Abstract

Cultural sponsorship refers to a mutually advantageous agreement between a business company and a cultural organization, through which the latter obtains financial resources and the former achieves to promote the social image of the corporation or the social aspect of its products. The success of this agreement depends on the respect of the artistic project and the maintenance of the terms of reciprocity and it can also be the underpinning of a broader osmosis between business and arts, revealing the great value of culture. Both business and cultural world in Greece face the challenge to exploit fully such co-operations, in order to create a new stream in contribution to the development of a powerful and self-sustaining cultural sector, which will have the ability to reflect the specialties of the Greek culture and the expectations of the Greek citizens, as well. The obtainment of financial resources coming from the private sector is an extremely difficult and complicated job for the cultural organizations, as it demands an excellent operation of all the departments, from the marketing and the managerial support, to the planning and holding the public image of the artistic organization. Above all, it demands a further “business” mentality that seeks the way through which the arts can achieve meaningful correlation with society. And there are many people in Greece that believe that such a “business spirit” cannot be found in public cultural non-profit organizations. This paper presents the current social and political environment in Greece concerning the institution of cultural sponsorship. Using respectively the literature and related articles published on the local press, tries to comment critically on the latest evolutions that take place in the field of cultural legislation. Further implications for the arts supporting are discussed upon the subject of the conjunction of the state patronage and the private initiative, in the service of the cultural needs of the country.