I have already written a few days ago about the performance by Evi Stamatiou at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The performance is entitled Caryatid Unplugged & focuses on the return of the Parthenon Sculptures (also known as the Elgin Marbles) in the British Museum to Greece, although, as you will discover, it is about far more than just this.

She is far from the first person to be captivated by the sole caryatid that sits alone in the British Museum, far from her sisters, with other notable examples being Dennis Menos’s book written from her perspective & Mary Philips who performed a protest outside the British Museum dressed as a Caryatid.

I had a chance to talk with Evi about Caryatid Unplugged and to ask her a bit more about her thoughts on the Marbles & what inspired her to develop this show:

Elginism: Hi Evi, first of all, could you tell us a bit about yourself & your background.

Evi Stamatiou: I was born in 1980 in Ioannina, Epirus. I moved to Athens for studies in 1999 and then to London in 2010. My parents were both born in Ioannina, second generation of Greek expats returning to Greece after the Second World War from France, Russia and Northern Epirus. My father, Alexandros highly appreciated the arts and Ancient Greek Culture. When he died in 2001, I decided to change career and devote myself to theatre, as a way to keep a connection with him.

I am now based in London and work as a theatre practitioner and educator. I have ten years of international professional experience. In 2010 I established in Athens Upopirates Theatre Company and won a distinction at Off Off At Colonus Theatre Festival for my performance Thinking About Jean Genet’s Tightrope. Since 2011 I am a HE Lecturer and Course Coordinator at Wessex Academy of Performing Arts in England. I am also a member of Lincoln Centre Theatre Directors Lab.

Elginism: Have you always had strong views on the Parthenon Marbles, or is it a more recent thing?
Read the rest of this entry »

The Acropolis might not be able to open late due to health & safety restrictions, but the nearby Acropolis Museum is not only open until midnight (free admission after 9pm), but also has a free concert in the courtyard outside the building.

From:
Acropolis Museum

August Full Moon
Wednesday, 21 August, 2013

The Acropolis Museum celebrates August Full Moon on Wednesday 21 August 2013, with famous melodies of the Greek and world repertoire, performed by the historic Army Band of Athens, in the Museum’s entrance courtyard at 9:30 p.m.
Read the rest of this entry »

Evi Stamatou is a Greek based in London. She is appearing at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with a performance entitled Caryatid Unplugged. Here, she aims to tell the story of the caryatid in the British Museum – something that has fascinated many people, capturing people’s attention in a different way to the other Parthenon Sculptures, perhaps because she is the most human like & easy for people to relate to.

There is a short trailer for the performance on Youtube.

From:
Kickstarter

Exploring art, immigration and the female body. The Caryatid story via burlesque, clowning, physical comedy. Traditional Greek music.

Your support for the following project is very important in order to manage to perform Caryatid Unplugged for the full run of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2013. There has been great effort from the creative team and we are very close to reaching our goal. Support our attempt to a make a performance that is a playful forum for social and political discussion.

In the June 2011 debate on whether to return the Ancient Parthenon marbles to Greece, David Cameron tells Parliament that ‘Britain has no intention to lose its marbles’.
Read the rest of this entry »

At the 23rd World Congress of Philosophy, Professor Simon Critchley spoke out in support of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens.

He adds his name to the many academics, archaeologists, historians & museum professionals who already support this cause, yet the British Museum seems to care little & is still intent on maintaining their current course steering as far away from restitution as possible.

From:
Greek Reporter

Critchley Says Parthenon Marbles Are Greece’s
By Maria Arkouli on August 9, 2013

Simon Critchley, a professor of philosophy at The New School in New York City, brought the house down at the 23d World Congress of Philosophy meeting in Athens when he said the Parthenon Marbles stolen from the Acropolis nearly 200 years ago and now in the British Museum should be returned to Greece.

Critchley, who is British, was speaking to an audience on the banks of the Ilissos and had them cheering when he said, “I never understood why England has the Parthenon Marbles. The Parthenon Marbles belong to Greece and to Athens and they must return to their homeland”.
Read the rest of this entry »

Outside Greece, Melina Mercouri is famous first for her career as an actress, but next to that, as a campaigner for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures whilst she was minister of culture during the 1980s.

The The Cultural Organization of Prespes is presenting a tribute to the late actress – I don’t have any other details of it, but I would imagine that her passion for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles will play a part in it.

From:
Greek Reporter

Prespeia 2013 Tribute To Mercouri
By Nicky Mariam Onti on August 14, 2013

The Cultural Organization of Prespes, the Melina Mercouri Foundation and ADaM Productions of Badminton Theater are presenting the performance, Melina – Wherever I Travel To, Greece, on Aug. 23-24 a tribute to the late actress and former Culture Minister Melina Mercouri, who fought to have the stolen Parthenon Marbles returned from the British Museum.

The premier of the performance is to take place at the Prespeia International Festival and will then be as well presented at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on Sept. 7.
Read the rest of this entry »

The New Acropolis Museum continues to go from strength to strength, topping the lists as the most popular museum in Greece – no mean feat, when you consider the number of other museums of global importance within the country.

From:
Greek Reporter

More than 2M Visit Museums and Archaeological Sites
By Maria Korologou on August 14, 2013

The significant rise in tourism can interpret to an extent the rise in the number of visitors to museums and archaeological sites around Greece. According to the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), in the period January-April 2013, visitors to museums reached 833,105 in total presenting a rise of 19 percent in comparison with the same period in 2012, while at archaeological sites the number of tourists was over one million this year and reached 1,147,841 presenting a rise of 35,4 percent.
Read the rest of this entry »

Many Greek archaeological sites are open late because of the full moon on August 21st. Unfortunately, the Acropolis will close at 8pm, due to health & safety concerns. This has been the case since 2011 and there don’t seem to be any plans to revert to the previous late opening that it enjoyed.

From:
Capital.gr

Friday, 16 August 2013 – 11:47
Greece celebrates night of the full moon on August 21

The night of the full moon on August 21 will be celebrated with free events and open access to major sites, museums and monuments throughout Greece, with open-air performances of music, theatre and even guided tours offered by the culture and sports ministry.

In an announcement, Culture Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos publicly thanked the staff involved in ensuring that the “Under the Light of the Moon” programme is a success, such as archaeologists, museum curators or guards at sites and museums, as well as local authorities for their support.
Read the rest of this entry »