Based on oral history and experiential-biographical material, The Memory of Water foregrounds the value of memory and the importance of its preservation for reasons of historical and cultural cohesion and continuity, bringing out traces of the refugee identity of the island of Lesvos through the eyes of the young generation.
The project consists of two creative parts. The first part is the planning and implementation of an experiential documentary-theatre workshop with the participation of adolescent students of Lesvos, in collaboration with the Model General High School of Mytilene of the University of the Aegean.
The second part includes the creation of a documentary-theatre performance, with the participation of the same teenagers as “experiential performers”, handing over the baton to them so that they can explore, own, and bring to life the stories of their ancestors through experiential research and performance art.
As Above So Below: an experiential performance designed for the Kabeirion of Lemnos, the oldest known Greek Sanctuary connecting the spiritual heritage of the Asia Minor refugees with ritual memories of antiquity and the worship of Cabeiri. Sacred Fire, the element of destruction and regeneration, becomes the thread connecting Greeks with the Light and the greatness of the Universe.
The creator of the first underwater performance in Sounio and the vigil night in Fygaleia, director and choreographer Apostolia Papadamaki, connects cultural heritage with performing arts in a performance-ritual by renowned artists Savina Yannatou, Thanasis Efthymiadis, Maria Papageorgiou, professional dancers, and local volunteers under the full moon.
The music is composed by Trifon Koutsourelis.
A performance based on the novel of Giannis Makridakis and the journey of uprooting and moving to a new homeland accompanied by its sounds and images.
A shipwreck between Chios and Cesme sets in motion the unfolding of a multifaceted story inspired by family narrations. The story attempts a deep introspection to memory and perishability.
Anestis, the castaway, struggles to put his past in order and take decisions about his present. His homing pigeons, are trained to return to their “homeland” ignoring the borders and linking the past to the present. Images and sounds from the route Smyrna to Chios alternate and illuminate a multifaceted memory journey.
Generations of pigeons together with generations of people are moving in parallel. Their direction is constantly changing as it is determined by the History and many coincidences.
Singer Eleni Tsaligopoulou, actress Eleni Kokkidou and six virtuoso musicians invite us to join them on a journey through notes and words in the beginning of the 20th century, a journey full of the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city that will always be a reference point in modern Greek history.
Smyrna, in all its legendary beauty and with its tragic ending, will always be the most loved “lost motherland” of the Greeks.
One hundred years later, on the occasion of the sad anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, Eleni Tsaligopoulou performs timeless songs from Smyrna and of composers of the time, while Eleni Kokkidou narrates testimonies of the uprooting and excerpts from relevant works of Greek literature. A concert full of history, dedicated to the memory that calls these songs its motherland, by two leading artists.
Continuing its research on intergenerational participatory story-telling, the APARAMILLON creative team focuses on the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the story of two places directly linked to the ’22 refugees. Nikaia and the island of Chios, one of the main first stations of the uprooted.
The basic dramaturgical stepping-off point is the concept of the house, both as the material manifestation of relationships grounded in a specific space and as a mental construction. A house is placed on the stage as a scenic indicator of every lost house of the refugees and at the same time of their effort to acquire a new roof over their heads.
The dramaturgy draws upon testimonies and archival material from refugee associations, engaging in a conversation with melodies performed by the students of the Musical Schools of Chios, in a scenic fusion of theatre with music, which bridges two places and two eras.
The musical ensemble Oros Ensemble joins forces with the Environmental Protection and Architectural Heritage Club of Lemnos “Anemoessa”, as part of a special initiative. Using art, environmental protection and primary production as goals and as a creative core, a site-specific lyrical performance is created. At its centre lies Lemnos, the “Volcanic Island”, the “granary of the Aegean”, the flattest island of Greece, with its unending wheatfields that has brought forth unique native varieties.
For the project Seeds in Danger or The Sound of the White-Eyed Beans, Afkos and Barley Oros Ensemble and Anemoessa collaborate with baritone Tassis Christoyannis and the local Kournos Music Festival, which aims at organising site-specific music-centered events both in the island’s natural environment and in selected buildings of historical or architectural importance. The production will be supported by Danai Sfakianou, an agronomist whose goal is to support traditional practices of the primary sector, so as to help preserve biodiversity and the special landscape of Lemnos.
An allegorical and poetic description of the ideal state, modelled after the world of bees. Bees, that during antiquity were associated with the divine element (nowadays an endangered species), are described by Virgil as a fully developed society, with its own kingdoms, cities, work distribution system and work ethics. They are concerned with the continuation of their species in a unique way that exceeds the instinct of their individual survival. Through the fourth book of Georgics we follow the society of bees at times from the inside and at times from the beekeeper’s angle. Reading Virgil’s text one cannot but ponder on the self-centered course of the human civilization and man’s arrogant and destructive estrangement from nature. Α “musical reading” of this great poetic text. At its roots, music weaves a hymn to nature, which brings out man’s always topical and life-giving love for it.
The text of the performance is based on Konstantinos Theotokis’ translation of Virgil’s Georgics (Βεργίλιος, Τα Γεωργικά, Dromon publishing, Athens 1909).
A woman decides to leave her abusive husband and migrate to the north, so as to reunite with her two braver friends. On her journey she is accompanied by her personal artificial intelligence assistant and the thought of the whale, whose long evolutionary path of fifty million years inspires the heroine to put herself together and continue on her way. The music also serves as her guide.
The production The Whale’s Song presents a world plagued by a distorted political system, social injustice and the effects of climate crisis. “We are fighting to reach a destination where the conditions will favour our survival. And if we do not reach it, then the next or one of the coming generations will.” The groundbreaking works of awarded writer Chantal Bilodeau revolve around climate crisis.
A quadrophonic sound installation that will be presented for the first time in Greece. A collaboration between visual artists Giorgos Moraitis and Latent Community that is actually a sound research on the Mediterranean aquatic eco-systems and the way they are harmed by human intervention. The goal of the work is to magnify the non-perceivable sound imprints that disturb the climatic and ecological balance in Greece and the Mediterranean. The archaeological site of the Dark Dungeon in the imposing Castle of Chios is turned into an immersive environment, where sound and image invite us to recompose a sustainable future, through the fragments of a collapsing era.
The installation will be accompanied by experiential workshops for children and teenagers (26-28/7) aimed at raising awareness on issues of ecology and environmental protection.
The Aquatic Echoes research has been conducted with the support of Onassis AiR.
The Revolution of the Old Toys is a free theatrical adaptation of Christos Boulotis’ fairy tale of the same title, directed by Sofia Palantza.
On a rainy night, the old toys decide to start a revolution. Armed with courage and enthusiasm, they will live out the adventure and the danger, deciding to confront the electronic games that were stealing the children’s thoughts. They will also clash with their own leader, once they discover that he is not a toy but a human being. Using imagination as their only weapon, the toys will engage in an uneven battle against the electronic fighters of war and violence, to claim their place in the children’s hearts.
Group spirit, camaraderie, solidarity, peace, and combative spirit, freedom, and most of all imagination as a manifestation of creativity, are just some of the concepts this performance explores. The Revolution of the Old Toys will offer audiences moments of joy, taking them on a journey through colourful clouds alongside clockwork-marching toy soldiers, cymbal-banging toy monkeys, little drummers, unicorns, and multicoloured balls.