A 'connection project' for a Hellenic Cultural Organization

Greece is suffering an unprecedented financial crisis. The state budget is being reduced continually and the repercussions of a financing strictness are felt by the Greek cultural organizations too. It seems that the domestic resources are not adequate to finance the gap created by the severe reductions in public subsidies. Therefore, an outward orientation of the cultural organizations seems to be a sine qua non condition for their survival. Given the fact that Greece possesses a vast cultural capital both tangible and intangible which can generate economic and non-economic values, and that there is still a sizeable international audience interested in the ancient Greek culture/art (the Philhellenes), this work proposes the implementation of a connection project undertaken by a Hellenic Cultural Organization in order to develop ties between the two parts. The ‘connection project’ is conceived as a prerequisite and an initial step of an international fundraising project that will follow and will be based on these created ties. In the theoretical investigation part, the various sides of such a project are explored by resorting to the existing literature. The core issue investigated is the way these ties are created; it is argued that the ties are created out of non-pecuniary values exchange between the two parts that produce/generate and simultaneously consume /experience these values in common, in ‘conversation’. In the connection project, exclusively non-monetary values exchange is envisaged to take place. The investigation, in the empirical part, is aiming at illuminating the fundamentals of the connection project, the possible weaknesses of the proposed approach and the possible required modifications of the proposal. Interesting insights and points of interest have been brought forth. Seven face-to-face semi-structured and one written interview were taken from representatives of 3 Hellenic cultural organizations and from 3 Philhellenes and two journalists. The findings are encouraging for the implementation of the connection project, even as an autonomous project, although the limitations of the research call for further investigation on issues that have not been clarified by the present study.