Greece: Culture in resistance!

Everything collapses in the Greece of the IMF austerity memorandum: the labor rights, the welfare state (hospitals, schools etc), the democratic constitutions, the social cohesion of this country are taken apart, while the Greek government, Troika and European Union care only for the welfare of the creditors and the banks.The renowned values of the ancient Greek civilization are fully abandoned in a world ruled by the Markets. [Italiano]

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Culture in resistance!

Everything collapses in the Greece of the IMF austerity memorandum: the labor rights, the welfare state (hospitals, schools etc), the democratic constitutions, the social cohesion of this country are taken apart, while the Greek government, Troika and European Union care only for the welfare of the creditors and the banks.The renowned values of the ancient Greek civilization are fully abandoned in a world ruled by the Markets.

In this context, the government schedules the dismantling of the Archaeological Service of the Ministry of Culture: first, the protection of the cultural heritage was linked solely to the tourist attractions, abandoning monuments without money or care. Then, 10% of the employees were forced to leave their work, with reduced pensions. And now, they are starting to fire personnel: 3% of us will be fired within two months, and many more during the next period.

They are trying to leave the Archaeological Service weak and ready to surrender either to ruthless robbers, like in the case of the robbery of the Museum of Olympic Games at Olympia, or to “big investments”. They threat what we stand for: the protection and the integrity of Greek cultural heritage.

For us that work in the Archaeological Service the privatization or the abandonment of the monuments is not only connected to our job: it is connected to the protection of the civilization of this country and to our history. That’s why we work in poor conditions; that’s why our job is a real public function. And we are going to continue protecting the cultural heritage, resisting to every “emergency” or “economic rationalization”, which aims to leave monuments and museums without protection. We resist to every policy that treat culture as a luxury for the few or as a useless burden.

Employees of the Ministry of Culture in the area of Monastiraki - Plaka