Megaron the Athens Concert Hall bids farewell to Anna Kafetsi

Megaron the Athens Concert Hall bids farewell with deep sorrow to Anna Kafetsi, art historian, curator, and one of the most emblematic figures of Greece’s contemporary cultural life. A personality of rare vision, profound intellect, and unwavering faith in the power of art, she devoted her life to championing artists and fostering a meaningful public dialogue around contemporary creation.

Founder and first Director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Anna Kafetsi was the driving force and creative spirit behind an institution that permanently transformed the landscape of contemporary art in Greece. With persistence, insight, and an international outlook, she worked tirelessly to establish a vibrant contemporary art institution of global stature in the country, opening new paths for future generations of artists and curators.

Her relationship with the Athens Concert Hall was both close and longstanding. Through annexM, the pioneering contemporary art program she introduced to the Hall, she played a decisive role in shaping a new meeting ground between the visual arts and the wider public. Over the ten years of annexM’s activity, daring and poetic exhibitions with substantial theoretical depth were presented. Under her artistic vision, the spaces of the Athens Concert Hall hosted, among others, significant visual art productions such as The Garden Sees, The Last Reader, After Babel, Marginalia, Places of Reflection by Giorgos Xenos, Free from What by Maria Papanikolaou, Songlines by Katerina Katsifaraki, Particle Garden by Nikos Papadopoulos, and Symphony 37 by Giorgos Drivas.

Anna Kafetsi was not only an outstanding curator and intellectual. She was an enlightened presence who deeply believed in contemporary art as a space of freedom, thought, and human connection. Authentic and generous, through her choices and integrity she inspired artists, collaborators, and audiences alike, leaving behind a legacy of invaluable significance for Greek culture.

The Athens Concert Hall extends its sincere condolences to her family and loved ones, as well as to all those who had the honor of walking alongside her.

Her absence leaves a profound void. Her work and memory will remain alive as a precious point of reference for contemporary art and the cultural life of our country.