We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Giannis Farsaris. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Giannis below.

Giannis, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I reverently serve the idea of Open Art, the free availability of works on the internet by their creators. And when we say open and free art, we don’t necessarily mean free, as the internet has invented new ways of financially supporting artists. For 6 years now we have created the open library www.openbook.gr, which is primarily a catalog of Greek digital books that are freely and legally distributed on the internet. These include classic works free of copyright (public domain), as 70 years have passed since the death of their creators. At the same time, the works of hundreds of contemporary Greek authors who have chosen to make them freely available online, in digital form, are also included. Any reader is free to download the works to their computer, but also any author is free to send us their open e-book to add to the catalog.

Many authors are now turning to self-publishing, e-books, and other alternative methods. The primary reason a book is written is to be read. In times of crisis creators can now address the public directly. The big problem the internet has solved is distribution. Creators (be they musicians, filmmakers, writers, or visual artists) now have the ability, easily and for free, to make their work accessible to everyone, without necessarily having to go through traditional publishing and distribution channels. The brilliant and creative Steve Jobs winked at us early on: “It’s more fun to be a pirate than to enlist in the navy.”

The title of my new book is “Open Sesame – Thirty ways to unleash your creativity”: The philosophy contained within its pages refers to the creativity that starts inside you, goes through the internet, mixes with other people’s intelligence and ends up back at you.

Giannis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was born in 1973 in Greece, on the beautiful island of Crete. I studied Computer Science at the University of Crete, Adult Education at the Hellenic Open University, and theatre writing at the Poreia Workshop.

I live in Heraklion, Crete and I work as a teacher of Informatics in a high school. I am an author of short stories books and plays, but at the same time I am actively involved with digital commons and open culture, having created Open Library, the largest digital library in the Greek language (www.openbook.gr).

Many years ago, I worked as a copywriter for an advertising company and that was the cause I started writing my first novel. It took me many years to complete and was finally released in 2008 on the internet – one of the first Greek free e-books at the time. The success of this book was the inspiration to start building the Open Library website.

Then, I started writing flash-fiction stories and in 2015 a book of short stories was released, through an experimental model of collective publication through crowd-funding. I am fascinated by the stories of a few words, the subtraction, and the narration that winks at the reader to activate his imagination.

Lately, I have completed the writing of theatrical plays, and I look forward to going on stage. At the same time, I have prepared a new book on open creativity in art, which I hope will be published soon. And this is a creative journey that will never end.

I started the Open Library project in 2010, gathering on one website the few Greek books that were then freely available on the internet. Then, with the help of friends, we voluntarily created a repository of 12,700+ Greek digital books and 2,100+ audio books that are legally distributed freely.

The project has gained publicity and won many awards, but the most important thing is that more and more readers use it to discover free books and we are constantly contacted by young authors who want to release their work digitally.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I deeply believe that the digital transformation of art will change the history of our world

E-books are almost as old as personal computers. Back there in 1971, the American Michael S. Hart created the first digital book in history and even symbolically chose the Declaration of Independence of the USA. In certain categories of books, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, manuals, etc., digital books have almost entirely replaced paper books. As far as literature is concerned, the assessment is that there will be a slow transition, but certainly in the coming years we will have a smooth and non-competitive coexistence of the two forms. The older solar readers will hardly give up the habit of leafing through the pages, but the bet of love of reading is judged on the younger generations and there I believe that the digital book (in forms of enhanced reading experience) is called upon to take on a crucial role, since it is completely compatible with new technologies which children and teenagers love. It is also highly likely that in the next few years we will see a big increase in the audiobook category, which one can listen to in the car, while running, or alongside other tasks.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

The modern digital era teaches us that an amazing new way to make things happen is Crowd-sourcing.

Wikipedia is the most iconic example since 2001 and its founder Jimmy Wales tells us:

– Our way of organizing is not like the traditional ways of organizing that you imagine. People always ask, “Who’s in charge here?” or “Who does this?”. And the answer is: “Anyone who wants to participate. It’s very unusual and chaotic.

Collective intelligence is the best way: When you have an issue to deal with ask for the opinion and help of the many (known + unknown).    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.opensesame.gr
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farsaris_giannis/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farsarisgiannis
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/OpenBookGR
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@openbookGR
• Other: https://www.openbook.gr https://www.fractalart.gr

Image Credits
George Kamelakis at Nikos Kazantzakis Museum