and the reputation of the city but it can’t be the foundation of it; it’s too ambitious for someone to believe it. In Greece foundation is supposed to be the domain of tourism. The culture could be a part of tourism so as both be the “spearhead” for creating a stronger image for the foreigners. I believe in this option.
Our organization had contributed to change the image of Athens, because our building is at this little corner in Satovriandou 36, which had “martyred” from 2007 since 2010. We were the oasis here and everyone supported this opinion as well as we were one of the reasons to visit the center of the city. That’s a truth! It was something really touching for me. To hear from others that “if Aggelon Vima wasn’t here we wouldn’t come at the center of Athens”. But the municipality of Athens never understood it. That we are Akrites (defenders) of the center. And none ever though of our activity here or asked if our organization needs anything. I don’t speak about money of course but at least to change the street lamp outside the building or not allow the garbage truck to collect the garbage when there is a performance inside, because the noise is really disturbing both for the actors and the audience. It’s pity and a truth at the same time; that they don’t understand it.

· Do these culture-led spillovers are self-sustaining or need a ‘push’ from the State or other actors? Which way forward?

Our public system is completely unable to “feed” the culture. It doesn’t know of culture, in order to do it. Here we make efforts on our own. However, there are some exceptional parts of the public system and it’s really touching the way they operate and their generosity, too. I don’t mean this in a financial perspective but to offer help in weird situations. Now talking about public as a term; it’s an entrenched hostile part against culture. Public and culture can not be combined.

· If a creative nation/city is a nation which is defined by nationhood, cultural openness, respect and tolerance, the support of innovation, initiative and the creation of activity, in your opinion how could Greece and then Athens become a creative nation/city?

I can’t speak about the whole country but Athens is a really creative city. Athens is a perversely creative city. Many events take place constantly. A lot of them are remarkable and it’s a pity because in many occasions nobody notices them. What is more, the creators hope for something better whenever it may come. There is no other way to follow. They know that possibly will find a lot of obstacles but are determined to do it. When there is a city with so many citizens, economical crisis but thousands theatrical performances we easily understand that this place seething with creativity. Neither Berlin has so many cultural events as we do. Although, the audience is usually the same, which is recycling from a performance to another. This is not a positive element; in my opinion the events should spread through everyone. We organized Athens Center Project contributed by 20 or more actions around the city. One was sculpture by an artist, an other was a wall painting. We relived all the “dead” and “dark” neighborhoods of the city with our activities but no one from the municipality came to see what we did. The only thing we asked was the possibility to put a banner in order to make our project known, but even this was turned down. We informed them about our program and the actions but we received no help.