In the fourth of a series of pieces exploring the careers of graduates from Kent's MA in Heritage Management offered at our Athens Centre, we talk to Vassia Hadjiyannaki to find out about her work as an animator for children's television shows.
What is your current role and what does it involve?
Vassia Hadjiyannaki: I currently work as director/producer at the Greek national broadcasting company (ERT) and one of my projects is a webTV stop-motion animation series for children. This project is being done with the collaboration of some of the main museums of Athens. The goal is to create an edutainment series to capture the young audience and bring them closer to their heritage through storytelling.
What is your favourite aspect of the job?
It is extremely challenging to attempt to create a children’s program about heritage and museums that will manage to attract and engage both the kids and their parents. We are competing with Disney, Nickelodeon and other super-entertainment giants. We have to create something that will entertain them, as well capture them, so that they will become fans of the show and not just “pupils” in yet another lecture on ruins, sculptures, icons and so forth.
Why did you choose the Heritage Management MA offered by Kent and AUEB?
I have a long experience of cultural and children’s programs, but combining this with heritage and archaeology was the big issue for me. HERMA was exactly what I needed to become aware of all the issues that will help me handle this project with authenticity, with scientific validity and, at the same time, in a creative out-of-the box manner. HERMA gave the tools to level all these wisely.
What skills did you learn and how did this help in your career? How would you say you manage heritage in a different way because of your training?
It gave me the skills to think out-of-the-box, the freedom to present my ideas full-heartedly, the knowledge to challenge what I held as true, and a lot of confidence to proceed in the area of heritage management in Greece, something quite challenging.
What would you say to anyone considering the course?
First of all I would ask them what heritage means to them. If they value this highly, I would tell them to enrol without further thought.
What do you think the impact of the Heritage Management Organization (FKA Initiative for Heritage conservation) is on heritage and possibly for your work?
I would not have the confidence to proceed with a project like mine, as Greece can sometimes be quite a bureaucratic country and I am not an archaeologist. I learned to “speak” their language; I understood their side of the story in the sense that after the course I knew what the critical issues were and how I – with my area of expertise – could have a positive contribution.