Tribute to India – 52nd Olympus Festival

Within the session of archaeological talks of the Olympus Festival, an event desicated to the history of long cultural relations between Greece and India was held on 14 July 2023 at the Roman Conservatory of the Archaeological Park of Dion.

Launching the event, Mr. Giorgos Handolias, Artistic Director of the Organization, welcomed and thanked the guest speaker and the musicians, as well as the Indian delegation and the audience for attending the Festival. He outlined the philosophy of the Olympus Festival, which aims at promoting art, history and intellectual creation.
The chairman of the Olympus Festival Organization Mr. Grigoris Papachristos referred to the international recognition that the festival acquires by establishing the honored countries. He emphasized the importance of archaeological lectures, commenced many years ago by the late professor and excavator of Dion, Dimitrios Pantermalis, in whose honor these events will be held from now on.

The main speaker was the President of the Hellenic-Indian Society for Culture and Development (ELINEPA), Dr, Dimitrios Vassiliadis, who spoke on the theme “Greece and India, 2500 years of cultural relations” and presented a series of slides that highlighted the cultural relations of two countries from the mythological era up to our days.

A musical journey to India was presented by musician Konstantinos Kalaitzis, who traveled to India for the last forty-three years to get to know every aspect of Indian music and collect traditional instruments. He was accompanied by the tabla player Zulfiqar Ali Dar. The slides accompanying the musical journey were presented by museologist Ms. Satya Kasimi, who is working on the creation of a museum of Indian musical instruments in Greece, the first outside India.

Concluding the event, the administrative member of the Organization, Mr. Raphael Metenidis, offered the guests commemorative albums on “50 years of Olympus Festival” and publications on Olympus and the Pilgrimages of Pieria.
The Olympus Festival Organization gave an opportunity to people with special needs to attend the speeches through interpretation in Greek sign language, by interpreters Andromachi Vlachou and Glykeria Gatziou.

The president of the Olympus Festival, Mr. Grigoris Papachristou, gave an exclusive interview to the Indian presenter Ms. Sabina Sikka for the documentary “Greek and Indian Theater in the Classical and Modern Eras”. Indian film producer Mr. Narender Kumar Bhati attended also the Festival and gathered valuable material for his new coming documentary.
Photos: Akira Vassiliadis
Read also:
«Είκοσι πέντε αιώνες συμπορεύονται πολιτιστικά η Ελλάδα και η Ινδία | 52ο Φεστιβάλ Ολύμπου (φωτο)», PieriaNews, 18 July 2023.
«Ινδικές παραγωγές κινηματογράφου με αναφορά το Φεστιβάλ Ολύμπου και το Μέγα Αλέξανδρο», PieriaNews, 19 July 2023.