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:
ï‚· To shape and envision the image of contemporary Greece in the United States beyond existing stereotypes
ï‚· To recalibrate the assumed center of Greek national narratives to include those who have often been denied historical recognition.
ï‚· To transform the way Greek histories are told and produce projects that reflect the vast, rich complexity of Greek culture.
ï‚· To support Greek inspired cultural practices by welcoming and nurturing new ideas and influential perspectives
ï‚· To commission, produce and present contemporary Greek and Cypriot culture that grapple with many of the pressing social and political issues of our time
ï‚· To foster Greek scholarship and cultural research within the American educational system
ï‚· To develop a transatlantic network for the exchange of culture and ideas
ï‚· 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 Day After...
The Navigator
by Juha and Mikko Mehtäläinen, Jyväskylä
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So it was that at the end of dreams it was not the blank emptiness we faced, but the countless colours of everything. The fragile petals from the garden floated around me like an autumn breeze that could not be felt. I took off my glove and let one of the petals fall on my hand. One of the last dreams ever: a dream of a cottage and a family gathering. For some reason everyone was wearing a hazmat suit. It made me smile.
As the clients retreated back through the now almost barren garden, the last dreams held in their containers, I sensed the final call of the beacon. The low hum of the warning signal which had called me home so many times felt different now and there was no sense of urgency as I looked on to the petals escaping into distance.
I was calm, as if I had fulfilled some hidden purpose and the pull to come back was there no more. I glanced at the first rule of the Elder Navigator, tattooed on my hand: Do not get lost. Lost. What was that? What else was there left for me - the medicated life of Hollow Eyed?
I had fulfilled my vows to the clients and had never broken the Oath. The last petals from the garden would flow past me and there would never be a need for Navigators again. Our time had come to an end, as it was known through generations. No more dreams, no more Navigators.
But there was still time for one more journey. Not for the clients, not for the Elders, but for myself. I took off my helmet and the heavy suit and felt the dreams rush through me. The hum of the beacon grew more and more distant as I let go and gave myself up to worlds within worlds. I was free.
