Ancient Theatres Enhancement for New Actualities (Athena)

The Project ‘Ancient Theatres Enhancement for New Actualities’ (Athena) (€ 1,755,068.00 Budget-www.athenaproject.eu) is part of Euromed, a measure of the European Union established for the purpose of promoting cooperation between the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean area. The aim of the Athena project is the sustainable development of ancient Mediterranean theatres, taking into account their relationship with society and heritage institutions. Under the supervision of the Regional Monitoring and Support Unit (RMSU), the Project is funded by the European Commission in the framework of the Euromed Heritage IV program (www.euromedheritage.net), the fourth phase of an action strategy originally established by the EU in the framework of the MEDA measure, under the control of the EuropeAid Office for Cooperation. Since 1998 Euromed Heritage has spent about 57 million euros on cultural heritage, financing cooperation projects involving different actors (research institutes, universities, government authorities, academics, local communities, etc.) from different Mediterranean countries and working on various aspects of documentation, conservation and management of cultural heritage. Nearly 400 partners on both shores of the Mediterranean have benefited from the program, from the first to the fourth and current edition. It is impossible, however, to describe the aims of Project Athena without first briefly presenting the background to the project. The research activities of the last decade (in which all partners were deeply engaged in the project) have, in fact, highlighted the main points of what could be defined as a new cultural strategy: in this approach, a theatre can always be considered to be part of a wider urban or archaeological complex; and very often the theatre is at the “heart” of these environments exerting a strong pull on the public. Therefore, it is too restrictive to study a theatre in idolisation: quite the contrary, it should always be considered as part of a “cultural cluster,” that is, a set of cultural goods which can help boost “supply” and “demand”.