Wednesday, February 15 at 12:00 Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will hold a meeting in Megaros Maximos with representatives artists on art education.

According to the press service of the Prime Minister, the following people are invited to the meeting:

• Konstantinos Kehagioglu (President of the Panhellenic Federation of Listening to Shows),
• Spyros Bibilas (President of the Union of Greek Actors),
• M. Ananiadu (President of the Union of Dancers),
• Vassilis Paraskevopoulos (President of the Panhellenic Musical Association),
• Yannis Moschos (artistic director of the National Theatre),
• Asteris Peltekis (artistic director of the State Theater of Northern Greece),
• Dio Cangelari (Director of the National Theater School),
• Yannis Rigas (Director of the State Theater School of Northern Greece),
• Lydia Koniordu (former Minister of Culture)
• Thanos Papadoyiannis (representative of the students of the Drama School of the National Theatre).

Last week, the National Theatre, in a statement signed by members of the board of directors and its artistic director Yannis Moschos, urged the state to intensify consultations on the DP. 85/2022, as well as a legislative process that will resolve the issues of education that have arisen after its publication”, the administration of the National Theater proposes, on the one hand, to immediately amend the controversial P.D. so that higher art education falls into the category of a higher than secondary education (for example, by creating a new level of “art education” equivalent to the technological education that artists claim), and on the other hand, medium-term framework legislation to maximize the expansion of art research beyond through the creation of additional university performing arts departments.

Yesterday’s resignation of teachers from the National Theater School of Drama has been described as a “courageous decision” that reinforces the sector’s reasonable demands, noting that once the school (which remains occupied by its students) is reopened, relations with teachers will be restored. As for the occupations, the administration of the National Theater notes that as long as they remain peaceful, it will not “disturb the unity of the theater community by any action” and will enter into a dialogue with students in order to restore the smooth operation of the institution.

Meanwhile, the example of the teachers of the National Drama School was followed last night by their colleagues from the State Theater School of Northern Greece, who also resigned. As they stated in their statement, “we ask all responsible persons to help that the conditions of PD 85, which discredit the degree of artists, but also the provision (ss: which was recently adopted by the government) that separates artists from performing artistic and educational work and offends their collective agreements.