A groundbreaking exhibition exposing the long-concealed family traumas that inevitably affect, determine and shape lives took place Thursday, March 19 at Port Melbourne Library Arts Space and runs until March 29 during library hours.
The main speakers were the Deputy High Commissioner of Cyprus, Nicholas Varellas; the Mayor of Port Phillip, Alex Makin; PhD candidate in Byzantine Art History, Olympia Fanaras; and poet Andrea Demetriou. The MC for the evening was teacher, Greek Community board member and project manager for Hellenism of Anatolia, Simela Stamatopoulos.
The signature poems were translated with unparalleled sensitivity by Agape Pashos and were delivered sublimely by Olympia Fanaras, as well as renowned poets Petr Malapanis and Koraly Dimitriadis.
Admittedly, their readings were the highlight of the evening, capturing the essence of the poems and delivering them in a deeply moving and honest manner, while the audience struggled to hold back tears.
The well-hidden stories affecting family members are often taken to the grave — the pain, emotional grievance and injustice endured but never spoken. Emotional crimes are not punished, yet they can cause severe illness, sometimes even leading to death. The unspoken, concealed warfare within the family can destroy a person on every level, and it is this reality that the exhibition seeks to reveal.
Andrea says: “Don’t be afraid to confront those who systematically harm you, paraphrase history, defame your father or yourself — those who threaten and manipulate, no matter who they are. Families are not perfect and they are not always families. There is no use pretending. Diplomacy can be applied on a political level, but it doesn’t work in personal relationships.”
The Ancient Greek tragedians were the first to write about family drama. Andrea and Christella are no different to Orestis and Electra; they too seek justice for their father, who is also, tragically, named Agamemnon. They do so through their poetry, which acts as a hymn to the father and a strong condemnation of the mother.
“Even in death you are victorious,” writes Andrea to her father, while his other daughter, Christella, writes: “My father is not dead, my father is alive! He is a courageous, fearless man. He is worth more than the sky and the earth combined.”
Since antiquity, Eros has been portrayed as the most powerful force of life. Christella’s sensual paintings and Andrea’s erotic poems and dream-like imagery counterbalance the dramatic family experience. They are the light against darkness — the light that can potentially heal bleeding wounds.
“Love is powerful, love is big — bigger than the sea, bigger than you think!” writes Christella.
It is easy for people to lose themselves in sorrow and despair; there is a fine line between survival and death. The exhibition’s message is that despite devastating pain, despite constant, asymmetrical, unethical and insidious warfare, life is brighter than the brightest stars. Life is magic, and darkness will not prevail over light.
When asked by Simela — whose ancient Greek name remains unaltered by time or migration — why she created the work, Andrea responded: “I did it because it is very healing. Christella asks her beloved father after his death, ‘Which doctor can heal you?’ I have to heal his pain and my sister’s inability to cope with his loss. It is quite liberating to condemn those who have harmed your loved ones and yourself — it is a form of closure.”
Among those who attended were well-known, award-winning poets Comninos Zervos and Sian Vate; academic, author and poet Dina Dounis; academic Anna Hatzinikolaou; cellist Rosemary Ingram; multi-talented actor Oliver Gorringe; Joe Caputo, former Mayor of Moreland; and long-time collaborators of Christella, including actor Ramesh Ayyar.
Many thanks were extended to the City of Port Phillip for their support, as well as photographer and videographer Arthur Paraskevopoulos, Eleni Elefterias, Achilles, and Symposiarch Artisan Wines.
