Greek to me !

Reminding us all those happy thoughts, memories,  things and inspirations  that the arrival of summer means to all of us, especially in Greece, the Summer Nostos Festival funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has organised  an entire week of free events ,  to take place between June 18 and June 25, 2017.

 

Nostos (Ancient Greek: νόστος) means strongly emotionally missing  returning back to one's home country . In the Ancient Greek literature Nostos includes an epic hero returning home by sea. It is a high level of heroism or greatness. The return isn't just about returning home physically but also about retaining certain statuses and retaining your identity upon arrival. The theme of Nostos is brought to life in Homer's The Odyssey, where the main hero Odysseus tries to return home after battling in the Trojan War. 

The word nostalgia was first coined as a medical term in 1688 by Johannes Hofer (1669-1752), a Swiss medical student. It uses the word νόστος along with another Greek root, άλγος or algos, meaning pain, to describe the psychological condition of longing for the past.

 

The SNFestival 2017  aims to  travel its guests in a nostalgic trip  back to each one's  favorite summers, guided by music, dance and melodies, stories and laughter, exercise and play.

More than 400 Greek and international artists and contributors collaborate creatively, offering more than 75 events, held on 5 stages and many other spaces around the SNFCC. Music, dance, sports, discussions, arts and architecture are all part of a full week of events, with the presence of additional activities, such as screenings, guided tours and unforgettable  shows, composing a multifaceted program, which has something to offer for everyone.

 

 

The cultural program, curated by the SNF Team in collaboration with Limor Tomer, Concerts & Lectures General Manager at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, as well as a team of consultants-experts in their respective fields, includes the participation of 160 Greek and 130 international artists, thus promoting partnership, the exchange of ideas and experiences.

 

Impressive outdoor concerts at the Great Lawn of the Stavros Niarchos Park and on the Canal’s sea water, summer parties, atmospheric performances in the halls of the Greek National Opera, works of art that will provide food for thought and reflection, alongside magic shows that capture the imagination, lectures and discussions that nourish the mind, combined with sports activities for the whole family, make up a program that contains all the vital elements of summer: carelessness, but also time for reflection, rest, but also action, opening up to new sights and sounds, but also returning to all those things that make us feel like home.