Abstract

This chapter - based on the results from a theoretical and empirical research that used semi-structured interviews - introduces one of the more than 60 communities in Thessaloniki. The study considers the functions of the culture and the arts important for the coexistence of different ethnic and cultural communities in the same region and significant for the cohesion of the immigrant communities in general. In this respect, the profile of this immigrant community includes specific references on its culture and its artistic expressions. A short historical retrospection and the presentation of different aspects and institutions related with this field in the community life, completes the profile, while several other of its aspects (economic, political etc.) are discussed in other parts of the study.

Objective of this study is to contribute for a complete profile of this particular community, given the fact that too little has been done in this respect. As a result of this shortcoming in the local social research, the comprehension of the specific features, needs and peculiarities of different social groups, is rather incomplete, a fact that hardly favors the planning and implementation of cultural, educational, social and other types of policy, consistent and relevant with a multicultural society. This study addresses these issues - being part of a wider research that applies a holistic approach on the more than 60 ethnic and cultural groups that compose the local society.