Greek-owned business, Paspaley, has unveiled its new collection, Dive, and it definitely doesn’t disappoint.
The collection of fine jewellery features not only the rare, pristine Pinctada maxima pearls found off Western Australia’s Kimberley coast, but also the sea creatures and surprises pearl divers have encountered throughout the brand’s long history.
“I love this idea of going down to the sea and thinking you’re going in hunt of one treasure and coming across another,” Paspaley creative director, Christine Salter, told The Australian Financial Review.
Dive tassel necklace, in yellow gold, black silk rope, black spinel – and pearls, or course. Photo: The Australian Financial Review.
Dive is Paspaley’s first major collection since 2019 after COVID-19 sidelined last year’s campaign and it focuses on the divers and the process of pearling.
“For me, the most beautiful side to pearling is diving for the pearls themselves,” Salter said.
“I wanted to create a collection that spoke of these generations of pearl divers and their stories and encounters over the years. And it’s the first time we’ve really told this story through a jewellery collection.”
The new collection focuses on the divers and the process of pearling. Photo: Paspaley.
Salter, whose Kastellorizian grandfather is the founder of Paspaley, Nicholas Paspaley, adds that the new collection also includes the jeweller’s first ring for men.
“Because [this collection] is all about our men that we have at sea, who’ve been diving for generations, it just felt right to have a ring dedicated to a man,” Salter told the newspaper.
While the two-tone ring doesn’t feature a pearl, the decision to move into men’s jewellery is new for Paspaley, a brand which is well-known for revolutionising pearling and its cultured pearls.
Dimitra Korri wants to “bring honour to Greece through the sport of competitive figure skating,” but she needs all the support she can get to make her dream a reality.
Korri has launched a GoFundMe campaign to fund her upcoming training and participation as a member of Greece’s national figure skating team.
“As a child I never anticipated or understood the expenses that would come along with training at the elite level of ladies figure skating,” Korri writes in the GoFundMe.
Dimitra Korri.
“Your donations will help fund practice ice sessions, coach’s bills, travel expenses, costume expenses and personal training sessions. Even the smallest amount helps. I thank you in advance for your support throughout this competitive journey.”
Although figure skating may not be the first sport that comes to mind when people think about Greece, Korri is a four-time Greek national figure skating champion and in April 2021 she received a bronze medal at the 14th Europa Cup Skate Helena competition in Belgrade, Serbia.
Sydney Olympic Football Club is excited to announce the signing of former Newcastle Jets striker, Roy O’Donovan, for the upcoming FFA Cup Round of 32 match and the 2022 NSW NPL season.
Roy has made over 125 A-League appearances with the Newcastle Jets, Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners. Prior to this, Roy has been capped by Ireland at Under-19, Under-21 and B level.
He has also previously played for Cork City, Sunderland, Dundee United, Blackpool, Southend United, Hartlepool United, Coventry City, Hibernian, Northampton Town, DPMM FC and Mitra Kukar FC.
Sydney Olympic Football Club Director, Damon Hanlin, said he was looking forward to the contribution Roy would make across the Club.
“On first meeting Roy it was evident he was professional and committed to positively contributing to our Club both on and off the pitch. In addition to the experience he will bring to the playing group, Roy will work across the Club to support and mentor talented and attacking players within our Men’s and Women’s pathway,” Mr Hanlin said.
Former Newcastle Jets striker, Roy O’Donovan.
Head Coach, Ante Juric, was confident Roy would make an immediate impact on the playing group.
“Roy is a great addition to our squad, he brings experience and he is a proven goal scorer at the highest of levels. Roy is another important piece to our team as we look to succeed as a team and club this season and beyond. We are looking forward to him joining the team in training,” Mr Juric said.
Roy O’Donovan said he was looking forward to joining Sydney Olympic Football Club.
“I am as willing as ever to play and support this great Club in both the upcoming FFA Cup match against Sydney FC and the 2022 NPL season,” O’Donovan said.
Roy O’Donovan with Damon Hanlin.
“There are few Clubs like Sydney Olympic in Australia, a great tradition and history, supported by passionate fans that want success for this Club. I will be trying my best to contribute to the team and help bring success to this Club to make the fans proud, I like the look of our squad, many young aspiring players combined with some experienced players, I can’t wait to join them on the park.”
Roy will commence training from next week ahead of the upcoming FFA Cup Round of 32 match against A-League heavyweights Sydney FC at Belmore Sports Ground on Wednesday 24 November.
Stay tuned next week for event details, including how to buy your tickets to what will be a great night in the history of our Club. We are looking forward to welcoming our supporters and football fans in general back to Belmore for a great night of football!
It’s likely you’ve come across Nick Bandoundas before.
Not in the flesh, but through his designs.
Bandoundas says it was a twist of fate that led him to work on Australia’s most culturally significant museum; the ‘typical wog’ growing up in Sydney’s southwest never saw it coming.
The Greek Herald chats with Bandounas in review of his accomplished career.
Tell us more about your Greek heritage.
I was born in Redfern to Greek parents. My parents came here in the late sixties. My mother is from a small village called Panopoulou in Ilia in the Peloponnese, and my father is from an even smaller village called Spartoulia in Ilia in the Peloponnese. The two villages are within kilometres of each other, but ironically, my parents met for the first time some 14,000km away in Sydney, it was obviously meant to be.
Like a lot of immigrant Greeks of that era, they moved into a share house in Redfern, where they made friends with other immigrant Greeks and made them family by christening each other’s children. My parents had two children of their own, my older sister and myself, and at that point, we all moved to Bankstown so my father could be closer to his work.
When did you realise you had the creative chops for architectural design? What inspired you to study engineering and architecture?
Growing up in the ’80s in Bankstown as a typical wog, and influenced by older cousins, I absolutely loved muscle cars, still do, so as early as I can remember I loved sketching cars, mutating various models and creating my own typologies. I also loved street art/graffiti, and the whole process around creation, it was a real euphoric experience, and still is today.
I think my creative side comes from my father, before moving to Sydney, Dad spent a few years in Athens where he worked as an apprentice blowing and hand carving glass crystal ware. There wasn’t much of an industry here in Sydney for that type of creative skill, but to all our relatives here, dad was the innovative fixer, the “MacGyver” of the family.
Growing up in a tough neighbourhood I got into a bit of trouble here and there, and by high school, things weren’t looking that positive. However, in a sliding doors moment in year 10, I was given a nudge in the right direction by a substitute careers teacher. He came to our school for 1 day, and it happened to be the day I was booked in for my work experience conversation. He listened to me speak about my passion for sketching and suggested I try architecture. A few months later I spent a week working in the Government Architects office in the CBD and I was bitten by the design bug.
This gave me a goal to strive for and combined with my parents support and strong work ethic, it gave me focus and a purpose that I still use as motivation to this day.
What is central to architectural design? Why is it important to cater to diverse communities?
At a basic level, architecture is an innovative spatial solution to a given problem; however, good architecture should also have a profound impact on our lives. It should not only shape our space physically and socially but should also touch us personally. In an age of disposable consumerism and the social media movement, architecture has the potential to create equilibrium and be the ‘constant’, but to do this, we must design environments that have a purpose.
Ultimately, for me, architecture is the pursuit of this purpose, something I believe is inherent in the Greek DNA. In the Golden Age of Hellenism, our ancestors evolved architecture from the early Egyptian philosophies of Imhotep to one that celebrated the human spirit. Methodologies around process, precision, scale, and proportion provided the physical connection, whilst conceptualism and aesthetics provided the philosophical connection. Together, they worked to encourage the Hellenistic pursuit of a higher purpose, something we still reference today.
What has been your all-time favourite project to work on?
There are several, but one that stands out as a turning point early in my career is the Macquarie Bank Building on Kings Street Wharf. It was a competition we won, which I was involved with from inception to completion. The key conceptual driver being an innovative exoskeletal structural diagrid [sic] that supported the entire building from the perimeter, allowing for an unnumbered floor plate.
The Macquarie Bank Building (Supplied)
What are you most proud of in your career?
Hands down, it is winning the national design competition for the New Southern Entrance to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra in 2019.
The Australian War Memorial is an enduring, culturally significant symbol of remembrance that commemorates those that gave their lives for our nation. It is a physical representation of pride, honour, courage, and sacrifice. It was important that the design approach was sensitive to this, and also evolved the original vision.
The connection to the existing War Memorial was established through the creation of a new focal nexus, the Oculus, located at the heart of the new Southern Entrance. The Oculus not only visually and physically connects to the existing Memorial but also allows for the provision of experiential and emotionally inspired moments in the spatial planning.
Nicholas Bandounas’ firm is designing the new southern entrance of the Australian War Memorial (Photos: Supplied)
We were up against the best firms in Australia, so we carried the underdog tag, I had also just become Design Director in the business, so I had my own personal pressure to win. It was a real honour in the end, and my humble upbringing gave me perspective and internal fulfilment.
I’m really looking forward to the day when its built, and I can walk my three girls under the oculus and gauge their reaction. I’m hopeful that it will inspire them and others to empathise and reflect on what it means to be better humans.
The State Theatre Company of South Australia has announced its 2022 season and among the list of playwrights is Greek Australian, Elena Carapetis, with her play ‘Antigone.’
The play is set to be performed from May 22 to June 11 next year in the Odeon Theatre and will give audiences a cheeky, anarchic and subverted take on one of the world’s most revered classic plays.
According to the Theatre’s website, Antigone will take audiences “from Ancient Greece to the modern-day in a kaleidoscopic collection of vignettes that will make your head spin and leave your jaw on the floor.”
“This is a rejection of the patriarchy, a love letter to girls and pop princesses, and a tribute to every Antigone reincarnated, from Malala to Emma to AOC to Greta,” the website continues.
Although written by Carapetis, the play itself has been directed by State Theatre Company South Australia’s Resident Director, Anthony Nicola, and stars Adelaide powerhouse, Kidaan Zelleke.
Carapetis’ play will be performed alongside a number of other plays at the Theatre in 2022 including, but not limited to, Andrea James’ Sunshine Super Girl in September and Michelle Law’s family comedy Single Asian Female in November.
Artistic Director of the Theatre, Mitchell Butel, told Limelight he’s really looking forward to the new season of plays on offer.
“What’s emerged is a real celebration of womanhood and female power. What’s also emerged is that every play on some level is about fortitude, resilience and community,” Butel said.
The New South Wales branch of the Organisation of Hellene and Hellene-Cypriot Women of Australia (OEEGA NSW) is a not for profit organisation consisting of Greek and Cypriot Australian women and mothers who have dedicated themselves to supporting medical researchers in eliminating childhood cancer.
Since 2007 alone, OEEGA NSW has raised over $414,000 for the Children’s Cancer Institute in Sydney, which has gone towards purchasing vital equipment for specialised scientific research.
This year, the organisation hopes to raise even more money for the Institute through its annual radio fundraiser on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 from 10am to 8pm AEST.
People tuning into 2MM Radio on the day will have the opportunity to hear the extraordinary progress being made in childhood cancer research at the Institute by Professor Maria Kavallaris and Dr Maria Tsoli.
They will also hear personal stories from families who have been impacted by childhood cancer.
If you would like to make a donation, you can do so in two main ways:
At any DelphiBank branch using the Account name: OEEGA NSW (CCI); BSB: 941 202; Account No: 203990010.
On the day at the 2MM Radio station either in person or by calling (02) 9558 0622.
China Doll owner, Steve Anastasiou, and his wife Tracey have sold their Point Piper home for $10 million following their well-publicised divorce, according to awsforwp.
The three-bedroom, five-bathroom home with four-car garage at 6B Wentworth St comes with a decadent George Livissianis-designed kitchen.
Livissianis is the same designer who did the fit-out at Steve’s three restaurants: China Doll in Woolloomooloo; China Lane in the CBD and Chu by China Doll in Rooty Hill.
The home features open-plan living areas with harbour views.
Other highlights of the home are the private entertainer’s courtyard with barbecue and the downstairs master suite with an enormous bedroom. The marble and mirror ensuite, with a deep bath, opens to a terrace.
It was listed in an expressions of interest campaign via Darren Curtis of Christies, in conjunction with Sotheby’s, with a guide of $9.5 million to $10.2 million.
According to news.com.au, the couple purchased the home for $4.72 million in 2014.
The Organising Committee for the Greek National Day has announced that registrations are now open until December 1, 2021, for Greek community organisations to submit event proposals for the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe next year.
Submissions should be sent electronically to the General Secretariat of Hellenes Abroad at: greeknationalday@gmail.com or by post to P.O. Box 2250, 377 Gore Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065.
For further information, you can also contact the Chairman of the Committee, Antonis Tsourdalakis, on 0419856736.
Full Press Release:
We are three months before saying goodbye to 2021, which was a milestone year for Greece and Hellenism everywhere.
This year we had the opportunity to honour with pride and respect the 200th anniversary of the most important milestone in modern Greek history: the beginning of the Greek Revolution that led to the creation of the Greek independent nation-state in 1830.
During the year, many organisations participated in the celebrations of the important anniversary for the Greek Nation through various actions that were organised. The program, which was announced in early 2021, involved a total of over 90 organisations and schools from Victoria with more than 140 events.
The events were started by the Organising Committee for the Greek National Day in Victoria, in collaboration with the General Secretariat of Hellenes Abroad, where they organised a competition entitled “Ambassadors 200” which was attended by over 650 students and young people from across the State. Particularly moving was the unveiling ceremony and laying of wreaths at the Monument of the Heroes where all the representatives of various organisations celebrated the national anniversary and paid tribute to the heroes of 1821.
Although the number of events planned was very large, unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure experienced by the State of Victoria for most of the time, this led to the cancellation of several events. For this reason, many organisations and institutions have decided to move the planned events of 2021 to a new date during the year 2022.
Next year is the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
The Organising Committee for the Greek National Day, made up of representatives from all the major community organisations in Victoria, has already received proposals for events to take place in 2022. Wanting to include the entire Greek community, it invites private, public or cultural groups, fraternities, federations, women and youth associations and schools, to register their event in time.
The program, which will be published in January 2022, will include actions and events which will be planned and dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe. To emphasise, 2022 is the year that will be dedicated to the high symbolism of the anniversary of this tragedy, but also to the extremely important role played by the Greeks of Asia Minor in modern and contemporary Greek history. Organisations of our community have already planned cultural events dedicated to the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the uprooting of the Greeks from Asia Minor.
Deadline for submission of events to be included in the annual program of the Organising Committee for the Greek National Day will be December 1, 2021 and should be sent electronically to the Secretariat at: greeknationalday@gmail.com or by post to P.O. Box 2250, 377 Gore Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065. For further information you can contact the Chairman of the Committee, Antonis Tsourdalakis, at 0419856736.
The board of the Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria (CCMV) met formerly on Wednesday, October 20 to accept the resignation of Stelios Angelodemou as President and from the Board.
The CCMV Board passed unanimous motions expressing its sincere thanks to Mr Angelodemou for his service over the last four years.
The Board subsequently appointed former Victorian Minister, the Honourable Theo Thophanous, as the new President and Chris Christoforou as Vice President of the CCMV.
In a press release, the CCMV said that over the last four years, the Board worked together to achieve the following:
The establishment of the Halloumi Festival, which attracted thousands of people and showcased Cypriot culture.
The successful acquisition of grants from the Victorian Government of $500,000 and an initial permit for a new building.
lnitiating an important project aimed at documenting the history of Cypriots in Australia with emphasis on the Victorian Diaspora to be authorised by Professor Anastasios Tamis.
Many new community projects including supporting our members, in particular during the pandemic. with food parcels and regular contacts.
Theo Theophanous.
Mr Angelodemou cited personal and family responsibilities he had undertaken in Cyprus and his long absence from the leadership as reasons for his resignation.
New President, Theo Theophanous, thanked Mr Angelodemou for his contribution and conveyed the best wishes from all the members of the CCMV Board to Stelios and his family.
“Stelios was passionate in his support for the CCMV to finally redevelop its building in Lygon St and to have its long history published. We thank him for his service,” Mr Theophanous said.
“The CCMV still faces many challenges and I look forward to playing my part in its historical mission in the Cyprus diaspora.”
Greece’s Interior Ministry launched on Wednesday a new information campaign in digital and print media abroad to inform Greeks who reside outside the country that they should register in the special electoral list apodimoi.gov.gr if they want to vote in the next national elections from their country of residence.
According to Ekathimerini, to qualify for the vote, those interested will have to have lived in Greece for two years in the last 35 years and must have submitted a tax return during the current or previous tax year.
Those who register will have to cover distances to places where polling stations will be set up and can only vote if there are 40 voters eligible to cast their ballots in their districts.
This decision comes after a law voted in December 2019.
