An Experience to Remember...

Even after 193 days in Greece, it is a sight that still takes my breath away: the rocky ledges of the Athenian acropolis rising up from the concrete labyrinth that is modern Athens, topped with that crowning jewel of Classical Greek culture, the Parthenon. Such a meeting of old and new can be seen not only in the monumental stones of the Acropolis, but throughout the fascinating city of Athens. From the crumbling ruins of an old wall on a random street corner, to column drums reused as chairs, to the pottery sherds that crunch beneath your feet, this city has a charm that I don’t think will ever fade, and I am so grateful for having been given the opportunity to experience it.

When I arrived in Greece six months ago, Christmas felt like a faraway deadline; a point in the distant future that marked the end of my Greek adventure, but with so much to do between June and December, I was sure that the holidays would never come! In June and July I was off to Crete where I had an amazing time digging up the remains of a Minoan town at the site of Gournia. After six weeks of digging in the dirt, the month of August flew by as I fell into the idyllic lull of summer life on the Greek island of Sikinos, explored as many ancient sites as I could cram into my five weeks of travel, and took trips to Italy and England to meet up with family.

As summer came to an end, so too did my nomadic lifestyle, and it was wonderful to be able to settle into a routine in Athens and make a home-away-from-home here at the Canadian Institute. Ever since I had learned about this internship opportunity through my university, I had dreamed of living, working, and studying abroad in Athens, so it was a bit surreal to begin living my dream in September. As I settled into life at CIG, I was introduced to the intern’s usual activities such as cataloguing library books, taking care of the hostel’s laundry, and, most importantly, preparing the sandwiches for Institute events and lectures, in addition to some new projects that the Institute had underway. The majority of these new ventures involved digitizing old archives and collections; insightful work which involved lots and lots of scanning. Needless to say, at this point I can pretty much scan a photo or document with my eyes closed!

As a student in my last year of undergraduate study at Wilfrid Laurier University, I also used this opportunity to spend some time in the incredible library resources available through the foreign archaeological schools and institutes in Athens. I spent many an afternoon in the libraries of the American and British Schools, browsing the shelves of site reports or pouring over academic journals as I conducted research for two senior courses which I completed this fall. A variety of lectures hosted by the schools and institutes added to my scholarly experience here, and I have greatly enjoyed taking part in the lively foreign archaeological community so active in the city.

When not pursuing academic endeavours, this excited archaeology student walked (or more often, skipped gleefully) in the footsteps of the ancients, exploring ruins and studying artifacts at numerous archaeological sites and museums. From Delphi to Patras, Aegina to Corinth, it has been amazing to visit the places I have read so much about, with new friends who get just as excited about Mycenaean pottery and ancient stone cuttings as I do! So thanks, friends – I’m so glad that I found people who love old rocks too.

As I pack my bags this week, I can’t believe that the Christmas holidays, which felt like a lifetime away back in June, are already here. As I say a (temporary) goodbye to Greece and all of the amazing people I have met here, I would also like to say thank you, for making these 193 days some of the best ever! You can be sure that I will be back very soon, Apple Cinnamon Blondies in hand!

A special thanks to the Canadian Institute for having me this fall, and to Dr. Gerry Schaus and Wilfrid Laurier University for making this experience possible. Αντιο και Καλά Χριστούγεννα!

Rachel Dewan
Wilfrid Laurier University

The Fred Winter Collection

"Olympia, Gymnasium, Doric colonnades (?)" (Professor Fred Winter 1966)

CIG's Holiday Closure

The Institute's Athens offices and library will remain closed this week and next, for Christmas and New Year. We reopen on Monday January 7 at 9 am.

Season's Greetings to you all!
Jonathan Tomlinson
Assistant Director

Laconian Cups, Books and (No) Pucks!

Enigmatic figure on a Laconian fragment from Miletus

There’s a Laconian (Spartan) drinking cup in the Vatican (no. 16592) which depicts the giant, Atlas, being punished by Zeus by having to hold up the heavens on his shoulders for eternity; his one hand rests on his hip as he tries to shift some of the weight off his shoulders, but his legs are buckling under the strain. Right in front of Atlas is his counterpart, Prometheus, who is also being punished by Zeus; he is tied to a stake and a large eagle stands on his thigh and pecks away at his bloodied chest. His legs also are buckling from the pain. If you want to see this magnificent cup (copyright prevents me) – go to http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Titanes.html. The two images on this cup by the Arcesilas Painter remind me of what it’s like for a professor sometimes during the academic year. Pressures of lectures, marking, committee work, research deadlines, letter writing and meetings make your legs buckle at times.

There’s a second Laconian cup that comes to mind at the moment, this one in the Louvre (no. E 667), which depicts a group of symposiasts reclining with food trays and drinking cups around them, being presented with wreaths by winged daemons and sirens. This to me represents the wonderful banquet of knowledge that one has a chance to enjoy during a sabbatical leave as I’m enjoying now, occasionally crowned with the wreath of “Good Idea” by those winged spirits that work so closely around you in a quiet academic atmosphere. This cup too can easily be found online - http://www.academia.edu/243807/_Sirens_at_the_Symposium_Louvre_E667_

Skating with Giorgos and Tess. Kerameikos park. Dec. 17.

For the past seven weeks I’ve been a symposiast figuratively here in Athens, living at the Canadian Institute and enjoying its many activities, at the same time as I’ve been taking advantage of the Blegen Library at the American School of Classical Studies. My topic, Laconian vases found during excavations by Ruhr University (Bochum, Germany) at ancient Miletus (Turkey), is full of fascinating twists and turns, delightfully different iconography, and important historical associations. “Coming in to work” has never been quite so much fun. Some nights, always late, I leave the library and feel the pleasant weight of the wreaths of “Good Idea” sitting somewhere on my head. Other nights, I head off to a guest lecture at one of the other institutes in Athens, and enjoy the “Good Ideas” that other “symposiasts” have generated of late. Without wanting to belabour the metaphor too much, if I haven’t already, let me just say that the feeling of warmth and friendliness at the Canadian Institute’s hostel, offices and library, have made my stay genuinely pleasurable, even with the loss of half the hockey season, both my own, and the NHL’s. And the productive research environment of the American School, with the British School right next door, have made this sabbatical leave as enjoyable and worthwhile as any I’ve had. Now, to find a puck, a hockey stick and a couple other Canadians who know how to play the best game on ice.

Gerry Schaus
(Professor of Classical Archaeology, Wilfrid Laurier University)

The Fred Winter Collection

"Messene, a wide tower loophole, with inverted-triangle top" (Professor Fred Winter 1966)

Scholarship Galore and the Three Guest Bloggers of Christmas

For those readers who have not spent a month or more in Athens between early September and late June the richness and variety of the archaeological lectures, talks, seminars and events program is not apparent. With 17 foreign archaeological schools or institutes and their annual open meetings, the Gennadius Library, the University of Athens, the many museums (most with associations of friends), the Minoan and the Mycenaean Seminars, Greek research institutes, College Year in Athens and the Athens Centre there is seldom an evening without a lecture, an event or an opening. Generally, there are two and sometimes three or more to choose from. The topics covered are diverse in time, space and content. If this wealth is insufficient for a jaded scholarly palate, then these institutions frequently organize one-, two- or three-day local and international conferences, symposia or colloquia. There is one such larger program once a month on average. Who has time here for their own research and writing?

This fall in keeping with the pattern there were four conferences. At two of them members of the Institute were represented on the programs. The British School at Athens organized at the end of November a two-day conference entitled, “Sanctuaries and Cults in ancient Thessaly”. Professor Margriet Haagsma (University of Alberta) and Dr. Sofia Karapanou (15th EPKA) gave a paper entitled “Domestic and city-wide cults in Achaia Phthiotis, Thessaly”. This focused on material found at their ongoing excavations at Kastro Kallithea in Thessaly with comparisons to material found at the Netherlands Institute excavations at New Halos to the east. Our Alfoldi Fellow, Gino Canlas was an avid attendee as his doctoral dissertation will focus on one of the lesser deities in the Thessalian pantheon.

This past week the Danish Institute at Athens with other research institutions organized a large, multi-day international conference called “Fokus Fortifikation” which brought together researchers interested in ancient fortifications. Using the fortifications at Argilos in Macedonia as his starting point Kevin Ouellet, a. M.A. candidate at the Universite de Montreal, gave a paper entitled, “The city walls of the Andrian Colonies: tradition and regionalism in military architecture.” Our synergates at Argilos, Professor Jaques Perreault (Universite de Montreal) and Zissis Bonias (Greek Archaeological Service), were supporting co-authors. Kevin was the only M.A. candidate on the program and he earned high praise for his efforts!

The Three Guest Bloggers of Christmas
We have a holiday treat for the followers of this blog! For the next three Fridays a distinguished guest blogger will regale you with accounts of their time in Athens this fall. Professor Gerry Schaus (Wilfrid Lauier University), President of the Board of Directors of CIG has spent part of his sabbatical leave here these past two months. Next Friday he will share his thoughts on what he has been doing in the libraries of the city. The following Friday, Rachel Dewan, our undergraduate intern this fall from the Wilfrid Laurier University will provide glimpses into her wide ranging experiences, including four months before the scanner. And last but not least, Gino Canlas, our previously mentioned Alfoldi Fellow, will tell his about his extensive research activities since October.

Now you have something to look forward to each week over the holidays!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

"Delos, Agora of the Italians, details of various parts of the complex" (Professor Fred Winter 1966)

Visualizing Ancient Athenian Comedy and a Christmas Bazaar

The final event in our fall program of the Athens Association of Friends of CIG will take place on Wednesday evening, December 12th at 7:30 PM. The lecturer is a longtime friend of the Institute, the artist and researcher Magda Roussi (Former Director, Fine Arts Group, University of Piraeus). Her consuming interest these days is the masks that the actors wore in dramas and comedies performed in ancient Greek theaters. This focus was generated from her reading of the ancient texts and images in Greek art for her M.A. thesis with aim of reviving the masks. She will present the findings of her extensive research and her creative artistic renderings of the masks that would have been used in the performance of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. We will be able to see at close hand her artistic visualizations of these masks.

Her masks were part of the group exhibition at the Institute in late September entitled, “Reflections: Canada in Greece / Greece in Canada”.

Come and join us for both an interesting presentation and the start of the holiday season!!!

THE Christmas Bazaar is Now!
The long awaited second annual Christmas Bazaar of the Association of Friends of the Historical Archive of the Greek Archaeological Service starts this evening at 7 PM. The place is the Historical Archive on Psaromylingou 22 on the edge of the Kerameikos and Psyrri districts of Athens. It will also be open on Saturday the 8th from 10:00 to 17:00.

The Bazaar features a wide assortment of books, gift items, homemade baked goods and preserves, and a lottery with many, many fabulous prizes. The special exhibition of images of the ubiquitous graffiti of Athens entitled, “Archive of the Road” will be for sale and special order.

The proceeds from the Bazaar will help to support the educational programs of the Historical Archive in the public schools.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

"Delos, Stoa of Antigonos, view along length the bull-protome triglyphs" (Professor Fred Winter 1966)

A Christmas Bazaar for a Good Cause

With December upon us even here in grim Athens we are starting to think of the holiday season. With the forecast for next week to include colder, wetter weather with snow in the mountainous regions to the north, maybe winter is in sight too for this city?

The Historical Archive of the Archaeological Service

One way a resident of Athens can get ready for the season is to go on the evening of December 7th or all day December 8th to the Historical Archive of the Archaeological Service on Psaromylingou 22 on the edge of the Kerameikos and Psyrri districts of the city near Odos Piraeos. The Theseion Piraeus-Kifissia train station is nearby.

Here you will discover a small but friendly Christmas Bazaar organized by the Association of Friends of the Historical Archive of the Archaeological Service (Syllogos Filon tou Istorikou Archeiou tis Archaiolgikis Iperisias). The Bazaar will feature a wide selection of books (literature in Greek, English and French, archaeological volumes, coffee table books and my Scandinavian thrillers/murder mysteries and spy novels), small gift items (many of them handmade) and a bake sale (my cookies are to die for!). The lottery will have many gifts and prizes (including various personal guided tours in the city by archaeologists such as me!). The special feature of this year’s Bazaar is a photographic exhibition entitled, “The Archive of the Road” which features photographs by our members and friends of the ubiquitous graffiti that cover the walls of Athens (including our house) with images and texts. These framed photographs will be for sale (€10 - €25) and orders can be placed for larger images.

The Poster for the Christmas Bazaar

The Bazaar on Friday evening the 7th will run from 19:00 to 22:00. There will be live rembetika played by the Athens archaeological community’s own rembetis, Martti Leiwo, the Director of the Finnish Institute at Athens, to add a party touch to activities. On Saturday, the 8th the hours are 10:00-17:00.

The proceeds from the Bazaar will go to support the educational outreach programs of the Historical Archive in the public schools. These programs emphasize the importance of the past in constructing our daily lives and how archaeologists and historians use archives to create a historical narrative.

You can learn more about our Syllogos Filon by going to the facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/213856465352751/ Why not join the group and follow their activities???

If you wish to volunteer your time to help out at the Bazaar and/or wish to contribute books, gift items, baked goods or prizes for the lottery please call me: 694 72.72.153, or send me an email at: drupp@brocku.ca. The more the merrier!!!

We look forward to seeing you at the Bazaar!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

"Delos, House of the Hermes, from directly above and obliquely from above" (Professor Fred Winter 1966)

Athens’ Complicated, Inconvenient Hellenistic Past and Save the Dates

From the later 4th through the 2nd centuries B.C. Athens had a tempestuous relationship with the kings of Macedon. Add the geopolitical ambitions of the Ptolemaic kings in Egypt and control of Athens is a seductive trophy to gain.

Kallias of Sphettos inscription

The political intrigues and motivations on both sides behind the known political events and battles of this period are difficult to ascertain. One important source for gleaning information and inferring intent are the public decrees of Athens during this period. These documents, especially honorific ones, approved by the Demos, not only state the current “facts” but also allude to or avoid reference to past “facts”. As all of these decrees were set up in the Agora past “history” could be checked on or forgotten.

Dr. Julia L. Shear, Senior Research Associate at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, will share with us on Wednesday, November 28th at 7:30 PM a case study from her research into how Athens as a community and as individuals remembered and forgot the past. Her lecture is entitled, “An Inconvenient Past in Hellenistic Athens: The Case of Phaidros of Sphettos”.

Phaidros of Sphettos inscription

Phaidros of Sphettos was a well-known politician, statesman and general in the 290s and early 280s B.C. with probable pro-Macedonian leanings. Athens revolted from the Macedonian yoke in 287/6 B.C. with the help of Ptolemaic troops led by his brother Kallias of Sphettos. He was honored for his efforts to assist Athens in 270/69 B.C. After 262 B.C. Athens was once again under Macedonian control. In honoring Phaidros in 255/4 B.C how could the Demos forget its glorious revolution against Demetrios Poliorketes thirty years before?

Save the Date for a Christmas Bazaar
The second annual Christmas Bazaar of the Association of Friends of the Historical Archive of the Hellenic Archaeological Service, of which I am the President of its Board of Directors, will be held on Friday, evening December 7th (19:00-22:00) and all day Saturday the 8th (10:00-17:00). You should save these dates to come to the Historical Archive at Psaromilingou 22 in Kerameikos/Psyrri.

There will be books, gift items, baked goods and other treats. There will be a lottery too, and a special exhibition of photographs, “The Archive of the Road”, featuring images of the colorful and insightful graffiti that cover the walls on the streets of Athens. These limited edition framed images taken by members of the Association will be for sale. The proceeds from the Bazaar will go to help the educational outreach program of the Historical Archive in the public schools.

If you want to help out and/or contribute items please call me: 6947272153.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

"Delos, theatre, views of skene and orchestra" (Professor Fred Winter 1966)

The Fred Winter Collection

"Athens, Tower of the Winds, interior, roof" (Professor Fred Winter 1966)

The Liberation of Lesbos and Other MytilenianTales

Liberty at Mylilene by Theophilus

Just one hundred years ago, on November 8, 1912, the island of Lesbos was liberated from Ottoman occupation by the Admiral Pavlos Koundouriotis who came to Mytilene with a squadron of the Greek fleet led by the Armored Cruiser Georgios Averoff. This event, on the Feast Day of Archangel Michael, and the circumstances that brought it about will be the subject of the lecture entitled, “November 8, 1912 and Other Events in the Harbours of Mytilene.” Professor Emeritus Hugh J. Mason (Department of Classics, University of Toronto) will give the lecture on Wednesday, November 14th at 7:30 PM.

Averoff at sea

We will be treated not only to this but also how the Averoff came to be purchased in 1908 and how it and other new naval vessels allowed the Greek fleet to dominate the Aegean during the First Balkan War from October, 1912 through May, 1913.

As the harbors of Mytilene are the central focus of this wide-ranging presentation, Professor Mason will relate the roles they played in receiving refugees from Asia Minor in 1914 and in the fall of 1922. Not stopping there he will discuss how the Greek Resistance told the Royal Navy not to enter during the Dekembriana at the end of 1944. Excavations around these very harbours have been carried out by a team from the University of British Columbia under the aegis of the Canadian Institute.

The harbours of Mytilene and excavations in the locality

In June, 48 B.C. the forces of the Roman Republic led by Pompey the Great were defeated at Pharsala in Thessaly by the smaller army of Julius Caesar. The Roman poet Lucan in his epic poem Pharsalia recounts how Pompey then fled to Mytilene, on his way to his eventual death in Egypt in early September at the hands of Ptolemy XIII. From this historical visit Professor Mason next will turn to a fictional one in the ancient novella Apollonius of Tyre where the eponymous hero while searching for his kidnapped daughter finds her held captive in a brothel in Mytilene.

With such an exciting historical and literary background, the city of Mytilene and its harbors could be the setting for a modern, long-running, heart-rending serial. Greece surely needs this now rather than all of the Turkish melodramas and American crime fighters that clog the TV channels here.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

"Peiraieus, a fairly complete record of the Akte walls and towers" (Professor Fred Winter 1966)

The Fred Winter Collection

Double exposure (Professor Fred Winter 1966)

The End of the Bronze Age As They Knew It

Ayia Sotira Tomb 4 chamber floor east burial 2 pottery

Despite most efforts the economic situation in Greece seems to be going from bad to worse with the rest of Europe not far behind. Rampant consumerism financed by unsustainable debt is surely at the heart of the problem. Has this potent mixture ever happened before?

This coming Thursday, November 1st, Dr. Mary Dabney, will give the first lecture in the fall program of the Institute. Mary is a Research Associate in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology and a Senior Research Associate at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. With Prof. Angus Smith (Brock University), she was the Co-Director of the Institute’s excavation of the Ayia Sotira LH III cemetery near Nemea. The title of her lecture is, “Consumerism, Debt, and the End of the Bronze Age Civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

Map of the region

In her presentation she will show how the interplay of consumerism and debt contributed to the end of the Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean, with a particular focus on the Mycenaeans. Her interest in this topic grows out of her study of the Late Helladic settlement of Tsoungiza in the Nemea Valley and its relationship to the nearby center at Mycenae at the end of the Bronze Age. She will put that relationship in the larger context of the Eastern Mediterranean, with a particular emphasis on economic factors. She will also provide a detailed account of the archaeological evidence, which has not yet been published, for Late Helladic IIIB2 activity in the settlement on Tsoungiza and its cemetery at Ayia Sotira as well as for early Late Helladic IIIC activity on Tsoungiza. Finally, Mary will discuss the ways in which the economic relationship between Tsoungiza and Mycenae at the end of the Bronze Age matches the contemporary relationship between the towns in the Pylos region and the Palace at Pylos that has been reconstructed on the basis of archaeological and Linear B evidence.

Pylos pantry

Does this radical change in the nature and level of sociopolitical organization at the end of the 13th century BC in the Aegean basin and beyond provide any insights into what our future may look like??? So, come on November 1st to the Institute to learn about the end of the world as they knew it and if they felt fine.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

"Pharsalos, remains of ancient wall and tower now forming terrace behind modern farmhouse" (Professor Fred Winter 1962)

The Institute’s Fall Lecture Program and the Foundations of Prehistoric Archaeology in Greece

The Institute’s long-awaited fall lecture program this year will be concentrated within the month of November. It is broad-ranging both in terms of periods and of themes. All lectures start at 7:30 PM.

LH IIIB pottery from Tsoungiza in the Corinthia

On Thursday, November 1st. Dr. Mary Dabney will speak on “Consumerism, Debt, and the End of the Bronze Age Civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean.” Dr. Dabney, a Research Associate in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College and a Senior Research Associate at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, is a new resident of our chaotic city. Her interest in this topic grows out of her study of the Late Helladic settlement of Tsoungiza in the Nemea Valley and its relationship to the nearby center at Mycenae at the end of the Bronze Age. She puts that relationship into the larger context of the Eastern Mediterranean in the 13th century BC, with a particular emphasis on economic factors.

Painting of the liberation of Mytilene, November 8, 1912

The lecture of Professor Emeritus Hugh J. Mason (Department of Classics, University of Toronto) is on Wednesday, November 14th. His topic is, “November 8, 1912 and Other Events in the Harbours of Mytilene.” The talk will discuss the circumstances surrounding the liberation of Lesvos one hundred years ago, including the purchase of the warship "Averoff" that made possible Greek dominance of the Aegean, and the association of liberation with the Feast Day of the Archangel Michael. Famous visits to the harbours in Antiquity and a possible one at the end of WW II will also be discussed.

Julia Shear in situ

Finally, on Wednesday, November 28th, Dr. Julia L. Shear will give her lecture on the subject of, “An Inconvenient Past in Hellenistic Athens: The Case of Phaidros of Sphettos.” Dr. Shear is a Senior Research Associate at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Dr. Shear will provide a case-study of what happens when the past, and the Hellenistic Athens’ dominant narrative about that past, become inconvenient in the present when dealing with the aggressive Macedonian kings in the mid-3rd century BC. Who was Phaidros of Sphettos?

Drawing of the Treasury of Artreus by John Hawkins, 1795

Lecture on the Foundations of Prehistoric Archaeology in Greece
The discoveries and excavations of the Heinrich Schliemann, Christos Tsountas and Arthur Evans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were built on the foundations of earlier explorations and studies. Dr. Nektarios Karademos (Aigeus) will speak to the Association of Friends of the Historical Archive of the Hellenic Archaeological Service about the Europeans and English travelers in the 18th and earlier 19th centuries whose investigations throughout the Aegean basin enabled the later development of a true prehistoric archaeology in Greece. These include Jean-Baptiste Lechevalier, William Gell, Edward Dodwell and Karl Hoeck. The lecture in Greek, based on archival research, is entitled, «Ανασκáπτπντας το παρελθόν της αιγαιακής προïστορικής αρχαιολογíας (από την Αναγένννση μέχρι και της πρήτες αρχαιλογικές ανασκαφές στα τέλη του 19ου αιώνα)». It will be given on Monday, October 22nd at 6:30 PM at the Historical Archive on Psaromiligkou 22, Kerameikos/Pysrri.

So there are lectures for every taste on the immediate horizon! We look forward to your presence!!!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Canadian Embassy’s Chief’s Crest Pole and a Major Disappointment

The pole before conservation in the gardens of the Official Residence

In the gardens of the Residency of the Canadian Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic in Filothei has stood since 1975 an unique example (for Greece, that is) of First Nation art. This is the Chief’s Crest Pole built in the 1960s by the internationally known artist and master carver, the hereditary Chief Tony Hunt (http://tonyhuntclothing.com) with his close relatives of the Kwakwaska’wakw ancestry. The weather of Athens over the past 35 + years has taken its toll on this cypress totem pole. At the initiative of Ambassador Robert Peck and the generous financial support of numerous donors the pole is now in a studio on the 3rd floor of the Benaki Museum at Odos Pireos 138 undergoing conservation (www.atticatotempole.blogspot.gr). The project is part of the Embassy’s celebration of 70 years of Canadian / Greek diplomatic relations.

Andrew Todd conserving the pole at the Benaki Museum

The person undertaking the cleaning and the conservation of the pole during October at the Benaki Museum is Andrew Todd from Bowen Island, BC (www.andrewtoddconservators.com). He will speak to the Athens Association of Friends of CIG at the Institute on Wednesday evening, October 17th at 7:30 PM. Mr. Todd is a recognized expert in the conservation of totem poles. He will share with us what he is doing to the pole and the challenges he is encountering to clean and to restore it to its former glory. In the context of these comments he will contextualize the pole itself and the issues related to conserving and maintaining such a large wooden out-of-doors sculpture. In the meantime, you can watch Andrew work on the pole at the Benaki Museum from Thursday through Sunday. So, don’t miss this unusual opportunity for enlightenment!

A Major Disappointment!!!
A perfect storm of travel woes befell Krista Martynes as she attempted to come to Athens in time for her talk and recital last night at the Institute. Travelling with a large and valuable clarinet complicated her movement from southern France to Athens. We were very disappointed to have missed her appearance at the Institute! Another we time we hope. Those who came to hear Martynes did not go home, however, without their fill of “Canadian content”. They were treated to a showing of the film “Canadian Bacon” while they nibbled and drank the night away.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

"Homolion, some of the villagers!" (Professor Fred Winter)

Let There Be Music! and a New Fellow

Krista Martynes

The fall program of our Friends Association begins this coming Thursday evening October 11th at 7:30 PM on a musical note. The well-received and multi-talented classical and contemporary clarinetist and composer Krista Martynes (www.kristamartynes.com) will be in Athens to play a number of recitals. Montreal-based, she has played at festivals and concerts throughout North America and Europe often with live electronics and multi-media. She frequently is commissioned to compose new works. The works of the Greek avant-grade composer Iannis Xenakis are part of her repertoire.

Krista will share with us her thoughts on the integration of traditional music in European and Canadian composition. To illustrate her points she will play selections from pieces by the eccentric avant-garde composer Count Giacinto Scelsi D’Ayala Valva, the non-conformist underground Russian composer Edison Denisov, the Pulitzer Prize winning American composer David Lang and the Serbian composer, now resident in Montreal, Ana Sokolovic. Come and join us as we take a walk on the wild side!

Gino Canlas

Welcome Gino Canlas!
The Institute has three nine-month fellowships for Canadian graduate students to pursue their research interests in Athens and Greece. The Neda and Franz Leipen, the Elisabeth Alföldi-Rosenbaum and the Homer and Dorothy Thompson Fellowships each are offered every three years. They are named after Canadian researchers whose many contributions to Classical Art and Archaeology and Byzantine Studies are internationally recognized.

The holder of the Alföldi-Rosenbaum Fellowship for the 2012-2013 academic year is Gino Canlas. Gino is a M.A. student in the Department of Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. He did his undergraduate work in Classics at UBC as well. His field experiences between 2009 and this summer include working with Prof. Hector Williams (UBC) at Mytilene on Lesbos and at Kastro Kallithea in Thessaly with Prof. Margriet Haagsma (University of Alberta).

While in Athens Gino’s research will focus on the spread of the cult of the Thessalian goddess Enodia outside of Thessaly. The goddess Enodia is not one of the most well-studied deities in the ancient Greek world. She was originally known only from scant literary and epigraphic attestations and was thought to have been just a mere epithet of other Pan-Hellenic deities, such as Artemis and Hekate. One of the goals of his research is to quantify and analyse the artefacts related to the cult of Enodia outside of Thessaly to determine possible regional variations and to examine the socio-political factors that contributed to the relatively far-reaching extent of her obscure cult.

Gino will also be working with me on the creation of the digital archives of the Institute for both our archaeological fieldwork and research as well as for the operation of CIG in Greece.

Please come to our events and lectures this month to welcome him warmly to the Athenian archaeological community!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

"Assos, views along NE salient" (Professor Fred Winter)

An Art-Full Fall for the Athens Association of Friends of CIG

Krista Martynes

After hosting the art exhibition last week “Reflections: Canada in Greece / Greece in Canada” organized by the Friends of Canada the Institute will offer the members of the Athens Association of Friends a delightful potpourri of artistic events this fall.

On Thursday, October 11th at 7:30 pm the Montreal-based Canadian classical and contemporary clarinetist and composer Krista Martynes (www.kristamartynes.com) will discuss the integration of traditional music in European and Canadian composition and illustrate her themes by playing selections from various 20th century and contemporary composers. She is in Athens for a short period in October to play a series of concerts.

Chief Tony Hunt with the totem pole

The totem pole that has stood since 1975 in the gardens of the Residency of the Ambassador of Canada in Filothei is now undergoing restoration. The totem pole was built by the renowned First Nation artist Chief Tony Hunt and his relatives of Kwakwaka’waka ancestry in the 1960s. The conservator Andrew Todd from Bowen Island, BC is in Athens for the month of October working at the Benaki Museum under the sponsorship of the Canadian Embassy and generous donors to restore it to its former glory. On Wednesday, October 17th at 7:30 pm Mr. Todd will talk about this restoration project and the others he has participated in the Pacific northwest.

Magda Roussi's masks on display at the exhibition

A longtime friend of the Institute, the artist and researcher Magda Roussi (Former Director, Fine Arts Group, University of Piraeus), participated in the recent art exhibition (see above). Her consuming interest these days is the masks that the actors wore in dramas and comedies performed in ancient Greek theaters. She will present the findings of her extensive research and her creative artistic renderings of the masks that would have been used in the performance of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata on Wednesday December 12th at 7:30 pm.

So do not delay in putting these dates on your calendar and/or in your agenda! We look forward to seeing you for these varied and interesting presentations related to the creative spirit of humankind across the ages.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

"Myndos, view to modern village from the island at the mouth of the bay" (Professor Fred Winter)

Exhibition of Fine Art at the Institute

In the past few years the Institute has widened its program of offerings to reflect our broader mission and to serve as a bastion of events that both display the richness of Canadian culture and the strength of Canadian/Greek relations. This past week the Library of the Institute was transformed into an art gallery for the display of work by five artists in a variety of media. The exhibition was held under the umbrella of a newly-formed group in Athens called “The Friends of Canada” (www.friendsofcanada.gr/) with the well-known Canadian writer, Kathryn Lukey-Coutsocostas as the guiding light. The works were on display from Tuesday through today.

Kathryn Lukey-Coutsocosta, H.E. Robert Peck and Stephanie Sampson

The title of the group exhibition was, “Reflections: Canada in Greece / Greece in Canada” Stephanie Sampson, one of the five artists, curated the show. The other participants were Terry Billings, Ana Kapodistria, Magda Roussi, and George Roussis. Media included photography, metal, watercolour and papier-mâché. Themes ranged from street portraits and real and altered landscapes to ancient theatrical masks and bronze sculpture. There was an enthusiastic and diverse crowd at the opening on Tuesday night. Ambassador Robert Peck and his wife Maria Pantazi-Peck were there to support the effort. The exhibition is one of the ways in which the Embassy is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the initiation of formal diplomatic relations between Canada and Greece. I am told there are more events to follow!

Jonathan and I look forward to other artistic endeavours, especially Canadian flavoured ones, taking place at the Institute this year!!!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director