Pavlos Hatzigrigoriou exclusively at “L” for the “Festival of Cultural Recording”. A festival like no other in Greece.
From May 26 to 28, 2023, Syros will be at the center of cultural interest with the rich program of the “Cultural Heritage Recording Festival” that will take place at the “Apollo” Theater on those days bringing visitors from all over Greece and beyond.
This is a pioneering for Greek data co-organization of the South Aegean Region, the Municipality of Syros – Ermoupolis, the HERMeSAMKE group (member of Europa Nostra) and the Syros Institute under the auspices of the Hellenic Society for Environment and Culture. All actions are free, but the public should book the free tickets through ticketservice
Granting an interview exclusively to “L”, Mr. Pavlos Chatzigrigoriou, founder of the HERMES group and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Syros Institute, explained to us the long-term goals of the Festival, while he also predicted what we are going to see this three-day period.
What is the main idea behind the ‘Cultural Heritage Recording Festival’?
After a decade that we closed with the Institute, we thought it would be a right change, in a direction of democratization of the knowledge gathered for culture, to change our seminar and workshops and transform them into a festival that will be more democratic, open and accessible to the world and not limited only to the part of architecture and urban planning but also to touch other forms of cultural heritage. This is the basic logic of the decision to organize this festival, it should be noted that in Greece there is no other similar festival.
Will the Festival program be academic?
First of all, let’s say that it has an academic character only in terms of the dialogic part around the actions we will do, however, the Festival is basically entertaining, while where necessary there will be academic documentation and help.
We deal with cultural heritage in all its forms – tangible and intangible – therefore we will be concerned with objects from music, dance, architecture, the environment and even food. So we have to cover and we will try every year to cover all these cultural aspects.
However, the logic of the program is not exhausted in the entertainment part. Through our program we try to make people aware of culture and its protection.
In which areas of the island will you develop your actions this three days?
The main venue for these three days will be the Apollo Theater, without meaning that everything will take place there, but every day in the afternoon hours there will be actions at the Apollo Theater, while during the rest of the day we will try to be in different places and to highlight these places but also because we want the festival to be extroverted towards society, so it cannot stay in one place for this reason and we will try every year to include more and more parts of the island.
As Mr. Hatzigrigoriou told us, the Festival program will be rich in actions, workshops and events including musical performances, documentary screenings, seminars and much more. We singled out the action “Open Ermoupoli”, during which the participants will have the opportunity to visit traditional Ermoupoli mansions. As part of the seminar, participants will have the opportunity to come into contact with traditional embroidery and learn ways to revive it. Ms. Ioana Corduneanu, awarded by Europa Nostra, will be in charge of the action and the action is supported by the Greek Greek High School of Syros and the Romanian CulturalInstitute.
Active and creative involvement of pupils and students
Finally, on the last day, as part of the “1 Minute Syros” competition, the three best one-minute shots of students will be awarded, who were invited to take one-minute shots from any corner of Syros they wish, the prizes will be cameras. It is worth noting that the interest that has arisen around the event is so great that the Festival program for 2024 is almost ready, while they are already collecting entries for 2025!
