With a historical and critical perspective, this volume examines the post-war legal framework for art in Greece from the end of the Second World War to the present day. Its authors, twelve Greek art historians, illuminate key issues and debates, and reveal how, by whom, and when common assumptions about what is interesting, what is worth exhibiting, or what is valued as a remarkable work of art, generally what is now a certainty, were formed. Their writings reveal the aspirations and anxieties of the protagonists of history and the present, the conflicting views and spaces in between, the theoretical schemes used and sometimes misinterpreted, and the paths to the final result, which in some cases seems self-evident today.

The first thematic section of the book is more chronological and concerns the first post-war decades. Specifically, it examines the propaganda reports that attempted to form a positive image of the country’s new political orientation in the Cold War context (Evi Papadopoulou), the efforts of the Athens School of Fine Arts to incorporate applied arts into its curriculum (Christina Dimakopoulou), the exhibitions of Greek artists on the cruise ship Olympia (Anni Malama), and the construction of a linear narrative on the history of art in the modern Greek state (Lefteris Spyrou). The collective or state policies in public and private institutions for art in Greece that significantly changed their statutory function or were established in the post-war period are the subject of the second section of texts. It presents the case of the reconstruction and modernization of the Artistic Professional Chamber (Spyros Moschonas), the first years of operation of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Tina Pandi), the efforts for the institutional recognition and establishment of a photography museum in Greece (Iro Katsaridou), as well as the institutional action of the Ministry of Culture for contemporary artistic creation (Ani Kontogiorgi). In the third and final section of the book, the texts focus exclusively on contemporary artistic practices, as well as more broadly on the institutional framework for contemporary art. Thus, the involvement of private individuals and Private Legal Entities in the production and dissemination of contemporary art (Irini Gerogianni, Louisa Avghita), and the ideological directions and practices concerning visual installations and the moving image (Areti Adamopoulou, Maro Psyra) are examined.

Areti Adamopoulou is professor of art history at the University of Ioannina.