During the 48-hour strike of “all artists” on Wednesday, 1 and Thursday, 2 February, it was unanimously decided yesterday that Panhellenic Federation of Listening Shows (POTHA), sharpening its reaction to the presidential decree 85/2022, which, according to the unions of artists, belittles the diplomas of their educational institutions. POTHA’s decision came the day after a similar decision by the Hellenic Actors’ Union, which on Tuesday evening went on strike for the same period of time, declaring its disagreement with the challenged p.d. and expressing their support for the relevant protests of the art world.

“If there is any proposal to revoke or change the presidential decree, we will consider it. We don’t go on strike as a hobby, we want the problem to be solved. However, three weeks after the inter-ministerial meeting that acknowledged its existence, we have no concrete decision other than a committee that will be set up without a specific content and timetable. So we amplify our responses using the most powerful tool we have.” Konstantinos Kehagioglu said “K”.POTH President.

For his part, SEH General Secretary Aris Laskos noted that the union’s decision to strike should have taken into account the financial problems faced by the industry after the pandemic. “But since,” he added, “we made legislative proposals, held meetings with the relevant ministries, led nowhere and exhausted all means, we decided that the next stage, the next weapon, is a strike. We thought that the 24-hour period would have no visible effect, and with the 48-hour period, we would be heard more than we have been so far.”

According to the two unions, the strike on February 1 and 2, the first “general artistic” strike in at least twenty years, in practice means that, apart from theatrical, musical and dance performances, artists will not rehearse. filming, dubbing, studio performances, training seminars and courses, as well as municipal or private conservatories, dance schools and other events are also affected these days. However, it should be noted that the artists do not belong to SEH and POTHA, but are represented by workers’ unions such as, for example. The ministries of culture (for example, the musicians of the Athens State Orchestra) continue – unless otherwise decided by the union – their activities.

According to K’s sources, Grigoris Valtinos and Dimitris Papaioannou accepted the offer to participate in advisory committees with the artists.

Commenting on the strike of two organizations, the artistic director of the State Theater of Northern Greece Asterios Peltekis he emphasized that both he and the teachers and students of the Drama School of KTHBE (which, like the theater of the National Theater, is under occupation) call on the state to revise the p.d. 85/2022 and do everything necessary to abolish it and properly recognize artistic research. Mr. Peltekis expressed support for KTHBE in mobilizing artists and stressed the need to obtain theater school degrees through constructive dialogue, “away from any partisan confrontation and usurpation of the fair and reasonable concern of the people. who makes art.

His intention to contribute to the appropriate dialogue through discussion with all involved actors and artists, which can be organized at the Leek Theatre, expressed in “K” and its artistic director, Dimitris Tarlow. “We fully support this strike,” said Mr. Tarlow, “because it needs to be made clear that the issue must be resolved and that art schools must be valued, that actors must be protected, and that the question of creating a high school must be shaken up.” art”.

For his part, Giorgos Lykiardopoulos, vice-president of the newly created Panhellenic Union of Theaters, which represents theater entrepreneurs, noted that the union stands for the speedy resolution of issues that concern actors. “However,” he added, “with what we as theater producers have been going through lately — after two years of theater closures and occasional show cancellations due to COVID cases — we believe the strike is hurting the wrong people. We agree with the requests of the actors, but the specific way of claiming is also unfair to us.”

However, according to K., the establishment of joint committees that will deal with the promotion and classification of art education is a matter that has already been launched jointly by the competent ministries. Yesterday, a corresponding meeting took place in Megaros Maximos. The same sources state that the actor Grigoris Valtinos and the choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou, among many others, accepted the offer to participate in said committees. They are expected to consult with artists and their organizations in an effort to “housing” art classes, as well as modernizing public schools by adding, for example, a fourth year and necessary program modifications. research.

In addition, on Thursday morning, the creative unions met in a good atmosphere with the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who listened to their concerns. Finally, in an interview with K, Nicholas Giatromanolakis, Deputy Minister for Contemporary Culture, stated that “the government is recording responses to longstanding problems in performing arts research that it has been working on for some time now. and he will make relevant announcements very soon.”