Offering a splendid opportunity for developing a meaningful dialogue among the artists of the international cultural community, the Biennale of Sao Paulo, in which Greece participates regularly, is undoubtedly one of the most important international visual art events.
Intriguingly entitled "Image Smugglers in a free territory, " this year's 26th Biennale of Sao Paulo explores international contemplations on the new social and political states of things, as determined by the constant migrations of populations carrying different cultures. Indeed, our modern societies are characterized by multiculturalism and the need for effective communication among these cultures is now imperative. Artists have the ability to establish common meeting grounds through their visual propositions and to emphasize through their aesthetics the common cultural elements of otherness.

Curated by Irini Savvani, Greece's participation for 2004 is Harris Kondosphyris's interactive installation Athens-Beijing, exploring the issues of emigration and migration and proposing a synaesthetic approach to reality based on synergies of music, poetry, and smell.

Confident that it will spur the interest of the international art community and reaffirm Greece's commitment and ability to contribute to international art developments, I am delighted to salute Greece's participation in this seminal visual art event.