The Chamber of Fine Arts (E.KA.TE) sent a letter to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Prodromos Prodromou in which it raises the issue of how the Commission for the Venice Biennale operates, the control of the Commission and the validity of the procedure and asks for immediate discussion and consultation. In another communication, EKATE also refers to the creation of a Deputy Ministry of Culture and puts forward suggestions.
In the letter to the Ministry of Culture, which it makes public, EKATE expresses concern about the institution of the Venice Biennale, following the many and repeated complaints which it says it receives and which raise issues relating to artists' rights.
The Chamber says that the management of the whole process shows a "lack of vision" in terms of the central importance the institution should have for Cyprus, as well as the lack of feedback from the artistic community.
The issues of concern, notes EKATE, are the way in which the selection of curators and artists is carried out, the dates of the call for applications (i.e. the short period of time between the call and the deadline for applications), the lack of interaction and feedback to stakeholders and the general lack of transparency.
"We are concerned that no call for curatorial applications was ever announced, while for the upcoming Biennale, no competition was announced, neither for a curator nor for an artistic proposal," he notes.
He also states that he is concerned that the Biennale is not accessible to the general public, as there is no exhibition of the works that have participated, in order to provide an update for the Cypriot public, with the exception of the representation of Christoforos Savvas, who is already known as one of the greatest artists in Cyprus.
Deputy Ministry of Culture
In another statement, EKATE welcomes the Government's intention to establish a Deputy Ministry of Culture, while expressing dissatisfaction "at the absence of substantial changes for the upgrading of culture", as it says.
"Through the Proposed Bill unfortunately shows the sloppiness of its design, which will then cause the problematic operation of the Deputy Ministry," he adds, noting that it is unnoticeable that a dialogue with the artists' sectors has not been preceded.
EKATE recommends, in particular, that the Bill be sent for comments to the various cultural bodies, which are the most directly concerned and affected, since they represent portions of artists and are currently not involved.
He also recommends that there should be provisions in the legislation concerning the Ministry of State to ensure constructive communication with cultural bodies, such as the creation of committees of representatives of the various sectors.
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