Onassis Foundation takes part in Bicentennial "Initiative 1821–2021"

The Bicentennial "Initiative 1821–2021" was created to celebrate the 200 years since the outbreak of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and the War of Independence and is the result of sustained collaborative efforts made by Greece’s public benefit, cultural, and academic institutions of Greece, and the National Bank of Greece. This bicentennial will be a key historical event: it is both an occasion to recognize the struggles and sacrifices of our people, while it also requires us to think on the present-day position of our country and its future. The Onassis Foundation, alongside the Eugenides Foundation, the B & M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts & Music, the Captain Vassilis & Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation, the Lambrakis Foundation, the A.C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, the A.G. Leventis Foundation, the Bodossaki Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the Foundation for Education and European Culture, will be contributing to the bicentennial celebrations with events in Greece and abroad based on three themes: History, Creation, and Evolution. In Greece, in cooperation with academic, research and cultural institutions, preparations for the organization of conferences, exhibitions and musical events are already under way. The Bank and the various Foundations will also support educational and research programs and scholarships that match their objectives.

Meanwhile abroad, in countries that played a role in supporting the Greek Revolution (e.g. France, Switzerland, the UK, Italy, Germany, and Canada), academic and cultural bodies are planning a variety of events, including concerts, conferences and exhibitions to commemorate this momentous bicentennial, again in collaboration with the Bank and the Foundations, as part of their planned objectives.

With days to go until 2021, and after three years of preparations, the Bicentennial "Initiative 1821–2021" is now ready to present more than 120 events in Greece and abroad: conferences, research programs, scholarships, exhibitions, publications, and concerts that honor the past and promote modern-day Greece. Within this framework, the Onassis Foundation has already organized the first National Student competition for the creation of digital works – “Hack the Map: Rigas Veletsinlis’ Charta” – in collaboration with the Cartographic Heritage Archive of the General State Archives / Historical Archive of Macedonia, and the Department of Geography of Harokopio University, Athens. The competition calls on students across Greece to get to know and be inspired by this renowned and rare map of pre-Revolution history and cartography.