What is the relationship between Goebbels and Hadjiavatis? Cavafy and Cleopatra? Nionios and Churchill? And in what way is a monkey bite responsible for the Asia Minor expedition? Artifactory presents the shadow puppet performance for children and grown-ups Karagiozis in 31 B.C. in Alexandria, inspired by C.P. Cavafy’s poem “In 31 B.C. in Alexandria”.
The piece discusses the naval battle of Actium, a significant event in the Hellenistic antiquity era. It provides a unique perspective that raises contemporary issues related to misinformation, the peculiar nature of war, and the impact of fake news on shaping public opinion. The performance is part of the interdisciplinary, multi-faceted project Cavafy: 4 poems about Nikopolis, which aims to link Cavafy’s poetic universe and his connection to antiquity, as portrayed in these four poems, with the archaeological site of Nikopolis and its history.
The multi-level musical performance The Language of Sea Shells, featuring Thodoris Voutsikakis, a prominent singer from the younger generation, and Marina Kalogirou reciting, presents the musical idioms of Mediterranean cultures along with excerpts from their written works, evoking emotions. Alongside them performing will be the Municipality of Patras Plucked Strings Orchestra “Thanasis Tsipinakis”, conducted by Anastasios Symeonidis.
The performance focuses on the contemporary Mediterranean Individual, who longs to move beyond historical divisions and find the shared inner ground that unites them with their neighbouring peoples, providing them with a strong sense of hope for the future. Morocco, Egypt, Spain, Tunisia, France, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Greece, Algeria, Turkey… The Mediterranean, this known yet unknown region, a palimpsest, a mosaic of people, cultures, religions, languages, customs, habits…The sea that gave birth to civilizations, embraced differences, the sea with the many faces that both connected and separated lives, has always been a cornerstone for its inhabitants, their struggles and dreams, as well as a source of inspiration and tranquility.
In the end, does the Mediterranean serve as a line that divides or unites the countries watered by it and their peoples? And what would happen if this sea didn’t exist – would these nations remain separate or would they potentially never come together? The people have often managed to heal their wounds and bridge the gaps dividing them through common ground or simply by accepting the cultural elements of those “opposite” them.
In the highly charged space of the Nekromanteion of Acheron in Preveza, we watch the final moments of a dying woman who, standing on the verge between life and death, struggles to understand and accept her imminent end. Solely relying on her voice and memories from the Greek tradition and literature, she becomes a conduit for the universal experience of death agony. She raves, sings, and tells stories, as if she wanted to console her own self, always having beside her a visible and at once invisible fellow traveller. The one who watches, accompanies her with his music, and eventually escorts her to her passing from the worldly to the otherworldly life. An effort to understand and purge the second part of the pair “Life and Death” – this so mundane and inextricable part of every being, that is yet so difficult to accept.