THE ΤΕΛΟΣ SOCIETY speaks to Sozita Goudouna, Founding Director of Greece In USA
Greece in USA is a non-profit organization with a global reach that promotes knowledge of contemporary and ancient Greek Culture while fostering international cultural cooperation, experimentation and social engagement. The organization's extensive programming includes commissioned artists' and curators' projects, residencies, educational and ecological initiatives and the commitment to cultivating a sensible culture of innovation and thought leadership.
We are dedicated to offering innovative and unique programs in education and the arts, all exploring the evolving diversity and richness of Greek and Cypriot cultures. The non- profit organization seeks to generate new thinking about the arts and promote cross- cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of creation.
The organization promotes international exchange of practice and knowledge in the arts - visual and sound art, dance, architecture, theatre - research on the methods used in curatorial and performing practices and investigation of points of intersection between the arts, science and the public sphere by means of interventions, collective actions, educational programs and publications.
Greece in USA aims to collaborate and build long-lasting partnerships with leading institutions and individuals who actively engage with Greece and its culture and to convey a comprehensive and distinctive representation of Greece and Cyprus by producing cultural and educational programs that encourage intercultural dialogue and enable cultural involvement.
Our principal goals are:
To shape and envision the image of contemporary Greece in the United States beyond existing stereotypes
To recalibrate the assumed center of Greek national narratives to include those who have often been denied historical recognition.
To transform the way Greek histories are told and produce projects that reflect the vast, rich complexity of Greek culture.
To support Greek inspired cultural practices by welcoming and nurturing new ideas and influential perspectives
To commission, produce and present contemporary Greek and Cypriot culture that grapple with many of the pressing social and political issues of our time
To foster Greek scholarship and cultural research within the American educational system
To develop a transatlantic network for the exchange of culture and ideas
To strengthen the development of structures in cultural policy & leadership, and foster worldwide mobility.
Greece in USA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization registered in the State of New York, tax-exempt ID no. 85-0828531. Contributions to Greece in USA are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Greece in USA's launch is under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture.
THE ΤΕΛΟΣ SOCIETY speaks to Viktoria Fassianou, Co-Founder of
Tryfon Art Residency
Dimitris Tryfon, Founder
The Tryfon Art Residency is set in one of the oldest and most emblematic buildings of Molyvos’s harbor, it aims to function both as a studio and exhibition space for artists across disciplines.
Molyvos proposes an alternative lifestyle. Away from the city center and over-populated summer destinations still full of raw social and natural stimuli it is an ideal place for artistic production.
Scope
Promote Molyvos as a center for the arts. Invite leading and emerging artists to participate and be inspired by the village such as:
Alexander Wolff
Alexandros Bourikas
Alexandros Tzannis
Ana Louisa Lolosidis
Antonakis
Brian Graft
Costas Sahpazis
Danica Lundy
Daniele Sigalot
Dario Capodiferro
Elisa Alberti
Eloise Fornieles
Igor Moritz
Kostis Velonis
Kristin Texeira
Maria Secio
Nanna Prieler
Racha El Khalil
Sarp Kerem Yazuv
Stelios Karamanolis
Vasilis Papageorgiou.
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Georgia Kotretsos: How did Tryfon Art Residency come to fruition, how did it evolve from being an idea to becoming a project? What was the gap it came to fill in Molyvos, Lesvos?
Viktoria Fassianou: Dimitris Tryfon, the founder of the project, is originally from Molyvos Lesbos from his great grand father who immigrated there from Ivali, Turkey. Dimitris from a very young age envisioned transforming Molyvos into a leading cultural center for visual arts and music. The village's natural and architectural beauty as well as the castle on the very top create a unique atmosphere that artists adore! Being friends from our childhood years, Dimiris, asked me if I would be interested to join this exciting project and build together an artistic residency at the north Aegean sea! We seek to invite artists from all over the world, but our key priority is to host Greek artist who never had the chance to see Lesbos and be inspired by its natural stimuli. Dimitris owns an emblematic traditional building in Molyvos harbor where artist use it as their studio and reside at a hotel nearby which used to be an old olive press of the village.
GK: TAR is a month-long residency program taking place at an old family-owned olive mill, which serves as both the studio and exhibition space. Your program hosts invited artists from Greece and abroad. What is the creative program TAR is proposing and what are some of the methods developed on-site informed by the immediate surroundings?
VF: The island of Lesbos and particularly the local community of the village of Molyvos is what inspired us first and foremost. We hope that artists will receive some inspiration from the everyday habits of the local community, the surrounding of the village, the wildlife, the sea and its artistic folklore influences. The village of Molyvos hosts a section of the School of Fine Arts in Greece and the island has a plethora of artistic influences such as the Teriad Museum or the Theophilos Museum, of the great Greek painter who was mostly inspired by the locality and the folkloristic aspect of Lesbos. Artists use any of their preferred materials such as canvases, acrylic, pencils, mixed media, marble, photography etc. and present to us great works of art as a result of their stay at the island.
GK: How has the program been received in Molyvos and what is the level of engagement between the artists-in-residence and the immediate community? How do you see TAR growing and in what direction?
VF: The local community has embraced the project 100%. You may see flyers and catalogues of the exhibition in small shops, hotel entrances, and restaurants and talk about it through word of mouth. People, as far as we understand, are excited when we are getting closer to August as the village is transformed into an open air festival, with outdoor festivities, concerts and the exhibition! We truly hope that we will be able to continue the project and expand it to various Greek islands. This year we managed to do a pop up exhibition in the island of Koufonisia with great Greek artists, with the support of the Museum of Cycladic Art and the Classical Music Festival of Koufonisia, organized by Kornilios Michailidis.
