20th Anniversary of Rolex Arts Festival

A multigenerational community of renowned artists and arts professionals, linked through the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, is gathering with the Greek cultural world for the Rolex Arts Festival in Athens, to celebrate the achievements of 20 years of mentoring

Architecture Talk, Athens 2023. Participants: mentor Anne Lacaton and protégé Gloria Cabral. Left: moderator Ilias Papageorgio

This year’s creative exchange will be joined by more than 50 outstanding artists, who have mentored in one-on-one creative collaborations over the past 20 years of the Rolex programme. They consist of legendary figures in music, theatre, dance, film, visual art, literature and architecture.

Many of these mentors and protégés are participating in the festival in 17 public events − performances, readings, exhibitions, discussions and more − presented from May 26 to 28 at venues throughout the Greek capital that is Athens.

Dance, Óró. Athens Conservatoire, Athens 2023

The luxury watch brand created the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative in 2002. It is unique among corporate arts programmes in both scope and scale.

The mentoring programme provides emerging artists with the opportunity to engage one-on-one with masters in their field for an extended period of time. Since it was established, 1,350 people from 120 countries have been nominated for the programme; while, to date, 63 artists have served as mentors and have chosen 63 protégés from 41 countries.

START SLIDESHOW

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The programme has a special place in the Rolex Perpetual Arts Initiative, through which the brand honours and supports an ever-increasing artistic community in a variety of disciplines.

Also see: Rolex and its ties to cinema