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ATHENS, Feb. 26-- A decade after the start of the Greek debt crisis, dealers of antique artworks, selling a piece of history, are welcoming the first signs of recovery, hoping for better days to come, they told Xinhua in recent interviews. As all sectors of Greek economy which shrank by 25 percent in the years of the crisis, antiquarian bookshops and galleries have been battered by recession and austerity, seeing their turnover plunging. As the country has exited the harsh bailout period since last summer, they see light on the horizon, Takis Kamarinos, owner of a store near Syntagma square, specializing in authentic gravures over the past 30 years, told Xinhua. Even though gravures, also known as prints or engravings, are considered a most affordable art object for the masses compared to paintings, Kamarinos and his colleagues still saw their clientele and revenues shrinking. "Gravures'sales have increased a lot in recent years. There was a sharp decline during the first period of the crisis, but recovery has started," he said. "Turnover deceased by 45-50 percent in the first years of the deeper crisis, let's say. Currently it is on the mend, it has gradually started to grow. It has not reached the pre-crisis levels of the golden years, as we used to say, but in any case it is better. There is light at the end of the tunnel. It is there," he added. Despite the difficulties during the crisis, Kamarinos never lost his faith in the resilience of art. | 
