The Greek Community of Alexandria

Category: CULTURE

News about culture and cultural heritage

  • Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2017: Youthful, Alternative, Political

    Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2017: Youthful, Alternative, Political

    Since its inception in 1955 the “Athens and Epidaurus Festival” was staged at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in an attempt to bridge modern recollections of antiquity with contemporary artistic output. In recent years the Festival forged a modern identity opening up to cutting-edge international productions, and promoting young Greek artists who have something to say to contemporary audiences.

    Throughout this summer, the Festival will present a rich programme of open-air theatre, ancient drama, opera, classical music, concerts and dance performances at landmark locations in Athens and Epidaurus. Its new identity – a festival that is inclusive, that reflects its host city, and that brings the livelier aspects of society back into play is being enhanced this year launching a series of new sections, collaborations, and openings, which according to the Festival’s artistic director, Vangelis Theodoropoulos will “hopefully revitalize the Greek performing scene and over time bear fruit and become established parts of the Festival,” adding that its intention is to be “able to give a first taste of the direction in which we are interested, an initial positioning -youthful, alternative and at the same time political.”

    This year will see the launch of the Epidaurus Lyceum, an international summer school of ancient Greek drama intended for drama school students and young actors from all over the world. The 2017 Epidaurus performances and the courses on offer at the Epidaurus Lyceum, as well as other relevant activities will fall under a common theme. With the migrant and refugee crisis continuously testing and trying the identity of Western societies, this year’s umbrella title for all Epidaurus and Lyceum productions is “The Arrival of the Stranger” as reflected in ancient texts and in the interplay of ancient drama and the historical present.

    This year will also see the launch of another important new section of the Festival: “Opening to the City”. Encompassing performances and events at non-theatrical spaces, site-specific, poetic and musical performances, and activist interventions in dodgy or run-down areas of the city, this section seeks to counteract the increasingly withdrawn and introspective stance of society, responding to the fear of diversity, and taking a stand against parochial, insular, and racist attitudes at large.

    The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus will feature works by both accomplished and emerging Greek directors. The Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus will host productions with a more alternative take on ancient drama, including a Festival d’Avignon production, directed by Olivier Py. The stages of Peiraios 260 will be dedicated, as usual, to contemporary theatre and dance productions. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus will host principally musical productions, including operas, orchestras, and concerts of classical, modern Byzantine, folk, and contemporary Greek music.

    In an outgoing spirit that looks to connect the Athens and Epidaurus Festival with other institutional actors, the Festival also renewed its cooperation with the Athens International Film Festival “Opening Nights”, for the purposes of the Athens Open Air Film Festival. This year, with the support of the British Council, the Athens Open Air Film Festival has prepared a tribute to mystery, horror and dark surprises to turn your summer night on their heads! Gothic horror and romance stories based on the darkest fears and desires will be the cinematic myths featured in «British Gothic».

    As for the international program, it will include a multifaceted tribute to the world-famous Volksbühne, featuring three major productions, among which a performance by its outgoing artistic director, Frank Castorf, who ran the historic Berlin theatre for 25 years. 

    The Epidaurus programme will come to an end with a closing celebration at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus on Saturday 19 August, featuring music and dances from the Peloponnese region.

    (www.greeknewsagenda.gr)

  • University of Athens online course: The arts of ancient Greece

    University of Athens online course: The arts of ancient Greece

    Offered by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (UoA) Centre of Continuing Education & Training and taught in English, distance learning programmes and courses provide the opportunity to combine novel learning and teaching techniques with the ability to study anytime and anywhere.

    As part of the arts/culture category of the UoA’s e-learning programmes, “The arts of ancient Greece: the birth of classical taste” offers a journey through the fascinating developments in Greek art in the period between 1200 to 30 BCE. Introducing participants to an extraordinary cultural phenomenon, the course caters to the beginner in the study of the classical world, the non-specialist as well as to the art enthusiast.

    The course addresses questions such as:
     
    –  What is Greek art?
    –  Which were its founding principles?
    –  Who were the greatest Greek artists, when did they live and how did their work affect generations to come?
    –  Which creations of ancient Greek art are today thought of as masterpieces of unrivalled merit?
    –  Which archaeological discoveries have helped us understand classical Greece in its essence?
     
    Beginning May 15th, this 12-week course welcomes both undergraduate and graduate students, art and archaeology aficionados as well as anyone with an interest in the history of Greece or the classical world.

     

    Upon successful completion, participants will receive a Training Certificate. Tuition fees amount to 350 € and applications run until May 8th.

    University of Athens’ e-learning programmes

    Drawing on the expertise of senior faculty members and renowned European academics, UoA offers e-learning programmes in a wide array of fields, ranging from art and health to business and nanotechnology, through a friendly online educational platform.

    Culture and Arts Online Programmes provide a deeper understanding of the aspects defining the daily life of Ancient Greeks, taking a close look at fields related to philosophy, theatre and rituals that established the uniqueness of Greek civilization. These online courses offer the opportunity to increase one’s knowledge of a culture attracting global interest for centuries and standing as the originator of most arts as we know them.

    It is worth mentioning that over the past fifteen years more than 45,000 people have joined the continuous professional development (CPD) and lifelong learning (LLL) courses of UoA’s e-Learning Programmes.

    (www.greeknewsagenda.gr)

  • (Un)learning from Athens: documenta 14 Inauguration

    (Un)learning from Athens: documenta 14 Inauguration

    Surprise and subversion of the spectator expectations. The vision of Adam Szymczyk, Artistic Director of documenta 14, starts to unravel, calling the public to “unlearn what they know”. On April 8, documenta 14 opened its exhibition in Athens. Extending over the city in more than 40 different public institutions, squares, cinemas, university locations, and libraries, over 160 international artists will show works newly conceived for documenta 14. The exhibition will take place in Athens till July 16 and in Kassel, Germany, from June 10 to September 17.

    For the first time, the prestigious contemporary art exhibition with a sharp political profile opens in a city other than Kassel, where it has been held every five years since 1955. “Learning from Athens” is the title of documenta 14. “What did we learn from Athens? That we all must abandon our prejudices and plunge into the darkness of not knowing. We started with these steps three years ago, preparing documenta 14 in Athens and we got here, at the opening,” Adam Szymczyk said at a press conference in Athens on Thursday, April 6, which was attended by more than 2.000 journalists , artists, curators and collectors from around the world.

    The program starts with the official opening at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) on Saturday, by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, following an invitation by President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

    Among the events of documenta 14 inauguration week program is the music performance of Henryk Górecki, Symphony No. 3, Op. 36, Symphony of Sorrowful Song, by Ross Birrell and David Harding, with Athens State Orchestra and Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra (SEPO) at the Athens Concert Hall (20.30). The music performance is a co-production of documenta 14, The Athens State Orchestra, and the Athens Concert Hall and part of the event’s proceeds will benefit the initiative of the Athens State Orchestra’s “Pink Box” for refugee children as well as the programs of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for refugees both within and beyond Greek borders. Szymczyk emphasized, on the occasion of this performance the feelings of loss, separation and despair that parents and children undergo in times of war.

    The performance of Jani Christou’ s Epicycle, 1968–2017, part of which was performed by the organizational team of documenta 14 to open the Press Conference, will take place Saturday morning at theAthens Conservatoire (ΩA.2) and all other venues, while a performance by Nikhil Chopra titled “Drawing a Line through Landscape” will be held at Archimedous Street 15 (Moschato) and will continue on Sunday.

    (www.greeknewsagenda.gr)

  • New Pyramid Discovered in Egypt

    New Pyramid Discovered in Egypt

    After thousands of years, researchers are still making incredible finds in Egypt (case in point, the giant statue unearthed in Cairo last month). Now, researchers have made another big find: earlier this week the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced that a team of their archaeologists discovered the remains of pyramid dating back to the 13th Dynasty, which ruled about 3,700 years ago reports the Associated Press. The only problem is that an inscription indicates that the pyramid may have been built for a ruler that already has a pyramid next door.

    The Egypt Independent reports that the remains were uncovered at the Dahshur Necropolis, an area about 25 miles south of Cairo on the west bank of the Nile. That area is home to what is considered to be some of the earliest pyramids including Sneferu’s Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid.

    While the pyramid-shaped upper section is gone, the substructure still remains. “The uncovered remains of the pyramid represents a part of its inner structure, which is composed of a corridor leading to the inner side of the pyramid and a hall, which leads to a southern ramp and a room to the western end,” Adel Okasha, the director general of the Dahshur Necropolis says in a statement, reports Owen Jarus at LiveScience.

    Though the writing on the slab has not been translated by the Antiquities Ministry, Jarus shared images of the hieroglyphics with Egyptologists. He reports that two have said the writing is a religious text often used inside pyramids, and that the text appears to include the name of the pharaoh Ameny Qemau, the fifth king of Dynasty XIII, who briefly ruled around 1790 B.C.

    That raises some questions, however, since Ameny Qemau’s pyramid was discovered in Dahshur in 1957, Aidan Dodson, a research fellow at the University of Bristol who has written about artifacts from that earlier pyramid, tells Jarus. He suggests one possibility for the discrepancy is that Qemau may have hacked out the name of a predecessor king and inserted his own name. That practice was common in the ancient world when a new ruler wanted to bury the memory of an enemy or unpopular ruler. 

    The AP reports that the Ministry of Antiquities plans to continue excavations and hope to find more evidence of which ruler or high-ranking official the pyramid belonged to.
    (www.smithsonianmag.com)

  • 4th century imperial bath complex inaugurated in Egypt’s Alexandria

    4th century imperial bath complex inaugurated in Egypt’s Alexandria

    Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany and members of parliment inaugurated Alexandria’s cistern and imperial bathing complex area in the Kom El-Dikka archaeological site.

    The area had been undergoing excavation and restoration since 1960 by an Egyptian-Polish mission from Warsaw University.

    Mahmoud Afifi, head of the ministry’s Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department, said that the newly inaugurated area will be included within the Kom Al-Dikka tourist path, which includes the Roman amphitheater, the bird villa and residential houses from the Hellenistic period until the Islamic era.

    El-Enany describes the bathing complex as “one of the finest edifices of its time,” and that the bathing halls had welcomed hundreds of bathers at a time.

    The complex also includes palestrae for physical exercises, colonnade passages and amenities such as public latrines.

    Water was supplied to the complex using huge cisterns and heated by a complex system of furnaces and pipes.

    The minister and the parlimentary delegates also paid a visit to the planned Mosaic museum in downtown Alexandria to inspect the ongoing work and address any obstacles to its completion.

    During the tour, Mohamed Abdelmaguid, director-general of the Underwater Archaeological Department, introduced a three-phase plan to develop the Qayet Bey Citadel and its surroundings.

    Abdelmaguid also reviewed a plan for the construction of the first underwater museum beneath the city’s eastern harbour, which once was the ancient Alexandria royal area.

    Abdelmaguid suggests the building of an underwater park to promote diving as well as the establishment of a training centre for underwater archaeology.

    (english.ahram.org.eg)

  • 6 archeological missions to resume underwater excavations in Egypt

    6 archeological missions to resume underwater excavations in Egypt

    Six local and international excavation missions have obtained the necessary approvals to resume their underwater archeological excavations for antiquities along the shores of Alexandria and Red Sea governorates, according to the Department of Underwater Antiquities in the Ministry of Antiquities.

    The head of the department, Mohamed Abdel Maguid, said the missions submitted their papers for approval in December in an effort to be ready before April. Only two of the six missions will resume work next month, he added.

    The first of these two missions is the French Le Centre d’études Alexandrines (CEAlex), headed by Isabelle Hairy. This mission will complete its work in Fort Qaitbay by May 20. The second is the Egyptian mission which will work along Red Sea coasts from April 15 until May 7, headed by Mohamed Mostafa.

    Maguid said the other four missions have asked for the commencement of their work to be delayed until fall. These include Frank Goddio with the European Institute of Underwater Antiquities in France; Harry E. Tzalas with the Institute of Hellenic Underwater Archaeology in Greece; Galina A. Belova with the Russian Institute for Archaeology and Egyptology Studies; and Paolo Gallo with Turin University in Italy.

    (www.egyptindependent.com)

  • Greece offers ancient archaeological wonders in exchange for Elgin Marbles

    Greece offers ancient archaeological wonders in exchange for Elgin Marbles

    Greece has called for the return of the so-called Elgin Marbles from the British Museum as a symbolic act in the fight against anti-democratic forces seeking “the dissolution of Europe”.

    The Athens government, which decided against taking legal action against the UK last year, will instead renew diplomatic efforts with an offer to regularly loan some of the wonders of Ancient Greece to British institutions in exchange.

    While it is unknown what might be offered, Greek museums hold astonishing art works created in antiquity. The arrival of art such as the “golden mask of Agamemnon” or the statue of Zeus/Poseidon could be expected to cause the same kind of interest as the first arrival in the UK of the Terracotta Army from China in the 1980s.

    The Marbles, taken by Lord Elgin more than 200 years ago when Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire, represent about half the sculptures that once adorned the Parthenon temple. It was built in Athens about 2,500 years ago after the world’s first democracy fought off attempts by the Persian Empire to conquer the city. The sculptures are widely recognised as among the finest ever created.

    Lydia Koniordou, the Greek Minister of Culture and Sport, said allowing the restoration of this founding monument of Western values would send a message about Europe’s commitment to democracy – at a time when many believe this is under threat from rising nationalism.

    “The reunification of the Parthenon Marbles will be a symbolic act that will highlight the fight against the forces that undermine the values and foundations of the European case against those seeking the dissolution of Europe,” Ms Koniordou said.

    “The Parthenon monument represents a symbol of Western civilization. It is the emblem of democracy, dialogue and freedom of thought.”

    Greece is carrying out restoration work on the Parthenon and has built a museum specifically designed to display the sculptures, but currently only has slightly less than half of them. Other fragments are held by several museums in Europe. 

    Elgin’s staff removed the sculptures somewhat crudely – for example, the heads of a centaur and a human in a dramatic fight scene are in Athens, while their bodies are in London.

    Professor Louis Godart, the newly elected chairman of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS), said: “It’s unthinkable that a monument which has been torn apart 200 years ago, which represents the struggle of the world’s first democracy for its own survival, is divided into two.

    “We must consider that the Parthenon is a monument that represents our democratic Europe so it is vital that this monument be returned to its former glory.”

    In a statement, IARPS said the Greek government had “resolved to renew and intensify its efforts for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures”.

    “The centrepiece of Greece’s renewed push for the return of the sculptures will be a proposal – made in a true spirit of compromise – to offer recurring, long-term loans of rare archaeological treasures from Greek museums in exchange for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures from the British Museum,” IARPS said.

    “Greece and its supporters will not rest until all the known surviving sculptural elements from the Parthenon are reunited in the Acropolis Museum in full view of the monument which they once adorned.”

    Greece is still suffering the effects of the 2008 recession in what is now essentially a humanitarian crisis, with pensions cut in half, youth unemployment at nearly 50 per cent – a level it has been at for years – and medical services crumbling. 

    The European Union and other international creditors have demanded policies of austerity in exchange for keeping the economy afloat with huge loans. At the same time, Greece has been struggling to cope with the influx of refugees fleeing the brutal civil war in Syria.

    While nationalism has been rising across Europe, the violent, neofascist Golden Dawn party is now Greece’s third largest party with support from about 10 per cent of voters.

    In January, one of Golden Dawn’s leaders told The Independent that Donald Trump’s election had “given us a new wind of support”.

    “It’s validating and reinforcing our nationalistic and patriotic policies – policies that we have been advocating for years,” Elias Panagiotaros said.

    “We should follow Trump’s beat. We shouldn’t leave Greece like an open field for migrants to come and go as they want. We should reclaim our country and our interests and put them first, just like Trump.”

    The sculptures show scenes including what is believed to be a procession in honour of the goddess Athena, a fight scene between centaurs and humans, and several Ancient Greek gods.

    Andrew George, chairman of the British Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, said returning the sculptures to Athens would help the UK’s reputation in Europe following the Brexit referendum vote.

    “Britain has nothing to lose and so much to gain from engaging with the Greek Government in this way,” he said.

    “A gracious act by the British would lift our reputation at the very moment our otherwise threadbare negotiating position with the EU appears so grubby and self-seeking.

    “Such a high level and deeply symbolic gesture of this kind would also help counteract the tide of growing right-wing intolerance that is taking hold across Europe.

    “Britain has nothing to lose but a deeply damaged reputation – having clung on for over 200 years to such important artefacts which were stolen from the Greeks when they could do nothing to stop it – and has much to gain at the very time Britain’s reputation needs enhancing amongst those countries it wants to do a deal with.”

    And the offer of ancient treasures from Greece “would more than compensate for the apparent loss” of the Marbles, he said.

    The British Government has routinely dismissed calls for the return of the sculptures to Greece.

    A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: “The Parthenon sculptures were acquired legally in accordance with the law of the time. They are the responsibility of the trustees of the British Museum who are legally responsible for their care.”

    (www.independent.co.uk)

  • Jesus’s tomb unveiled after $4m restoration

    Jesus’s tomb unveiled after $4m restoration

    The restored tomb in which Jesus’s body is believed to have been interred after his crucifixion will be officially unveiled at a ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday.

    A team of Greek scientists and restorers has completed the nine-month renovation project, which focused on a small structure above the burial chamber, known as the Edicule. It is the most sacred monument in Christianity.

    “If the intervention hadn’t happened now, there is a very great risk that there could have been a collapse,” Bonnie Burnham of the World Monuments Fund, which had oversight of the project, told Associated Press. “This is a complete transformation of the monument.”

    The delicate restoration was carried out by a team of about 50 experts from the National Technical University of Athens, which had previously worked on the Acropolis in the Greek capital and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The conservators worked mainly at night in order to allow pilgrims continued access to the shrine.

    In October, a marble slab covering the rock-carved tomb was lifted for the first time in more than two centuries, allowing restoration workers to examine the original rock shelf or “burial bed” on which Jesus’s body is thought to have rested. A small window has been cut into marble slabs to allow pilgrims a glimpse of the rock.

    The team also repaired and stabilised the shrine with titanium bolts and mortar, and cleaned thick layers of candle soot and pigeon droppings. The work involved the use of radar, laser scanners and drones.

    Wednesday’s ceremony to mark the completion of the restoration will be in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, and a representative of Pope Francis.

    The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the heart of the Christian quarter of the walled Old City, covers the assumed site of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. It is a huge attraction for pilgrims and tourists from all over the world, many weeping and clutching precious mementos or photographs of loved ones and forming long queues for the shrine.

    Six denominations – Latin (Roman Catholic), Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syrian Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox and Copts – share custodianship of the cavernous church. Bitter disputes over territories and responsibilities have erupted in the past, sometimes involving physical altercations. Disputes between the denominations have held up restoration work for decades.

    In a sign of the distrust between the different denominations, the keys to the church have been held by a Muslim family since the 12th century.

    The shrine has been rebuilt four times in its history, most recently in 1810 after a fire. The structure had been held in place for almost 70 years by iron girders erected on the instructions of a British governor who ruled Palestine in the Mandate era. They have now been removed.

    The $4m (£3.2m) cost of the restoration came from contributions from the six denominations which share custody of the church, King Abdullah of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Mica Ertegun, the widow of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, who gave $1.3m.

    (www.theguardian.com)

  • Parthenon Marbles resurgence

    Parthenon Marbles resurgence

    In recent developments for the return of the Parthenon Marbles, the Athens government has made a desirable offer; to loan, on a recurring and long-term basis, rare archaeological treasures from Greek museums in exchange for the return of the Marbles from the British Museum.

    The request has been made as a symbolic act in the fight against anti-democratic forces that appear to be on the rise and seeking “the dissolution of Europe”.

    “The reunification of the Parthenon Marbles will be a symbolic act that will highlight the fight against the forces that undermine the values and foundations of the European case against those seeking the dissolution of Europe,” said Lydia Koniordou, the Greek Minister of Culture and Sport.
    “The Parthenon monument represents a symbol of Western civilisation. It is the emblem of democracy, dialogue and freedom of thought.”

    Greece has a number of art works dating back to antiquity, including the ‘golden mask of Agamemnon’ and the statue of Zeus/Poseidon, which if loaned to Britain would likely draw great interest.

    In an official statement the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS) said the Greek government had clearly made the offer in the “true spirit of compromise”.

    “Greece and its supporters will not rest until all the known surviving sculptural elements from the Parthenon are reunited in the Acropolis Museum in full view of the monument which they once adorned,” the IARPS said.

    Andrew George, chairman of the British Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, said agreeing to return the sculptures on these terms would only help the UK to rebuild its reputation in the region following the controversial Brexit vote.

    “Britain has nothing to lose but a deeply damaged reputation – having clung on for over 200 years to such important artefacts which were stolen from the Greeks when they could do nothing to stop it – and has much to gain at the very time Britain’s reputation needs enhancing amongst those countries it wants to do a deal with,” Mr George said.

    The Marbles were taken from Greece more than 200 years ago by Lord Elgin, when the country was still part of the Ottoman Empire, where they once adorned the Parthenon temple built by the world’s first democracy some 2,500 years ago.

    (neoskosmos.com)

  • Toward a Judging Free Society: Human Library Comes To Egypt

    Toward a Judging Free Society: Human Library Comes To Egypt

    There is a library in Denmark where people replace books, and conversations replace silent reading, ones that shatter societal stereotyping and prejudices. This unique experience is now coming to Cairo.

    Human Library Egypt is holding a one day event at Sheraton district on Friday, with five “books” discussing drug addiction, refugees, special needs, the first single lady adopting a child, and a different looking girl whose features are regarded as ugly and unacceptable by those around her.

    “The personalities represented in Human books are mainly ones that suffered from widespread stereotypes in the Egyptian society,” said Amira Rizk, one of the organizers of the event.

    Some of the books approached Human Library Egypt after coming across the idea through social media because they wanted their story to be heard by others and their challenges to be understood. Other books were approached by the initiative after knowing about them either through an article, TV program or talks featuring them on any medium

    “We are hoping that this experience on the long term creates a free judging society where people become more and more tolerant to others by learning to accept differences that s an integral part of creation,” Rizk said.

    Implemented in 70 countries, Asmaa Ismail brought the idea to Egypt. Ismail believes in the power of healing of people through self expression, and in the impact people can do by just listening to others without even offering solutions.

    For the execution, she checked the official Human Library page and applied to be one of the organizers. Her request to bring the idea from Denmark to Egypt was approved and she became the first representative for them in Egypt. The first event was held in May 2016 on a small scale, where the books were mostly volunteers from her network then gradually the idea started spreading.

    (egyptianstreets.com)