DIMITRIS DASKALOPOULOS, philanthropist and founder of the D.Daskalopoulos Collection and NEON is awarded an OBE in 2023 UK Honours List in recognition of his services to the arts and philanthropy.

Dimitris Daskalopoulos’s belief in the power of art to bring people together, enrich lives, act as a catalyst for change and expand cultural understanding, has underpinned his dedication and involvement in the British art scene for over 25 years. A member of the Tate International Council, appointed in 2004 and a founding partner of the Whitechapel Gallery’s Future Fund (2011), thematic exhibitions of works from the D.Daskalopoulos Collection have been held at the Whitechapel Gallery, London (2010) and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2012). Demonstrating Mr Daskalopoulos’s commitment to engaging the widest possible audience by revealing new narratives in art, he has established for a decade, curatorial and educational posts at all three institutions.

Mr Daskalopoulos founded NEON, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing contemporary culture closer to everyone, in 2013 in his native Greece. Its exhibitions have taken works and new commissions by British artists including Antony Gormley on the archaeological island of Delos, Richard Long and Michael Landy in Athens, to a broad Greek and international audience. NEON’s scholarship scheme and curatorial exchange programmes with the Whitechapel Gallery—together with the Courtauld, the Royal College of Art and London Metropolitan University—have enabled Greek students and curators to share influences and ideas with British counterparts, and forge friendships and professional networks that will enhance the cultural relationship between the two countries for years to come.

Mr Daskalopoulos, through his consistent patronage and the D.Daskalopoulos Collection (1994), has supported exhibitions across the United Kingdom through the collection’s open lending policy, while also ensuring a long-term loan, a number of joint acquisitions and promised gifts such as the work Babel, 2001 by Cildo Meireles at Tate. Through the D.Daskalopoulos Collection Gift (2022), Mr Daskalopoulos donated his collection, meticulously assembled over 25 years, to four important institutions in three countries over two continents. Tate received 110 works by 53 artists including works by artists not previously represented in its collection and which are now able to be enjoyed by British and international visitors.

Mr Daskalopoulos’s vision, work and philanthropy in support of the creative arts and contribution to British civic society have recently been recognised in the naming of the D.Daskalopoulos Gallery at the Whitechapel Gallery (2022), and the award of an honorary doctorate from Goldsmiths, University of London (2023).

For further information, you may visit the sites of the D.Daskalopoulos Collection and NEON