Greece, France celebrate their cultural ties
Events mark Greek EU rotating presidency
Comedie-Francaise, France’s national theater, will visit Athens for the first time in half a century to stage Jean Anouilh’s “Antigone,” internationally renowned director Ludovic Lagarde will work together with Greece’s National Theater, while the Athens State Orchestra will perform works by contemporary French composers .
These are some of the events listed under the Greece-France Alliance 2014, a bilateral cultural and educational program organized by the French Institute and the country’s embassy in Athens on the occasion of Greece’s six-month presidency of the European Union, which started on January 1.
About 100 shows, exhibitions, concerts, discussions, conferences and festivals will be held in cities across Greece and France over the next six months. The aim is to highlight the ties between the two countries and promote Greek contemporary art to the world. The program is being held under the aegis of the two countries’ foreign ministries and with the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
The opening concert, a tribute to artists Seraphine Louis and Camille Claude by Magda Maurogianni, Christina Giannakopoulou and Charles Zouganelis, took place at the Theocharakis Foundation on January 16, while the same section further includes tributes to Jean Cocteau (January 30), Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel (February 6), and concerts by Quatuor Tana (February 13) and the Paxos Ensemble (February 20).
Politicians and academics will discuss the future of Europe at the Athens Concert Hall on February 6 and 7 in an event organized by Le Nouvel Observateur and Kathimerini newspaper. The same section includes a lecture by Jacques Ranciere (January 30) as well as a series of lectures organized by College de France (as of February 4). Renowned astrophysicist Hubert Reeves will participate in “geo-meetings” (February 27) while Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez will deliver a lecture on the Nike of Samothrace, under conservation treatment until summer 2014, at the auditorium of the French Institute (June 3).
A number of plays will be staged in Greece and France through June 2014. Comedie-Francaise will stage “Antigone” directed by Marc Paquien at the Athens Concert Hall (April 2627) while Jean-Rene Lemoine will stage his “Iphigenie” (Iphigenia), starring Lena Papaligoura with the Apo Michanis Theater. The National Theater will cooperate with Ludovic Lagarde on Bernard-Marie Koltes’s “Quay West,” which will be staged in Greece and France (as of June 5), and Paul Claudel’s “Le Soulier de Satin” (The Satin Slipper), directed by Efi Theodorou. Both feature on the program of the Athens Festival in the summer. In addition, the state orchestras of Athens and Thessaloniki have prepared collaborations and tributes to French directors.
“Werther,” an opera by Jules Massenet conducted by Ilias Voudouris and directed by Spyros Evangelatos, will return to the Greek National Opera’s Olympion Theater (April 11), Yannick Boquin will stage his ballet “Chopin in Love” at the same venue (May 10) and a tribute to Melina Mercouri will be held at the Greek Film Archive (March 1-9).
to novelist Marcel Proust on March 8 is one of some 100 events, including shows, exhibitions, concerts and discussions, to be held across Greece and France over the next sixth months. The events are organized by the French Institute and the country’s embassy in Athens on the occasion of Greece’s six-month European Union presidency.
exploring the work of Belgian multidisciplinary artist Jan Fabre will be screened as part of this year’s Athens Video Dance Project scheduled to take place at the School of Fine Arts in Athens on February 1923. The documentary, ‘Jan Fabre: The Man Who Measures the Clouds,’ was developed by Caroline Haertel and Mirjana Momirovic in 2003.