Category: CULTURE

News about culture and cultural heritage

Greek Ministry of Culture declares 2017 ‘Year of Nikos Kazantzakis’

In a bid to remember and commemorate the writer and philosopher that was Nikos Kazantzakis, the Ministry of Culture has declared 2017 as the ‘Year of Nikos Kazantzakis’.

Sixty years since his death in 1957, the International Society of Greek Writers & Artists has developed a World Literary Competition named Kazantzakia, and submissions are now open.

Those interested in taking part are required to submit an original selection of unpublished work that can range from poetry, storytelling, lyrics, photography, painting or a report, all of which are required to relate back to Kazantzakis and play a role in the promotion of his memory.

Submissions will be examined and judged by a five-member evaluation committee that will be comprised of well-known writers with relevant experience.
Winners will be announced and awarded at an official ceremony at the City of Athens Cultural Centre on March 18, just days before World Poetry Day, thanks to the support of the Municipality of Athens, O.P.A.N.D.A.

The winner and runner-up of the poetry category will also have their work published in the following issue of Literary Anthology, which will also be dedicated to Kazantzakis.

COMPETITION DETAILS:
– Poems should not exceed 30 lines (two minutes required recitation time)
– Stories should not exceed six pages
– Submissions accepted in the following languages: Chinese, Spanish, French, English, German
– Work submitted should not be under review currently for another publication and should remain unpublished throughout the duration of the competition
– Each project can be sent with an alias name written on the top right of each page of your submission via email to [email protected]
– Include a separate document with full contact information (name, email address, mailing address, and phone number) and a short biography of maximum 250 words, including previously published works with the manuscript email submission
– PDF formatting will not be accepted.

The Kazantzakia 2017 deadline is January 31, 2017. For more information, visit somateiodeel.blogspot.com.au/

(neoskosmos.com)

January 19, 2017
Greek museum among the top 10 new museum openings in 2017

History, art and design will be celebrated in their many forms, and disciplines, at new institutions from Paris to Los Angeles and London to Cape Town. The newspaper Guardian published the list with the top 10 new museum openings in 2017, among them a Greek museum that opened its doors in October, 2016.

The National Museum of Contemporary Art is in the 3rd place of the list.

See the whole list:

1.Museum Barberini, Potsdam, Germany

2.Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town

3.National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), Athens

4.Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia

5.Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

6.Victoria & Albert Museum, London

7.Design Society, Shēnzhèn, China

8.Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia

9.Musées Yves Saint Laurent, Paris and Marrakech

10.Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE

(www.ellines.com)

January 19, 2017
Greek To Be Taught as Foreign Language in Russian Schools Starting January 1, 2017

According to sources, the Russian Minister of Education, Olga Vasilieva recently signed and approved the Greek language into the curriculum of Russian schools.

Starting January 1, 2017, Greek will be taught as a second language in Russia’s primary and secondary schools. It is a decision that has been on the table of discussion for sometime, as Greek and Russian relations have strengthened over the past decade.

“This achievement comes as a result of many years of efforts of AUTH to promote the Greek language in the Black Sea countries,” the rector of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Pericles Mitkas said to ERT International about the recent development.

The new Consul General of Russia in Thessaloniki, Alexander Scherbakov also weighed in on the topic, applauding the new additions of Greek language to Russian school’s curriculum.

“The introduction of the teaching of the Greek language in primary and secondary education in Russia creates strong promotion of Greek foundations in Russia as well as prospects for further cooperation in the field of culture and education” he said.

(eu.greekreporter.com)

January 19, 2017
Computer science reimagines Hagia Sophia’s acoustics, offers journey back in time

An impressive figure of the architectural beauty hailing from the Byzantine-era, the Hagia Sophia at Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square is still inspiring new studies, like the “Icons of Sound” project from Stanford University.

Having served as a cathedral, the mosque and now a museum over its 1,500-year-long lifespan, the Hagia Sophia is now the subject of a study from Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and its art history department.

Focusing on the interior of the Hagia Sophia, the study digitally imprints the museum’s resonating acoustics accompanied by visuals to create an immersive experience. The “Icons of Sound” project employs thorough musicological research and reveals the Hagia Sophia’s mystical acoustic character. “The Hagia Sophia challenges our contemporary expectation of the intelligibility of language. The wet acoustics of the Hagia Sophia blur the intelligibility of the message, making words sound like emanation, emerging from the depth of the sea. Not surprisingly, much of the ritual at the Hagia Sophia involved chanting and not recitative speech,” said the team on the project’s official website.

The team applies a method by using balloon pops that identify the space’s acoustic parameters, allowing them to introduce a computer model. This brings the experience that makes it seem as if listeners were in the Hagia Sophia. For the study, the research team has collaborated with chamber choir Cappella Romana, which has performed Early Music including Byzantine, Slavonic, and Gregorian chants by applying the computational model. The choir has already given a series of concert performances and continues to make listeners feel as if they were in the Hagia Sophia.

Built in the sixth century, the Hagia Sophia, which means “Holy Wisdom” in Greek, was converted to a mosque in 1453 when the Ottomans conquered Istanbul, in what was then called Constantinople. In 1935 it was transformed into a museum. The masterpiece features an immense dome supported by huge pillars,its walls sheathed with marble and decorated with mosaics.

(en.protothema.gr)

January 10, 2017