By By: Sujata Dand
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-580616.mp3
Dallas, TX –
Sujata Dand, KERA Reporter: Heavy clouds threaten rain over the sacred rocks of Athens. Grasping umbrellas, dozens of tour guides lead large groups of eager tourists on the pilgrimage to the fountainhead of Greek Civilization - the Parthenon.
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Tour Guide: Many, many pieces have been taken, you know, all from monuments and they are all exhibited at the British museum.
Dand: More than 200 years ago, Britain's Lord Elgin stole hundreds of sculptures from Athens - dividing and destroying ancient friezes from the Parthenon. He sold the pieces to The British Museum where they remain today.
Spiros Mercouri, Greek Arts Patron: It is a symbol of our democracy. It is our soul.
Dand: The passion blazes in Spiros Mercouri's eyes - he is desperate to see the Parthenon marbles restored. He reclines on an antique chair in his childhood home flanked by expensive art. It was his sister, famous Greek actress and beloved cultural minister Melina Mercouri who won worldwide support to pressure Britain to return the marbles. After she died in 1997, her brother has kept her dream alive.
Mercouri: She said before she died - her last words about the marbles were something that said if I do not have the time, and if I die, when the marbles of the Parthenon will return to Greece - I will be reborn. All of this for Greece is a great responsibility to cultivate this culture, to help people go on.
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Dand: Just a few blocks from Mr. Mercouri's world- the roads are barricaded, and police are re-directing traffic. The teachers have been on strike for more than a month and schools have delayed opening. Education is chronically under-funded in Greece. And, like the rest of Europe, an aging population is putting a strain on social services. Meanwhile the state's arts and culture budget - once on par with military spending - is diminishing rapidly.
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Richard Brettell, UTD Professor: If you are a fan of government support of the arts, its not going to get better, its going to get worse. And, for most people I know, there's a sense of loss.
Dand: Dr. Rick Brettell is a professor of Aesthetic Studies at the University of Dallas and one of the world's foremost experts on Impressionism and Modern Art. He believes European leaders are looking to the US for new ways to raise money for the arts.
Brettell: European politicians are looking at the real health of the arts in the United States without government funding, and are therefore encouraging there arts professionals to raise money and do things in the same way.
Dand: 90% of funding for the arts in most western European countries comes from the government - In the United States, its about 10% - 40% of the money is raised through private means and about is earned income. As she sips her hot chocolate in a busy coffee shop in Athens, Art Critic Margaret Koornarav describes why Europeans have trouble relating to this American model of raising funds.
Margaret Koornarav, Greek Arts Critic: We don't have the sense of community as such as existing in the United States. The community here it's a different concept. So, that's one of the reasons we're having problems in the art sector because there is not enough money.
Dand: Historically, there's been no tradition of philanthropy in Europe before the government paid for the arts, the aristocracy took care of it. Today, some of the largest donors who support culture in Greece are Greek-Americans.
Brettell: Though, the Europeans can't stand it when they come to America and they go up a staircase like in the Myerson symphony center and there are all these names all over the place and they think oh how vulgar. In the end, its not vulgar at all. It's like saying I believe in this place. I'm willing to give my money for it, and I want you to know it. I think for us, in the United States, the educational community building aspects of cultural institutions have always been one of the most important reasons for them.
Dand: Western Europeans are slowly adopting American fundraising methods by working with corporate partners and major donors, but the Eastern bloc is having a tougher time.
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Dand: Its dusk in Prague, as couples walk hand-in-hand - occasionally twirling to the music of the jazz band - as they cross the Charles Bridge. Artists and musicians are set-up selling their abstracts, portraits and CDs. In the Czech Republic, nothing is free. Since the Revolution, this young democracy is relying heavily on the free market to take care of its arts community.
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Dand: Gallery owner Katherine Kastner flips of a switch to start the air pumps to fill up the abstract plastic balloon people. This visual art exhibit has been a welcome addition to her commercial gallery.
Katherine Kastner, Gallery Owner, Prague: This is actually popular with the local people, and its good to show a little diversity.
Dand: Kastner moved from the US to the Czech Republic right after the Velvet Revolution. Eager to work with fresh talent, she immersed herself in the non-profit arts world. The experience has been challenging. Under Communism - selective artists were well-taken care of. The government paid for their studios and exhibitions. After the Revolution, many of those same artists found successful commercial careers because of their established reputations. Kastner says this discouraged new talent.
Kastner: Artists really have a hard time now. They can't earn money through their art, so they are holding full time jobs that are really serious. It's not like in Communist times where you kind of like showed up and had a cup of coffee and did two things and left for lunch. So, its much more difficult. Under Communism it was much easier.
Dand: Kastner tells artists to be patient. She believes the Czech landscape will change. Philanthropy is still primitive in Prague and new businesses are just starting to take off.
Kastner: I think it's just a question of time. In the US, God knows it wasn't like overnight you had these philanthropics who came up and started to build huge collections and fund major museums - that took a hundred years or so. I guess we don't really want to look at it and think its going to take 100 years here (laugh)
Dand: But she's not giving up hope, just yet. Kastner has sold two paintings since her gallery opened Both to the wife of the American Ambassador to the Czech Republic. For KERA 90.1, I'm Sujata Dand.
Read and listen to parts 1,2 and 3 of Sujata Dand's immigration series:
A View from the Other Side: The US and Europe
A View from the Other Side: Immigration in Denmark
A View from the Other Side: Philanthropy in Europe
A View from the Other Side: Smoking in Europe
For more information, go to these Web sites:
GMF: The German Marshall Fund of the United States
ELIAMEP (Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy) article