Greeting of the Minister of Culture, Dr Lina Mendoni
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends
It is with pleasure that I greet this event, “Ancient Drama: Interdisciplinary and Cross-Art Approaches”, which is held for the 12th consecutive year by the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, being an important initiative that has eventually become an institution.
The Ancient Drama, as a genre, is encompassed within the director Michael Cacoyannis’ creative work, with iconic performances, but mainly with the screen adaptations of Euripides’ tragedies.
The outstanding directing of the trilogy “Electra”, “The Trojan Women”, and “ Ifhigenia” earned him widespread acclaim, providing a new, bold adaptation of Euripides’ classical masterpieces.
The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, honoring its rich heritage, but also defining this as a starting point, aims to explore new interdisciplinary approaches to Ancient Drama, choosing as a core theme the interconnections between ancient drama and horror, offering a new dimension in reference to its contemporary messages, a field which remains inexhaustible and largely unexplored.
Horror is -in multiple ways- present within the plot of ancient tragedy and also within the plights torturing the heroes and defining their actions. During this transitional and agonizing era, new threats are relentlessly emerging. In the face of horror, risk is extended, enlarging the confusion and awkwardness, if not the people’s weakness and disorientation.
By its initiative, the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation re-introduces low-light elements of Ancient Drama, cultivating new approaches, and inviting us to contemplate its subtle messages. Meanwhile, the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation faithfully serves one of the main purposes of our Civilization: the creative osmosis of cultural heritage with modern creative work, two of the main priorities of the Ministry of Culture, being a source of inspiration for the new generations of artists. This is a day-by day- winning bet, that demands systematic work, within a wide range of projects and synergies.
The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation being consistent with its audience is not restrained within the limits of an international forum or the presentations of over twenty scholars from several prestigious universities. The program also proposes a wide range of events, encompassing webinars, workshops, an art exhibition, entitled “Trojan Women- Struggle in Ruins”, with free entrance, and the performance TUTTO BRUCIA by the award-winning Italian theatrical group MOTUS, inspired by “The Trojan Women”.
I congratulate the President of the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Xenia Kaldara, as well as all the people who have worked with devotion for this event.
I express my gratitude to all the participants and I am certain that the event will be crowned with success.
Dr Lina Mendoni
Minister of Culture
The Ancient Drama might be considered a cultural product of a distant past, thus it remains modern, pointing out universal values and messages. Besides, it should not be regarded as random that all these surviving plays are still presented worldwide.
The program “Ancient Drama: Interdisciplinary and Cross-Art Approaches”, having an artistic, along with an educational and cultural nature, promotes the timeless Greek civilization worldwide, showcasing the modern adaptation of the Ancient Drama within the synergy of art and discipline.
Attica is identified with civilization. Cultural treasures, internationally acclaimed monuments, archeological sites shining worldwide, museums of modern art, and cultural centers engrave the line that unites ancient history with the present and leads us toward the future.
The preservation of our cultural heritage, the promotion of the cultural identity of Attica, and its designation as an intellectual metropolis is set as one of our strategic priorities.
We proceed with actions and value-added interventions. The “Attica Region” funds projects in reference to the enhancement and promotion of cultural infrastructure across a wide metropolitan range, deploying all the means provided by the European Union, through the Regional Program “Attica”.
By way of example we point out the funding of 24 cultural infrastructure projects of metropolitan range with 61 million euros and 13 events of modern culture with 13,7 million euros, through the Regional Program “Attica 2014-2020”.
We proceed with the Regional Program “Attica 2021-2027”. It has already submitted 14 Proposals with an overall budget of 8,7 million euros and has integrated 10 Acts with an overall budget of 6,3 million euros.
The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation constitutes a core of intellectual creation. The institution of Ancient Drama, implemented by the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, is integrated into the Act “Establishment and Promotion of International Institutions of Contemporary Culture in Attica, co-funded by the European Union, through the Regional Program “Attika”, within the frame of the Partnership Agreement 2021-2027.
The Region has provided 262.000 euros for the upgrade of the electromechanical equipment of the Foundation, through the European Regional Development Fund.
We proceed aiming to highlight the unique cultural identity of Attica, pointing out the classical heritage and our modern civilization.
All the best to your future endeavors.
Kindest Regards
Nikos Hardalias
Governor of the Attica Region
On behalf of the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation I welcome you to this pioneering event, titled “Ancient Drama: Between Tragedy and Terror”.
The MCF is implementing the act titled “Ancient Drama: Interdisciplinary and Cross-Art Approaches”, co-funded by the European Union, through the Regional Program “Attika”, within the frame of the Partnership Agreement 2021-2027.
For this year’s edition, the MCF has invited the internationally acclaimed McGill University, alongside with the award winning Italian theatrical group MOTUS to contribute, respectively, as the academic and artistic curators, aiming to compose an interdisciplinary team of scholars and artists from Greece, Canada, Italy and abroad.
The McGill University, in collaboration with the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, organizes webinars and workshops, bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives from Canadian and international scholars, considering how contemporary horror aesthetics can be a useful starting point for reinterpreting Greek tragedy today, while also examining how contemporary horror both responds to and recreates Greek tragic elements.
MOTUS theatrical group has made a groundbreaking adaptation of Euripides’ Trojan Women, an anti-war statement, which highlights the post war experiences from the part of the conquered side, the women left behind after the Trojan War.
This years’ edition, drawing inspiration from the uncertainty in modern societies, the ongoing wars and conflicts, the environmental destruction, the consequences of the pandemic and the constant subtle horror which oppresses our lives, attempts to converge with all the elements compounding the scenery of modern realities.
Alexandra Georgopoulou
Artistic Director
The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation