Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Friday, November 25, 2016

'Canadian Content' for the Deprived

In this wasteland filled with Hollywood productions one yearns for another perspective on what constitutes the core values of the established film genres, especially westerns and comedies. Well, Athenians of a Canadian persuasion, the Institute has its “Canadian Film Night” on Wednesday, November 30th at 19:30 in the Library of the Institute. This annual event for our Athens Association of Friends offers one some much sought after “Canadian Content” and a different view of world.

This year’s film is the 2010 work by the director and writer William Phillips entitled Gunless. As described by Rotten Tomatoes, “When notorious American gunslinger, The Montana Kid (Paul Gross), staggers into the tiny Canadian hamlet of Barclay's Brush, life for the town's 17 inhabitants is about to get exciting. The Kid immediately gets into an unfortunate altercation with Jack (Tyler Mane), the town's surly blacksmith, which leads to The Kid 'calling him out' for some good old frontier justice - a showdown. But in a place totally ill prepared to deal with a classic gun fight and without a single working pistol to be found, adhering to the code of the American Wild West may prove difficult. Not able to let go of the 'code', The Kid remains stuck in Barclay's Brush, getting drawn into a strange world of eccentric rituals and characters; among them Jane (Sienna Guillory), a smart sassy woman who becomes his only hope of finding a way out...or perhaps his only reason for staying..”

Here are some of the audiences’ and reviewers’ comments to entice you in coming to join us:

“I liked ‘Gunless’ a lot more than I thought I would. As with other projects involving Paul Gross (“Men with Brooms”), this is a spoof that's not always laugh-out-loud funny, but one that's quirky and still strangely compelling.”

"Put me down for three more [bullets] and a carrot." This is a charming and funny Canadian western comedy that pokes fun of stereotypical Canadian culture. It was even better than I expected and Paul Gross was terrific. Loved it! "How far are we from a real country?"

“Like ‘Shane’ with whimsy, ‘Gunless’ takes the hoary old template of the gunfighter movie and gives it an utterly Canadian spin based on our comfort myth of niceness.”

So, do you dare to take a walk on the wild side for 90 minutes on the 30th????

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

The Fred Winter Collection

Myra, view of W necropolis of rock-cut tombs (Professor Fred Winter, 1978)

Friday, November 18, 2016

The Ottawa Association of Friends of the Canadian Institute in Greece

The Ottawa Association of Friends of the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG) continues the hard work and the legacy left behind by the late Helen Webster because it strongly believes in the aims and objectives of the Institute. To this end, the Association organizes each year a number of lectures by renowned North American speakers, experts on topics related to Archaeological work carried out in Greece by Archaeologists and on Greek culture in general.

Such lectures are attended by a large number of guests with different educational backgrounds, who are eager to enrich their knowledge of the history of Greece, and students who have travelled to Greece with their professors to perform digs. These students I call Greece’s little ambassadors, as they speak with passion about what they are doing and of the thrill and excitement an archaeological finding presents to them. The presence of the Greek Embassy and that of other Embassies at the lectures is always welcomed as these people speak highly of CIG’s achievements.

In order to attract more people to the lectures, the Ottawa Association of Friends has established cultural partnerships with “sister Societies” in Ottawa, such as the Archaeological Institute of America (Laura Gagne, President), the Canadian Institute of Mediterranean Studies (Louise Terrilon MacKay, President), and the Parnassos Hellenic Cultural Society (Margaret Zafiriou, President).

While increasing awareness of Greek culture and CIG’s projects and activities in Greece is our primary goal, the Ottawa Association of Friends of CIG also strives to increase membership to the Institute knowing that membership support is an important element for the survival of the Association and CIG in general. In addition, the Ottawa Association enjoys the support of a number of donors including Peter Fustanellas, Efi Kyriakatos, Vera Mammari, Alecos Michaelidis, Robert Peck, Efi Pezoulas, Stelios Pneumatikos, , Bill Sioulas, and Leander Tryphonas, who with their generous contributions have made it possible for the Association to organize the many interesting events for the public to enjoy free of charge.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the CIG and for this the Ottawa Association of Friends of CIG would like to acknowledge the several significant contributions of CIG to promoting Greek culture. We, the Ottawa Friends, also wish to express our gratitude to David Rupp, Director, Jonathan Tomlinson, Assistant Director, Gerry Schaus, past President, Angus Smith, President, Ian Begg, editor of the CIG Bulletin, Jeff Banks, Treasurer, and all those energetic people whose enthusiasm and hard work ensure the survival of CIG through Greece’s hard times and who so generously have helped in the survival of the Ottawa Association through the years.

In closing I wish to bring to your attention the following two upcoming lectures:

  1. 20 November, 2016, 2:00 p.m. R303 Patterson Building, Carleton University. Lecture entitled: Hoplites and Heroes: Homer on the Battlefields of Classical Greece, by John Serrati.
  2. 22 January, 2017, 2:00 p.m. R303 Patterson Building, Carleton University.. Lecture entitled: The Antikythera Mechanism, by Daryn Lehoux.

Helen Tryphonas, Ph.D.
Chairperson, Ottawa Association of Friends of CIG

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Friday, November 11, 2016

The Karystia as a Crossroads in Prehistory; Yiannis Miliades - a significant Greek archaeologist

The southern portion of the island of Euboea around ancient Karystos has a special place in the intellectual heart of the Institute. Here in the 1990s and early 2000s the Southern Euboea Exploration Project (aka SEEP), under the leadership of the late Mac Wallace (University of Toronto) and Don Keller, conducted pedestrian surveys and small-scale excavations of selected sites. One of SEEP's many co-researchers is Dr. Žarko Tankosić, Higher Executive Officer, The Norwegian Institute at Athens. On Wednesday, November 16th at 19:30 in the Library of the Institute, Dr. Tankosić will give an illustrated lecture entitled “A Community at the Crossroads: Prehistoric Southern Euboea and the Aegean in Light of New Survey Data”.

In his lecture he will focus on southern Euboea (Karystia), which is a part of the Aegean that has been largely overlooked in models put in place to explain the prehistoric Aegean island colonization and maritime interactions. The extensive data show a lively area, whose inhabitants were fully immersed into the prehistoric maritime koine, at least during the Final Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age. They also paint a picture of the region at the crossroads, bridging the insular world of the Cyclades and the larger Greek mainland.

Dr. Tankosić will outline several issues plaguing our understanding of the Karystia’s place in the prehistoric Aegean. He will address these by using evidence from the area. In the process, he will also engage with broader topics, such as identity, community, insularity, and connectivity. In addition, Dr. Tankosić will present the new results from the recently completed Norwegian Institute survey project in the Karystia.

Yiannis Miliades – a significant Greek archaeologist

The second lecture in the 2016-2017 Lecture Program of the Σύλλογος Φίλων του Ιστορικού Αρχείου της Αρχαιολογικής Υπηρεσίας will take place on Monday, November 14th at 19:00 at the Library of the Canadian Institute in Greece. The award-winning documentary filmmaker, audiovisual storyteller and researcher, Vassilis Kosmopoulos, will discuss the background archival research and interviews that were the basis for the making of his recently-released documentary on the noted Greek archaeologist Yiannis Miliades. The film, «Γιάννης Μηλιάδης» has been shown this fall on OTENET’s History Channel. It is well worth searching for.

Miliades was a contemporary and rival (along with Christos Karouzos) of Spyridon Marinatos in the Hellenic Archaeological Service during the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas in the later 1930s. He was the prime mover in the removal and the burying of the sculpture and other objects in the National Archaeological Museum before the German invasion of Greece in 1941. Miliades was the guardian of the finds of the Akropolis Museum during the German occupation as the Ephor of the Akropolis. His name became synonymous with the Akropolis in his later life.

The illustrated lecture is entitled «Γιάννης Μηλιάδης, μια σημαντική μορφή της Ελληνικής αρχαιολογίας». In it Kosmopoulos will sketch the personality, the principles and the work of this significant Greek archaeologist of the mid-20th century.

The public is most welcome to attend!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

The Fred Winter Collection

Perge, panorama of the city (from SE walls?), extending from view NW across city to SW looking toward the area of the later S Gate (Professor Fred Winter, 1978)