Greek communities across Australia will mark the anniversary of the Greek Genocide with a series of solemn events scheduled throughout May. Below, The Greek Herald breaks down the official program by state:

Victoria

Sunday, May 18

• 9:30 AM: Church service at the Holy Monastery of Axion Esti, 7 Hartington Street, Northcote.
• 11:30 AM: Wreath laying ceremony at the Axion Esti Monument of the Fallen.
• 5:30 PM: Screening of the film Lethal Nationalism at 540 Sydney Road, Brunswick.

South Australia (Adelaide)

Sunday, May 18

• 10:00 AM: Events commence.
• Divine Liturgy and memorial prayer at the Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Dimitrios, 27 Saints Road, Salisbury Plains.
• Wreath laying ceremony at Salisbury Memorial Park Cemetery.
• Light refreshments and speeches at Pontian Brotherhood Hall, 674 Torrens Road, Pennington.

New South Wales

Sunday, May 18

• Holy Liturgy service and wreath laying ceremony at the Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady, 242 Cleveland Street, Redfern.

Monday, May 19

• Commemoration of the Greek Genocide at NSW Parliament House, 6 Macquarie Street, Sydney.
• 6:30 PM: Doors open.

Australian Capital Territory

Tuesday, May 27

• Joint commemoration event with Armenians at Parliament House.

These events aim to honour the memory of the victims and raise awareness of the historical atrocities committed against the Greek population in the early 20th century.

On Tuesday, May 13, the Manicham Senior Citizens’ Association organised an event for Mother’s Day.

All the mothers who attended were given a rose by the Board of Directors of the Federation of Greek Elderly Citizen Clubs of Melbourne & Victoria.

Three bouquets were also given. The first bouquet was given to the oldest mother, 90 years old from Kalamata, Anna Tsimiklis, who has been in Melbourne for 69 years.

The second bouquet was given to the youngest mother, Dimitra Skordakis, 72 years old from Corinth, Greece, who has been in Melbourne for 55 years.

The third bouquet was given to the mother who had the most children, Despina Mariolis, 80 years old from Lemnos, who has been in Melbourne for 60 years.

A champagne was also drawn in the lottery and Androula Koumbaris won it. Three poems, sent to the Federation from Greece, were also read out.

The poem “Mother” was read by Dimitra Skordakis, sent in by a poet from Corinth, Greece, Riana Zivanou, and a second poem was read by Kleopatra Athanasopoulos, sent in by Eva Petropoulou, poet and author of children’s literature.

Kostas Alaveras read a short story on Mother’s Day, sent in by the writer and poet from Mytilene, Despina Tzani.

The coordinator of the event was Mr Alaveras. Federation President John Kostoulias, although unwell, also attended to honour all the mothers in turn.

*All photos supplied by Kostas Alaveras.

The Consulate General of Greece in Sydney and the UNSW School of Humanities & Languages have jointly organised a symposium entitled ‘Encounters of Transformation: Intercultural Relations between Greek and Indigenous Australians’ – with the collaboration of the UNSW Foundation for Hellenic Studies and the students’ Hellsoc (Hellenic Society of UNSW).

The symposium will be held on Saturday, June 7 from 9:30am to 4pm at UNSW Patricia O’Shane (E19), Room 105, in Kensington.

The theme of the symposium is the interaction – direct or indirect – between Greek and Indigenous Australians, in a variety of domains and in a range of ways, such as through literature, the visual arts, sociopolitical advocacy movements and the self-representation of Australian First Peoples themselves.

The symposium will be accompanied by exhibited artworks of Christina Tsaou, a young Greek visual artist inspired by Indigenous art.

The event is structured into two parts. Part A includes four presentations (20 minute presentation and a 10 minute Q&A for each presenter), and Part B is made up of two roundtable discussions (60 to 75 minutes each including a Q&A). 

There will be a lunch and an afternoon tea break. The presentations will be delivered by academics, Greek and Indigenous, while the roundtable discussions will also feature Greek and Indigenous writers, artists, community leaders and/or activists, and generally people who have engaged somehow in Greek – Indigenous Australian relations.

Speakers include Dr Petro Alexiou, Effy Alexakis and Leonard Janiszewski, Daphne Arapakis, and Dr Vassilios Adrahtas. 

You can register for the symposium here.