Open Call for submissions to participate in the “All of Greece, One Culture 2026” Programme

The Hellenic Ministry of Culture’s institution “All of Greece, One Culture” is returning for a seventh consecutive year in 2026, having become an integral part of Greece’s cultural landscape. The themes of this initiative, which are expanding even more in both scope and number of events this year, draw inspiration from a famous verse from Menandros’ play, O dyskolos (The Difficult), which translates to “How beautiful – mature – people are when they are truly humane.”

In an era where we oscillate between humanism and meta-humanism, between the arts of live performance and the digital age, returning to humanity as a measure of artistic creation is a necessary endeavour. The performing arts serve as a field for constant reflection on the human condition, in a period when the concepts of humanity, humanness, and humanism are undergoing an unprecedented crisis. They are faced with an uncharted future. The framework of the “All of Greece, One Culture” institution, which is based on a dialogue between modern culture and cultural heritage at emblematic archaeological sites, is ideal for creating works that explore the broad series of questions raised by Menandros’ quote.

Artists and groups interested in participating in the Ministry of Culture’s programme are invited to submit proposals for live performing arts works (in the fields of music, theatre, dance, and performance), as well as hybrid forms of artistic expression related to the aforementioned theme.

The “All of Greece, One Culture” programme for 2026 will be based on proposals selected by a Special Evaluation Committee of the Ministry of Culture, following an open invitation to cultural organizations operating as Civil Non-Profit Companies (AMKE).

Proposals will be submitted online through the Cultural Organizations Registry (Link to the Registry) from Wednesday, the 3^rd of December 2025, to Monday, the 12^th of January 2026.  Submission instructions are available here.

Each proposal must combine at least two of the following six fields:

• Music (all genres, including classical, contemporary, and traditional music – original performances, innovative concert forms, new music production media, etc.).
• Theatre (all genres, including prose, puppet theatre, shadow puppet theatre, etc.) (if the second art form is music, it must be original)
• Dance (all genres, including classical, modern dance, etc.) with an adaptation/reworking of already existing music (if the second art form is music, it must be original)
• Music theatre (original music is required)
• Visual arts/performance (all genres: painting, sculpture, photography, etc.)
• Performances/events for young audiences

Regarding proposals involving visual arts, exhibitions may span the entire duration of the programme, while the second art form required will be showcased up to two times.

The Attica Region is not included in the 2026 programme. However, Civil Non-Profit Companies seated in Attica are eligible to submit proposals. To maximize the benefits and engagement of local communities, once the selection of the archaeological sites, museums, and monuments by the Special Evaluation Committee has been completed, opportunities for collaboration with local authorities and/or organizations (Municipalities, Regions, Municipal and Regional Theatres, local Festivals, etc.) will be offered to help organize the events. The framework of this collaboration will be specified by the Ministry of Culture and the GNO.

Civil Non-Profit Companies will be able to seek additional funding sources, such as sponsorships or co-producers. Technical requirements (sets, lighting, sound, projections), transportation and accommodation services, as well as promotion of the productions, must be included in the proposal budgets.

Proposals must fall within the following costing categories and be adequately justified. They must necessarily include a detailed budget and a clear statement of all contributors to the total production cost. Each work must have a minimum running time of 50 minutes and a maximum of 70 minutes, and must be performed at least twice at a site designated by the Special Evaluation Committee.

• €15,000 + VAT
• €30,000 + VAT

Total: 95 productions with a total budget of €2,3000,000 + VAT

Proposals must involve original works. This means works that have not been performed, either partially or in full length, in Greece or abroad, and are based on the aforementioned central theme, with the aim of fostering collaborations and combining cultural heritage with modern creations.

Interested organisations can register in the Ministry of Culture’s Registry of Cultural Organisations by 05/01/2026, following the steps outlined here: Registration process. The deadline to register in the Registry of Cultural Organizations is the date when the solemn declaration for registration is sent to dpde@culture.gr, not the date the organization electronically submits its identification information.

Applicant organizations must have completed their formation by 30/06/2025.

• Regarding any issues related to the content or submission process of their proposals, Civil Non-Profit Companies will contact the Greek National Opera exclusively via email at oneculture1@nationalopera.gr.
• Regarding any issue related to their registration or the online submission of their proposals, Civil Non-Profit Companies will send an email to dpde@culture.gr or contact the Directorate for Cultural Events and Supervision via phone at 210 8201957, -956, -766, -962, -782, -772, -787, -781, -925, -712, -704, -718)

The Special Evaluation Committee for 2026 will cover the entire range of art forms and will consist of the following members:

• Giorgos Koumendakis – Chair of the Committee, Composer and Artistic Director of the GNO
• Dimitris Marangopoulos – Composer, Head of the Athens Concert Hall “Bridges” Cycle, Professor Emeritus of Music and Performing Arts at the Ionian University
• Konstantinos Hatzis – Director
• Linda Kapetanea – Dancer, Choreographer, Director of the National School of Dance (KSOT)
• Syrago Tsiara – Art Historian, Director of the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum
• Natasha Triantafylli – Director
• Anastasia Gadolou – Archaeologist, General Director of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

Also participating in the Committee on behalf of the Ministry of Culture will be the following members, who will have no voting rights:

• Professor Anna Panagiotarea – Journalist, Consultant to the Minister of Culture
• Dimitra Filiou, Archaeologist at the Ministry of Culture’s Directorate for Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities

The evaluation of the proposals will begin on Friday, the 16^th of January 2026, and will be completed by Saturday, the 7^th of February 2026. The results will be announced by Tuesday, the 10^th of February 2026.

Every organization is eligible to submit up to two proposals; however, only one proposal per organization can be selected. Selected Civil Non-Profit Companies will enter into contracts with the Greek National Opera. The rights to the subsequent use of the productions belong exclusively to their creators. Concerning audiovisual work that will result from the video recording of the selected proposals, please refer to the Annex.

Furthermore, the selected Civil Non-Profit Companies must sign three-month agreements with the performers; these agreements will stay in effect until the final performance.

Organizations selected for funding to carry out specific events will receive the approved funds via deposits into their accounts, intended to cover related expenses. For this reason, these organizations must have no debts to the State or the National Social Security Agency (EFKA), meaning they must demonstrate clear tax and social security standing, to receive funds from Entities of the Central Administration. Organizations are not permitted to use grant funds to offset debts they may owe to the State or Social Security Agencies.

An exception to this rule may apply at the discretion of the Greek National Opera, only if excluding an organization from funding is deemed clearly disproportionate. This applies when the amount of unpaid taxes or social security contributions is relatively small compared to the total grant amount.

Civil Non-Profit Companies must submit an electronic B2G invoice to receive their payments, as outlined by current legislation [see the Joint Ministerial Decision No 52445EΞ/04-04-2023 (Government Gazette Volume B 2385/12-04-2023) titled “Obligation to Submit Electronic Invoices by Economic Agents”].

The “All of Greece, One Culture” programme for 2026 will take place from the 1^st of July to the 31^st of August at various archaeological sites, monuments, and museums across Greece, selected by the Evaluation Committee in collaboration with the pertinent agencies of the Ministry of Culture, in accordance with the provisions of Law 4858/2021.

Furthermore, Civil Non-Profit Companies can indicate their preferred time period for presenting their production, without this being binding on the final programme, and without the possibility of changing it after their proposal has been submitted. The proposed time period must include 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in August.

The Greek National Opera, as an entity supervised by the Ministry of Culture, has assumed the administrative and organizational responsibility for the programme.

Submitting a proposal entails the acceptance of the following terms:

• Proposed productions must not have been previously presented, in whole or in part, in Greece or abroad.
• Submitting a proposal does not guarantee its inclusion in the “All of Greece, One Culture” programme.
• The Special Evaluation Committee is not obliged to justify the reasoning behind its choices regarding the rejected proposals.
• Submitted data are confidential. The Special Evaluation Committee reserves the right to reevaluate a proposal if it changes, as to its essential parts (e.g. change of protagonists and/or key contributors, radical alteration of the initial concept, title, deviation from the submitted budget).
• Proposals without an attached total budget will be rejected and not evaluated.
• Proposal titles must be in Greek with their English translation included. Titles in foreign languages render the proposal ineligible. Additionally, titles must remain in Greek during any future presentation of the production/artistic event, even beyond the dates specified in the programme.

For submitted proposals to be considered valid, an authenticated Solemn Declaration by the organization’s lawful representative must be provided, in which they solemnly state that they accept all the terms of the Open Call for Submissions to Participate in “All of Greece, One Culture” Programme without reservation. Proposals that do not include this Solemn Declaration will be rejected in advance and will not undergo evaluation.

ANNEX

The GNO may choose to video- and/or audio-record fifteen (15) productions among those funded by the 2026 Programme, with the goal of creating 15 high-definition films. Therefore, submitting a proposal entails acceptance of all the terms of the Open Call, including this Annex, as well as the possibility of video and/or audio recording of your production.

More specifically:

• The films will be broadcast through the “All of Greece, One Culture” institution’s Digital Gate (https://allofgreeceone.culture.gov.gr), allowing anyone to access them on demand for a period of three (3) years (36 months) starting from the first screening of the video-recorded production at the Digital Gate, worldwide, and with unlimited views.
• The Civil Non-Profit Companies whose productions will be selected undertake the obligation to obtain all necessary permits for each work and performance by all contributors involved, in accordance with the duration, goals, and means mentioned above.
• For granting the relevant intellectual property permits, the GNO will remit an additional payment, in accordance with the following distinctions:
• An amount of up to €1,500 plus 24% VAT for productions funded with €15,000 plus VAT
• An amount of up to €2,200 plus 24% VAT for productions funded with €30,000 plus VAT
• Regarding the obligation to submit an electronic B2G invoice, the applicable rules are outlined in the current legislation [see the Joint Ministerial Decision No 52445EΞ/04-04-2023 (Government Gazette Volume B 2385/12-04-2023) titled “Obligation to Submit Electronic Invoices By Economic Agents”].
• The Greek National Opera is considered the producer of the filmed production under article 47 of Law 2121/1993, and any medium on which the production is recorded automatically belongs to the GNO.
• During the period when the filmed production is broadcast via the Digital Gate, the Civil Non-Profit Companies reserve the right to perform their productions live.
• Filming as part of this Project does not exempt the Civil Non-Profit Companies from their obligation to record the production using their own equipment for archival purposes and to deliver their Dress Rehearsal and/or final performance to the GNO.