Πολιτιστικό Ίδρυμα Ομίλου Πειραιώς (ΠΙΟΠ)

Greece

Contact: +30 210 3256922; 3256923
Postal address: 6 Angelou Geronta Str. 105 58 Athens
Geographic Coverage of NGO’s expertise: Greece

URL: https://www.piop.gr

Year of creation: 1981

Safeguarding measures:

- identification, documentation, research (including inventory-making)
- preservation, protection
- promotion, enhancement
- transmission, (non-)formal education
- revitalization

Main areas of work related to the Convention:

The Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation (PIOP) is the first cultural institution in Greece that is solely dedicated to the safeguarding and enhancement of traditional craftsmanship and technology. Since the national cultural policy prioritizes the safeguarding of ancient and medieval cultural heritage, contemporary craftsmanship is a neglected domain of material culture in Greece that needs to be fostered. To this end, PIOP created a management model that enables collaboration between the public and private sector, ensuring thus the undertaking and realisation of joint cultural activities. Since its foundation, PIOP has completed more than 40 interdisciplinary research programmes, inaugurated seven thematic technological museums in the Greek regions and published more than 130 book titles. In addition, more than 30 temporary exhibitions have been presented in the Museums Network, while numerous educational activities, seminars and workshops have been organized, with the participation of the local communities. PIOP also participates in national and international scientific fora, mainly in the domain of traditional technology. Though dedicated to the safeguarding of the tangible remnants of traditional and contemporary craftsmanship, PIOP aims strongly to valorize the intangible cultural heritage that craftsmanship relates to. Hence, special attention is drawn to the documentation of oral tradition and testimonies, social practices, nature and the environment, etc, in order to ensure that the results of research over a certain craftsmanship remain within the context that created the craftsmanship itself. The appreciation shown in the intangible context of local craftsmanship is the key-notion of all PIOP’s public outreach activities; aiming to enhance safeguarding, based on extensive interdisciplinary research, transmitted in a non-formal way, supported by the local communities and producing cultural added value and sustainable development through the preservation of intangible heritage. The Foundation’s activities are relatively assigned to the according departments: research and valorization, museums, historical archives, library, photographic archives, technical services, publications, administrative and accounts department. PIOP's central services employ 34 staff members, all of them highly skilled and specialized in cultural management, while a further 24 belong to the Museums Network across Greece. The Research and Valorisation Department conducts research programmes and organizes scientific events for the inventorying, safeguarding, promotion and enhancement of traditional craftsmanship and technology. The department also organizes working meetings, addressing issues of traditional craftsmanship, aiming to record and inventory the history of basic Greek products. The Museums Department is in charge of the creation and management of the Museums Network, as well as of the supervision of each museum-related activity, such as public outreach events, temporary exhibitions, educational programmes, museum publications, etc. To the present, the Museums Network comprises seven museums, where special effort is put in implementing innovative museological methods when exhibiting intangible heritage. The creation of the Museums has been financed by E.U. Programmes (European funding and national funds) and by the Piraeus Bank Group, and their functioning is financed by the Piraeus Bank. PIOP publications include 130 titles, organized in the following series: - Monographs (results of the conducted research programmes), Translations (classic handbooks on industrial archaeology and the history of craftsmanship), Reprints (rare old Greek publications on the history of the Greek economy and industry), Conference Proceedings (proceedings of workshops organized by the Foundation), Cultural Guides (museums guides, etc), Industrial Heritage Records (records and plans made of domestic manufacturing units) and Periodicals (dedicated to the promoting of traditional craftsmanship and technology). The Historical Archives Department gathers and organises the historical archival material of the Piraeus Bank Group as well as the archival material of bodies and individuals directly connected with the business activities of the banks and companies of the Group, and makes it available for research. The PIOP Library is divided into two sections: a) the Special Library of the Historical Archives' Department. Its collection totalizes approximately 15,000 Greek and foreign titles and b) the Central Library, which has around 5,000 books and periodicals; its reserves are constantly expanded, with an emphasis on topics relating to: the history of technology, museology, folklore and material culture, ethnology and anthropology, and economic history, as well as new technologies concerning research on culture. The Photographic Archives manage the photographic/archival material produced and used by the research programmes, museums and exhibitions, publishing activities and scientific events. It comprises a variety of media, while its thematic sections cover subjects that are in general related to Greece's traditional craftsmanship and technology: sericulture, olive cultivation, architecture, hydraulic installations, medicinal plants, tanning, basketry, metalworking are some of the subjects on which rich photographic material is available.

Objectives

The Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation (PIOP) is a non-profit institution that aims to: 1. Safeguard, record, and promote the traditional craftsmanship and technology of Greece. 2. Inform the public on the need to respect cultural identity, local craftsmanship and the environment, by implementing exemplary methods. 3. Raise awareness on craftsmanship, by creating and operating thematic museums that safeguard and promote the traditional know-how on the production of local products. PIOP realises its statutory goals by conducting research on traditional craftsmanship and technology, inventorying their remnants, and disseminating the results by any available means, mostly in the Museums Network, such as lectures, seminars, conferences, exhibitions, publications, etc. Fernand Braudel’s notion on technique (“tout est technique”) epitomises the inner course of PIOP’s work, urging us to embrace a holistic appreciation of non-material heritage. Though PIOP is devoted in the safeguarding of traditional craftsmanship and technology, it is our core belief that technology can be considered as a living process, granted that people’s key role in the creation and enhancement of any technological development is acknowledged. PIOP’s orientation towards the safeguarding of intangible heritage is highly supported by the Foundation’s threefold activity axes. 1. Research: research programmes are conducted, to safeguard local craftsmanship production that characterizes each region, and marks its cultural identity (e.g. mastic gum production on Chios island, olive-oil production in Sparta and on Lesvos island, marble-crafts on Tinos island, etc). Intangible heritage is safeguarded by emphasizing in testimonies and oral traditions, in order to reveal the context in which each productive activity is born. 2. Museums: the Museums Network creates the tangible shell where intangible heritage is safeguarded and transmitted. Under the scope of empowering local communities by activating sustainable development in the Greek regions, PIOP organizes cultural public outreach activities in the museums. These events are usually focused on placing the living expressions of intangible heritage in contemporary everyday life: craftsmanship presentations, oral history and testimonies, dance, music, story-telling, etc. 3. Publications: PIOP publishes a number of series that record and promote the intangible traces of the communities’ collective memory.

Cooperation

The PIOP’s Museums Network is created in the Greek provinces, in order to promote and safeguard traditional craftsmanship in situ. Within the scope of empowering local communities by supporting sustainable development, PIOP implements a model collaboration scheme between public and private sectors. Hence, the museums created actually belong to the local authorities (mostly municipalities, prefectures, etc), whilst PIOP is responsible for their creation and operation. It is for the implementation of this management model that PIOP has been awarded the Europa Nostra 2012 Award on category 3 - Dedicated Services. Nevertheless, community involvement is established in earlier phases of PIOP’s work: during research precedent to museum planning, through the recording of oral history and testimonies; during the preparation of permanent exhibitions, by constant consultation on the creation and documentation of collections; during exhibition setting-up, when local know-how is indispensable for the accurate and vivid recreation of traditional craftsmanship. And finally, when the museum is finally open, local practitioners and bearers of intangible heritage are eager to involve and participate in public outreach events –often organized by the local communities themselves-, in the museums premises. On the other hand, in the framework of PIOP’s educational and public outreach policy, non-formal education activity is undertaken. Educational material regarding traditional craftsmanship is published and widely distributed, targeting not only to schools, but to families, as well. Furthermore, hands-on events are commonly organized, giving us the opportunity to involve youth in the safeguarding and promotion of traditional heritage, and, most important, to urge teachers to integrate intangible everyday life practices in the school curriculum. Last, these efforts are scientifically supported by fostering vocational training activities (seminars, workshops, etc) targeted to teachers, scientists and/or the broader public, whilst PIOP’s personnel is often invited to teach about the measures and policies it implements for the safeguarding of traditional craftsmanship. In this framework, PIOP is often invited to participate in national and/or international joint-collaboration projects. PIOP’s publications are freely distributed to school and university libraries. Due to its specialized publishing policy, PIOP has created several books of reference, which are integrated in the university curriculum.