Belgian multidisciplinary artist Jan Fabre on Saturday tendered his resignation as head of the venerable Athens-Epidaurus Festival after a firestorm of criticism, mostly by local artists, over his stated intention to reduce the number of local productions in favor of international ones.
He had also chose to dedicate this season’s festival to Belgium, another initiative that angered the crisis-shocked Greek artistic sector.
In his first statement after the resignation to the Belgian paper “L’Avenir”, Fabre referred to a “hostile artistic environment”.
The controversy over Fabre’s choices during his brief tenure also generated vitriolic reactions against current Culture Minister Aristidis Baltas.
