Chinese opera costume exhibit boosts Sino- Greek cultural relations

An exhibition of Chinese opera costumes debuted Thursday evening in the city of Elefsina, northwest of Athens, as part of eff orts to enhance cultural relations between Greece and China.

The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Party Chief of Hangzhou Ma Xiaohui, Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli, Elefsina Mayor George Tsoukalas and other representatives of the municipality.

The exhibition, organized by the municipality of Elefsina in collaboration with the Chinese embassy in Greece, aims to promote the cultural cooperation established between Elefsina and its sister city of Haicheng in China in 2014, offi cials said.

“This exhibition provides us opportunities for economic, cultural and educational cooperation,” Ma told the Xinhua News Agency.

Tsoukalas praised the SinoGreek ties.

“Cooperation between cities, people and societies is a one- way path. We must strengthen the common points we have, and smooth out our diff erences,” he said.

Over the last three years, famous traditional Chinese operas have been performed during the Aeschylus Festival, the longest- lived arts event in the Attica region.

The exhibition features a selection of about 100 authentic costumes, photos and videos refl ecting the most important types of traditional and modern Chinese opera. The exhibits represent 20 types of Chinese opera from 17 provinces, according to Zou.

As the city of Elefsina has been declared the European Capital of Culture for 2021, there are high expectations for further collaboration from both sides.

“We would like to have a permanent cultural cooperation with China,” Tsoukalas noted.

“When the museum of Aeschylus opens in 2021, I hope that there will be a permanent exhibition hall for Chinese opera. Today’s event is the fi rst step to realizing this dream,” Zou told Xinhua.

The exhibition, being hosted at the Leonidas Kanellopoulos cultural center in Elefsina, is scheduled to run until September 9.