BUSINESS: 327 PRACTICES
Polyeco is the first and sole integrated and fully licensed waste management and valorization industry in Greece.
Read more: www.polyeco.gr
In 2014 we had the pleasure to announce the launching of Polyeco’s ambitious Contemporary Art Initiative, PCAI, which primarily aims at raising environmental protection awareness through a unique art program inspired by the crucial issue of waste management, which is not only technical, but also environmental and social.
The objective has been to create a framework that will allow Polyeco to implement its unique environmental awareness raising program.
PCAI implements its objectives though three areas of activity:
• The Collection
Which is based on special commissions mainly of moving image art. PCAI provides midcareer and emerging artists with the means and resources to create an artwork inspired by urgent environmental, sociological and philosophical issues. Should they wish, commissioned artists are offered a wide choice of international sites to visit and do research.
• The Projects
THE PROJECTS are all the activities and events (exhibitions, publications, educational programs and workshops) organized by PCAI around its growing commissioned based Collection. PCAI wishes to reach as big an audience as possible. Apart from exhibiting the collection in Museums and other cultural institutions our aim is to incorporate the art to special educational programs, presented at schools and other venues in remote locations
• The Support
THE SUPPORT refers to our engagement in other initiatives and individuals that share the same vision and concerns.
Adopting the principle that environmental protection and sustainable waste management are common responsibility and can only be achieved with collective effort, our initiative addresses each and every one, trying to communicate through art the challenges that threat nature and the consequences that are caused by the over exploitation of natural resources and human intervention, when there is no respect for the environment. However, special emphasis is given to the creation of environmental awareness among young people, which on one hand will suffer more from the consequences of environmental degradation and on the other hand will be called to disseminate their culture to future generations.
Polyeco Contemporary Art Initiative, started 3 years ago in 2014, as an ongoing, flexible project that will develop on par with Polyeco. The project does not have an expiration date.
Polyeco Contemporary Art Initiative (PCAI) is a not-for-profit organization which was established by POLYECO S.A in 2013 as a means to raise environmental awareness through the medium of contemporary art and to challenge our perceptions about the realities we live in.
The transition from still to moving image in the past decades has had a huge impact in our visual readability and that is what motivated PCAI to focus on – although not restricted to- this dynamic medium of expanded art cinema.
The commissioned works have been received important international awards (i.e Agnieszka Polska's What the sun has seen was awarded with the Preis der Nationalgalerie 2017 in Berlin) and have been presented in prestigious museums worldwide promoting the mission of environmental awareness.
Through PCAI, Polyeco enhances social impact and interaction with local communities and pose issues that concern environmental policy in local, regional and national levelPCAI’s Collection works have a great impact on the public, raising questions and thoughts on the issue of environmental degradation, which is the biggest challenge of the 21st century.
Polyeco’s Contemporary Art Initiative is not restricted by geographical boundaries. With Athens as its base it is implemented in countries where the company develops business activity and has a universal character since its target is to create a coherent collection that will travel all over the world.
PCAI collaborates with cultural and educational institutions as well as local organizations in the areas where the company is active. An example of this is the assistance of Free University and Agricultural University of Georgia during the production of KEPLER our first commission to artist Georges Drivas. In 2017, PCAI was the proud sponsor of the Greek Pavilion presenting Laboratory of Dilemmas by artist Giorgos Drivas (curated by Orestis Andreadakis) in the 57th edition of the Venice Biennale Viva Arte Viva. Also PCAI presented ten of its commissioned moving image artworks from its collection at the 58th Thessaloniki International Film Festival in the section “Film Forward”. In the context of the educational programs, PCAI collaborates with Museums and Schools (National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens Concert Hall, etc).
Polyeco’s employees play a crucial part in the implementation and the dissemination of the initiative, actively helping the artists in both research and the creation of their projects, using all the means in their disposal. They also act as ambassadors of PCAI in their areas of activity.
PCAI has already helped Polyeco differentiate amongst competitors. It has strengthened our links with our clients. Through PCAI, Polyeco supports local communities of the countries within which it operates - especially the developing countries, since the art commissions created in these countries do not remain in their narrow geographical boundaries but travel around the world. As a result Polyeco acquires a completely different role and hypostasis since it does not just conduct waste management projects but meets new cultures, learns their needs and specificities and creates trustworthy relationships. It then, through art, communicates all these information to a large international audience. Thus, with art as a vehicle, Polyeco has been transformed into a valuable tool for environmental protection, gaining high moral satisfaction from the fact that it does not limit to the development of business activity but supports the local communities and helps people to recover their lost relationship with nature.
PCAI has opened new opportunities in imagining our future branding and image and has created a very powerful communication weapon.
It is increasingly influencing employees’ and clients’ attitude towards the company and it often acts as an icebreaker in new collaborations.
It has become a weapon against complacency and is clearly sending a message that Polyeco values and fosters innovation and dynamism. Through PCAI employees are exposed to various environmental issues and developments rather than using just the typical employee training and seminars.
