International Exhibition Mail Art: “No to Violence. Yes to Create. The limits of the human values”.

International Exhibition Mail Art, in dimensions 10X15 cm with the subject: “No to Violence. Yes to Create. The limits of the human values”.
Almost 700 pieces of art from 34 countries, from each continent are here and they are received as guests by the Dean Office of the department of Pedagogues Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, on the 10th floor of the Tower, from 1st until 11th December. The grounds for the organization of this exhibition, laid upon the violent actions, occurred after the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos and the reasons caused this event.
Historical texts which affect even the contemporary society could provide us with the answers and the solutions of the previous mentioned fact.
During the Democracy of Pericles in the 5th century B.C, as it is written in Plutarch book “Parallel Lives”, the money from the sponsors was given to the free citizens who worked for Art……αποκουφιζων μεν αργώ και δια σχόλην πολυπράγμονος όχλου την πόλην…meaning that the city could be relieved from the unemployed and due to the unemployment from the dangerous crowd.
In Aeschylus tragedy “Prometheus Bound” the lead actors are the Demons State and Violence- symbols of the despotic power- who punish Prometheus bound on the rocks of Caucasus with the help of Hephaestus for offering to humanity the fire ,the work, the Arts. The tragedy expresses the violation of the limits which were not defined and they will eventually be determined only after the event. The violation will indicate where the limit actually was.
The evolutionary course of man lies upon the political establishment and it progresses. According to the theory of Carl Marx for the redistribution of the wealth ‘The Capital’, volume 1st, and p: 91-92 “The total product of a community is a social product. A piece of this product is used once again as a mean of production. This part remains social. Another part is consumed from the members of the community as a mean of maintance. For this reason it should be distributed among them.”
The artists who participate in Mail-Art denounce violence in all its forms and place the limits in the human values with their creations. In the exhibition, all the kinds of arts are included: painting, engraving, sculpture, constructions, mixed technique, collage, comics, graphics, graffiti, artistic compositions attached with poems, embroiders, suggested with musical parts, using lemon as the paint brush etc.
The Fluxus artists deposit their experience of the 60-year movement, Mail art artists of the International Organization of Holland are present, professors of the American School of Fine Arts, Italy, Japan, Spain, Canada, artists from the library of the Pedagogue School of Portugal, graphic artists from Turkey and Greece, artists from New York, Mexico, Argentina as well as from other countries of Europe, America, Asia, Africa, Australia, members of E.E.T.E and V.A.A.N.G are furthermore participants with their works. The artistic value of these works varies. However, we accept the artists’ desire to alleviate, through their art, the pain caused by every form of violence, even the verbal one, the violent acts upon children, environment whose destruction is going to affect greatly the developing course of humanity. The artists say no to war and the obligatory immigration of people. They say no to hunger and they demand world-wide care for the management of the earth’s and planet’s products.
In history of art, the influence by the progressive techniques of art is recorded, accomplished techniques before the artist himself, since the organization of the society and the distribution of work in the artist’s town along with the redistribution of work in every country related to the artist’s hometown. The artistic universality with the development of technology and its impact is apparent in this exhibition of V.A.A.N.G and this exhibition is on-line today.


A. Karamanli, Secretary of SKETBE