Creation of Contemporary Art Museum ‘Constantin Xenakis’ IN Municipality of Serres, GREECE
The Museum of Contemporary Art “Constantin Xenakis” showcases Serres as an important cultural center with international range. At the core of this center is the excellent collection of the Greek artist Constantin Xenakis, who donated works to the Municipality of Serres, envisioning the creation of a unique Museum in our city. A vision that became a reality after systematic and long-term efforts, with the cooperation of Municipality of Petrich and EU funding.
Cross-border/international
Greece
Bulgaria
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Municipality of Serres (GR) and Municipality of Petrich (BG)
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Yes
ERDF : European Regional Development Fund
INTERREG V-A program “Greece - Bulgaria 2014-2020”
No
Yes
2022-05-31
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): MUNICIPALITY OF SERRES Type of organisation: Public authority (European/national/regional/local) First name of representative: ALEXANDROS Last name of representative: CHRISAFIS Gender: Male Nationality: Greece Function: Mayor Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Konstantinou Karamanli 1 Town: SERRES Postal code: 62100 Country: Greece Direct Tel:+30 2321 350101 E-mail:mayor@serres.gr Website:https://www.serres.gr/
The Municipality of Serres succeeded, both through the CULTURAL DIPOLE project of the INTERREG V-A program “Greece - Bulgaria 2014-2020” and with its own resources, to transform a listed building in the former ‘‘Papaloukas’’ military camp, into a modern Museum and worthy space to host the collection of, world famous, Constantin Xenakis. A Museum that changes the image of the city and lays the foundations for the transformation of the “Konstantinos Karamanlis” Culture Park into a cultural pole and a growth point of the Municipality of Serres. The cooperation with the Municipality of Petrich, in the framework of the CULTURAL DIPOLE project, will significantly contribute to this goal and each visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art “Constantin Xenakis” and to the city of Serres will be a unique trip for the senses, knowledge and experiences.
The 3 NEB values (sustainability, inclusion, aesthetics) were included in the project in the following way:
The Museum was incorporated in the municipal structure from the beginning and is fully supported in terms of staff, operational costs and dissemination. Furthermore, members of civil society support it by all means, and thus, all together secure its constant existence and growth.
As for inclusion, the Museum is accessible, in terms of physical and sensory accessibility. It’s the home of modern art, open to everyone and ready to unite visitors of all ages, speaking all languages, being all nationalities, without any prejudices or stereotypes.
Lastly a listed building, with an age of more than 100 years old, is protected and “guards” a collection of 185 art pieces of contemporary art, establishing a strange but at the same time, wonderful “ aesthetic dialogue” between past, present and future.
municipality
modern museum
former military building
cross border cooperation
cultural dipole
Serres, a lively city in Northern Greece, is close to the border with Bulgaria. Having in mind the turbulent history of the Balkans, the region has been the field of many wars. Thus, 4 military camps are located in the greater vicinity of the city of Serres (area of more than 600.000 m2. The last decades, 3 of them have been inactive. The Municipality has tried a lot to utilize and integrate them in the every day life of the citizens. This is the first successful example, as one of the listed buildings was restored and now hosts the collection of works of the artist Constantin Xenakis. Special emphasis was given in securing sustainability as exemplary studies were applied, in order to transform the building a) into a Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB). (Due to the restrictions for listed buildings, along with the availability of sufficient landat the surrounding area, the Geothermal Energy (RES) was preferred. This combined with energy performance interventions resulted in 75% energy savings) and b) to create an accessible Museum in Serres, in terms of physical accessibility (e.g for wheelchair users) and sensory accessibility (e.g. for people with vision disability, deaf people). Secondly, its operation has been incorporated in the function of the Municipal Enterprise, dedicated to Culture and Social Cohesion. That means that the museum is open to visitors from the very first day of its operation, with dedicated and specialised staff. It also develops promotion and awareness activities, participates in cultural events and exhibitions (legal, regional, national) and makes partnerships with other cultural entities. Lastly, actions are made in order to capitalize it (eg digitalization of the works) by applying to European or other programmes.
To sum up, a former "grey zone", a symbol of hostility, has been transformed into a place of creation, co-operation and friendship, after long lasting and strenuous efforts.
The building that hosts the museum is a listed one and is protected by the Ministry of Culture. It is dated back to the Ottoman occupation of the region. Thus, every at the surrounding area, reconstruction works were approved by the Ephorate of Modern Monuments, securing the qualitative and aesthetic results. Secondly, the building has been transformed to a Contemporary Art Museum, based on an emblematic full Museological-Museographic-Graphic design study, which was prepared, as part of the project, by emeritus professors of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and their team. The aforementioned specialists, worked closely with the artist C. Xenakis and whatever was designed had his approval. The Contemporary Art MCX, is not a typical Museum-Warehouse, but a complete Thematic Museum, where one may tour the evolution of Xenakis’ work, throughout his artistic career, with the use and utilization of contemporary technological means. Thus, an exhibition path has been created, which is shaped by the cognitive conceptual display of Xenakis' works combined with visitor's perception of the entire presentation (4 different Units). It is a unique experience, as it is the only contemporary art museum in the region and citizens and visitors of the city have the opportunity to get to know contemporary art works and evolve their artistic flair and horizons.
Furthermore, the Museum is situated in an area of 124.759 m2, with natural environment and high level of vegetation. Actually, this space is a green lung for the city, well preserved, where it is used as a recreational open space for visitors but also, as the venue for open cultural events. As it is only a few months that the Museum is operating, it is obvious that visiting the museum can be combined by other cultural and educational activities and became a cultural hub for the entire region.
A building that was abandoned to become ruins, has been transformed to a gem, in terms of exterior and interior environment.
The Contemporary Art Museum Constantin Xenakis is an accessible Museum in Serres, in terms of physical accessibility (e.g for wheelchair users) and sensory accessibility (e.g. for people with vision disability, deaf people). In particular, the restored building is a ground floor one, occupying a total area of 660 square meters. The parking space is just in front of the building and a ramp can be used by the wheelchair users. All the 4 different Units of the Museum are at the same level, allowing the tour by wheel chairs. Also, the projection room and all the photokinetic rooms are accessible to everyone.
The Museum has its own website, and Wi-Fi system, allowing visitors with vision impairments to acquire the content of the various texts in audio format. Haptic models of selected art works, together with texts in braille and audio narrations, enhance the blind visitor’s experience. Videos, pictures and text via the use of modern audio-visual equipment, allow visitors to form an integrated view of the artist’s life and work. Throughout the exhibition and within its modules, very short films (lasting just a few minutes) are projected on monitors hidden behind tall panels. In this way, additional visual information about the works of Constantin Xenakis and/or his era is provided, replacing, in this manner, possibly needed talk or writing.
In order to achieve the above described result, there was a tight and long lasting cooperation between the engineers of the municipality, professors of two important universities in North Greece, the contractors and suppliers of specialized equipment and services. Even though there were many obstacles ( e.g. Covid pandemic) and delays, the vision remained inalterable and non-negotiable.
First of all, a part of Serres history (in danger of extinction) has been preserved and obtained a new use. Secondly, citizens have the opportunity to come in contact with new forms of art, as it is the first museum of contemporary art in the region. Furthermore, citizens of Serres have gained a lively and vibrant cell of cultural expression and creation. As it has already been described, MCX does not only host and protect a significant art collection, but it is the starting point for new living artistic forces to act and develop, to create new traditions and illuminate the old ones in a different way. MCX has started to participate in the intellectual creation, to highlight the current face of contemporary Greek art in relation to the reflection of the time and the dialogue with foreign avant-garde centers. For example, the Museum of Contemporary Art Gallery "Constantinos Xenakis" has already participated in the 6th Art Thessaloniki International Fair (November 2022) with its own stand, in order to give its own imprint to the most important art event of the South-Eastern part of Europe and to attract the interest of art people.
As a result, the MCX gives an excellent opportunity to Serres: To become, combined with its other museums, its gastronomy, the numerous intercultural monuments and other important landmarks, a serious cultural and touristic attraction.
The civil society has been actively involved in the project as this vision has started from them. The contribution of the SERREON POLITEIA society (active citizens with love to for their hometown and art) acted as spark and also, the CATALYST, during the long lasting procedure to the creation of the MCX. It also participates very actively to the promotion of Contemporary Art MCX, through its members and relevant actions. At the beginning, their members volunteered and made guided tours, as they knew the artist and were familiar with his work, they were the perfect ambassadors to introduce his work to locals
The creation of Contemporary Art Museum Constantin Xenakis is a strong example of cooperation of many different stakeholders. The recognised need to reuse the abandoned army fields and buildings for the benefit of citizens was matched with the vision of social society to introduce a significant artist to locals and thus, to contribute to cultural growth. Then the municipal authorities and the SERRAION POLITEIA society agreed to work together in order the vision to become true. This close cooperation succeeded to overcome many and great bureaucratic obstacles and technical challenges. As the project was taking shape, need for more specific technical studies and more financial resources arose and of course, the appearance of Covid pandemic created significant difficulties to the smooth elaboration. The contribution of the two important universities (AUTh and DUTh) was extremely valuable as they elaborated the most demanding technical studies, in terms of physical accessibility (e.g for wheelchair users) and sensory accessibility (e.g. for people with vision disability, deaf people) of the building.
As the project was evolving and the need for more financial resources jumped out, the strong collaboration between the above mentioned different stakeholders and their devotion to the project, inspired friends of culture and simple citizens to become sponsors and donators. These offers were added to municipal own resources for the purpose to complete the project The last one was a difficult decision as these additional financial resources could cover every day needs within a period of global crisis and covid pandemic.
But the most important result is that the artist decided to double his donation and other people decided to donate their pieces of art as they were convinced for the dedication of all the involved stakeholders to the creation of the museum.
As it is shown in the attached file named "Contributors to the creation of Constantin Xenakis Museum", a variety of disciplines and knowledge fields took part in the implementation of the project. First of all, engineers from all fields were engaged, as architects, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, with MSc and PhD diplomas. Secondly finance, administrative and communication officers devoted many hours. Graphic designers together with web developers also contributed a lot. The high-quality museum would not be a reality without the contribution of Museologists, almost all of them, being Professors, PhD candidates or experienced professionals. All of them interacted with each other with the main contact point, Professor Aristotelis Naniopoulos, the one who firstly conceived the project idea. He was the driving force during the long-lasting implementation period (5 years) and the one that kept the communication with the artist Constantin Xenakis himself.
Of course, not always the contributors agreed with the procedures and/or the solutions. But as the project was evolving, the efforts became more passioned and powerful.
The result was a museum, with a design and a final outcome as the artist himself had imagined and designed.
The successful implementation of the CULTURAL DIPOLE project has been a challenge with multiple benefits, not only for the partners of the project, but also for all the local stakeholders, entrepreneurs and residents primarily of the two cities and, consequently, of the whole cross border area. The realised outputs and expected impacts of the project can be summarized as follows
For Serres:
• A listed building has been restored, following high standards. Furthermore, it has been converted to a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB).
• A collection of Constantin Xenakis works has been donated to the city and will be permanently exhibited.
• Following an exemplary Museological, Museographic, Graphist Design study a thematic Museum of the artist Constantin Xenakis has been realized.
• Modern technology is utilized for enhancing the Museum experience.
• Accessibility provisions for people with disabilities have also been applied for meeting needs of people with mobility, vision, hearing, impairments.
• The Constantin Xenakis Museum building is the first one which has been restored and reused, in the former military park, now named as “Konstantinos Karamanlis
Cultural Park”. It is expected to act as the vehicle for the creation of a unique cultural park of international importance
One of the innovative characteristics of the project is that a former military building ( a use that separates people) has been transformed to a museum of modern art (a use that unites people). The same principle has been applied to the other partner of CULTURAL DIPOLE project, Municipality of Petrich, in Bulgaria, where a former military building has been transformed to a Historical Museum and thus highlights the history of the cross border area of the two countries.
Another innovative element of the project is that the museum in Serres not only preserves history (a listed building, protected by the Ministry of Culture) but also creates new history as the whole creation of a contemporary artist of international repute has found a new home. On the other hand, municipality of Petrich has gained a new home for its Historical Museum (preserves and exhibits the local history) where the specific building blends contemporary architectural solutions, daring design proposals and innovative technology.
Both museums are unique and make a total different statement but at the same time, they create a solid collaboration pole, open new dimension for the future and bring with more new perspectives and challenges to enhance the cultural, tourism and economic benefits of each border community.
In addition, except the fact that modern technology is utilized for enhancing the visitor's experience and proper provisions surpasses mobility, vision and hearing impairments, it is most obvious that MCX has been designed as a Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) and contributes to energy efficiency targets.
Lastly, both museums became the vehicle for abandoned, former military areas to become new cultural and recreational parks in the urban tissue of the cities, offering many environment, social and economic benefits.
The 2 municipalities, Serres and Petrich have a long history of co-operation as they are town twinned cities since 2005.
Since then, they have been co-operated in many fields taking in advantage the cross border co-operation Programmes (INTERREG ΙΙΙ A - PHARE CBC, ETCP Greece – Bulgaria 2007 -2013). As a result, a relationship of trust and familiarization has been grounded. When both cities recognised the need to rehabilitate the abandoned army camps in the urban tissue, they worked intensively with each other, with the guidance of professors, and a well developed and solid project, named CULTURAL DIPOLE, was submitted under 2nd Call for proposals of Programme COOPERATION PROGRAMME INTERREG V-A GREECE BULGARIA 2014 -2020 in 2016. A Dossier with relevant studies and Licences was the proof of this collaboration, the workload and the maturity of the project.
The close cooperation between all partners and stakeholders continued through all the laborious and long lasting implementation period. An analytical management structure was constructed from the beginning: Serres (Lead Beneficiary) was responsible to manage the consortium of 4 partners (2 municipalities and 2 universities), to report the progress every 6 months to JS and to organise regular meetings among the members of the Joint Project Management Team. Besides meetings, regular communications via mail and phone and, during the Covid period , via tele-meetings secured early identification of problems. The well-established trusty relationship between the experienced staff of the municipalities was very important as the project ended after 11 modification requests
The completion could not be possible without the valuable support of the project officers of Joint Technical Secretariat and the Managing Authority who believed to the scope of the project, meaning the creation of two cultural poles and the long-term vision, to create two cultural parks of cross border (and why not of European?) significance.
The CULTURAL DIPOLE could be a transferable practice and concept, for other border cities and areas, along the so called ‘‘iron curtain’’. They may adopt the idea of creating a Cultural Dipole, towards promoting their cultural heritage and relations. This way the creation and establishment of new cultural bridges among different cities and countries who experienced, as a rule, a difficult historical past, will be encouraged.
The CULTURAL DIPOLE will also promote different readings of history in the two Cultural Parks, since the tourists will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the historic events and facts from different points of view, sometimes conflicting, but neutralized in the current reality of two countries working together peacefully and effectively within the European family. In this sense, art and culture are called upon to play a significant role as unifying factors.
Serres and Petrich cities, cooperating as a Cultural Dipole, will attempt to attract, among others, tourists from Balkans to the summer resorts of northern Greece. The development of cultural tourism in the two cities will actively promote employment and entrepreneurship but also the reputation of the two cities will be enhanced and upgraded, through their active involvement in various cultural and social events
The restored of the ex-military buildings and the re-use of the abandoned military areas through the CULTURAL DIPOLE project is a local solution that addresses to the global challenge of land re-use in terms of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics. Furthermore, it is an example how the physical transformation can be connected with local historical heritage and cultural and artistic dynamics.
The CULTURAL DIPOLE project shows how common designed projects enhance the attractiveness and tourist identity of middle size cities (such as Serres and Pertich), thus creating new identity and/or landmarks. The annual number of tourists visiting the two cities and the cross border area is expected to increase. The creation of the two Museums in the frame of the project, with the prospect of developing the Cultural Parks in the future, will have a positive effect on the tourist character of the wider region. As a result of tourism development, direct benefits will arise for the whole area, for example creation of new jobs and employment opportunities, but also indirect, related to the inspiration of locals and others, in terms of using designs and motives in local products and initiatives. The CULTURAL DIPOLE will act as flagship enforcing the tourist identity and branding of the two areas.
The Contemporary Art MCX, the new Historical Museum of Petrich and the whole concept of the CULTURAL DIPOLE will be promoted, through the participation in various cultural events and joint activities implemented in the wider region. Thus, new opportunities will be provided to the whole cross border area, for further development and cooperation
