In celebration of the 225th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Odessa, the city in which the Filiki Etaireia launched the struggle for freedom and independence of Greece from the Ottoman yoke, the Branch of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture presents three exhibitions:
– “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece”
– “Engravings inspired by the works of Aeschylus (poetry by Christos Giannakos, drawings by Iuri Iakovenko).”
– “Great Greeks of All Times.” The best works of the All-Ukrainian contest of children’s drawings “The spirit of Hellas with us” (2019).
Admission is free!
“Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece” is the exhibition prepared jointly with the Office of Contemporary Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Greece.
The 20 tablets show photos and information about poorly known in Ukraine folk customs, rites, crafts, technologies, dances, music, songs, which form part of the cultural identity of the Greeks and are included in both the National Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece and the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In addition to tablets, the exhibition also presents some original items and products related to the elements of intangible cultural heritage including handmade soap from Corfu, mastic products from Chios, traditional textiles from Crete, wooden puppets of the Karagkiozis shadow theater, etc.
“Engravings inspired by the works of Aeschylus” is a collection of drawings by Iuri Iakovenko and verses by Christos Giannakos, director of the Xotaris Gallery and the Panayiotis Giannakos Cultural Foundation (Crete, Greece).
It consists of six chapters (“Clytemnestra”, “Mother-killer”, “Erinyes”, “Ate”, “Call to Tyndareus” and “Hermione”) from the book “Orestes” based on the works of Aeschylus. As the publisher of the book puts it, “Christos and Iuri, each with his own pen and ink, create a woman and tragedy drawing their inspiration from the vibrant verses of the ancient Greek tragedist Aeschylus (c. 458 BC)”.
“Great Greeks of all times” presents over 70 best artworks submitted by young artists (age from 6 to 16) to the 24th annual contest of children’s drawings “The Spirit of Hellas with us”, organized by the BHFC in collaboration with the Panagiotis Giannakos Cultural Foundation and the Xotaris Gallery (Crete, Greece). In total, 532 works from all over Ukraine were submitted to competition in 2019, and the award ceremony was held on March 25, the Greek Independence Day.
Three first-prize winners were awarded with a month-long vacation on the Island of Crete. In the spring of 2019, a selection of works was also exhibited at the Supreme Council of Ukraine and the Festival of Greek Culture in Lviv.
The theme of the 25th annual contest will be announced in November 2019.
