THE GREEK NATIONAL NETWORK
IDEAS FOR PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS
November 2005
The following ideas have been proposed by some of the institutions participating in the network, or the result of collective effort and discussions, yet not concrete projects well developed but more food for thought and in search for similar reasoning among the other networks as well as interested parties. Therefore, we submit them for your judgement and would like to receive your input and hope to have contributed to enlarging the discourse among the networks as well as among the institutions active in the Euro-Mediterranean space.
The Circle of Life
It is the central idea that should bind a series of activities, at different levels and of different forms aiming at introducing and familiarising, primarily the youth, but also any interested groups, of the habits, rituals, customs and realities of life in the countries participating in the project, that is from birth till death, including after, and the stages in between, childhood, school, studying, working, youth activities, social life, working life, marriage, family, art, music, theatre, sports religion, burial habits, etc. Depending on the age of the target group (school or university students) the forms should vary, as well as the social background of the described community: rural or urban, islanders or mountaineers. Such a broad coverage should also be aiming at underlying the communalities in society in human life and activity present everywhere.
Greek and Roman Civilisation as the basis of contemporary Western Though and Culture
A two, three or four week intensive seminar, to take place in Greece and Italy, aiming at introducing the basic tenets of those two classical civilisations and their contribution to modern Western though and social, political, and legal system. Hence, it will also introduce the foundation and pillars of contemporary European thought, but also the Arab-Islamic contribution to surviving and reaching the North and West of Europe in later historical periods. It should be for university students (post and undergraduates), from Mediterranean countries, although not exclusively, should include visits to sites, monuments and museums, and ideally should have a follow up.
A Textbook for Euro-Mediterranean Studies
Reflecting on the Greek reality, a number of universities offer such, or similar, courses, yet they lack a coherent and concise textbook to cover a variety of topics related to this area. That can take either the shape of a collective work among academics from different countries, agreeing on the curriculum and contributions, and then published in the relative and interested languages (translated), or to support such projects within each country, yet with a common curriculum. Such project can also be implemented within the universities, and therefore the book can have the contribution of the students themselves. It can also be supplemented by a series of conferences and even promotion events, while it can also include a cd-rom with maps, illustrations, charters and other useful material, including web-sites useful for follow up.
A common newspaper/magazine
This can be either in a printed form, an electronic form or both, and include topics of common concern, either general ones or specific reference per issue. Yet, those topics should be worked by school or university students, or other, primarily groups of young people, therefore introducing to them both the realities they would be asked to look into, and the process of presenting their views in such a form. The issue of the language should also be explored, i.e. translation into the other ones.
Emigrants, refugees and Diaspora
The hosting of other nationals is the common reality and this project would to see their function as cultural messengers and their cultural discourse with the hosting community, but also their integration in the hosting societies, and the process, conditions, and mechanisms through which this is taking place. The approach to this topic can take different forms and can also be related to other projects.
The Introduction of “Mobile Libraries”
In short, the operation of buses as libraries, carrying books, travelling all over the countries in question and bringing the books to the local communities, especially where there are no libraries, in the provinces, urban or rural, as well as in the major cities, especially in specific neighbourhoods. The idea is to extend this practice in the states that does not exist, also with books that have a relevance to our aim and vision. Likewise, where it is already practised, those ‘libraries’ should be enriched with similar books. It needs to be promoted accordingly, and it can also be accompanied with certain activities introducing ALF and the Euro-Mediterranean reality and vision, but also it can carry and promote other ALF projects.
“The Words that Travel”
This is already a successful on-going program of the Municipal Gallery of Psychikoand the artist Mr. Antonis Panagopoulos, based on his project “ESPACE DE MEMOIRE” (“a plastic adventure aiming to explore the mechanisms that govern cultural memory”). It aims at familiarising its audience and participants with the existing different languages, even forgotten ones, through the translation of a document that includes key and universal notions, hence, emphasising the communality of those notions, i.e. peace, friendship, cooperation, war etc. This is done through a network of contacts in different countries (the Greek project is been collecting this material for almost 15 years), and then the artist responsible for the document visualises that thought different artistic expressions (paintings, sculpture, video etc.). Accordingly, an interactive game for kids is set up, where they are given the document, they see the visualisation-exhibition, and based on those two stimuli, come up with their own expression, while they get in touch with the key notions themselves and their translation. It can be adjusted according to our own needs and desired notions (the document), which would be given to selected artists or institutions in different countries to come up with the artistic expressions (visualisation), and then exchange the results. Accordingly, the game can be performed everywhere, and continuously in response to the other country’s contribution, but also viewing the works of other kids of the same age.
The “Kavafia”
It is an activity, already institutionalised, that initially took the form of annual conferences over the work and influence of the Greek poet of Alexandria, Konstandinos Kavafis, being held in Alexandria. Gradually it has evolved into a forum for an exchange of ideas and problematic, in the filed of fine arts in general and not only in poetry, therefore presenting and debating the works of other important writers and poets of the Mediterranean, but also in general themes and problems in the cultural and philosophical domain.
In addition to those more or less specific projects, a number of concerns have been discussed. In that respect the idea of a student exchange programmes was mentioned, a kind of Euro-Med Erasmus yet adopted to the ALF institutions’ reality, as well as other forms of educational trips, visits and exchanges; musical meetings and exchanges and the role of music in education and culture; the role and contribution of the national parliaments in the educational process and whether it can, and how, contribute to the cultural dialogue; creating library links and relative databanks there, also accessible through the member-institutions of the networks.