AXIOTHEA FESTIVAL GOES DIGITAL, WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES
Cyprus Mail 27 April 2020 - by Eleni Philippou
The 22nd Cultural Festival of the University of Cyprus would have been in its final stages of preparation right now if it wasn’t for the lockdown, getting ready to invite the public to the stunning Axiothea Mansion from May to July. Despite cancellations, art has found a way to survive and it common with many before it the festival has moved online.
The rich archives of the centre, along with some performances scheduled to be part of the 22nd festival at Axiothea are now being shared online, twice a week. Every Tuesday a live-recorded performance, be it theatre, music or poetry, is uploaded on the Facebook page and YouTube channel of the university’s Cultural Centre. Two days later, a documentary about the production or creation of the performance is shared.
The digital festival will also show clips from important cultural events that have taken place over the years, such as tributes to famous poets like Dante and Kavafis.
Next on the programme is Costas Monti’s Cypriot Lysistrata, a renowned adaptation of Aristophanes’ play, performed in the Cypriot dialect. Shown on April 28 at 6pm, the production is a 2000 performance though two more productions will follow in a link, one from 2017 and another from 2010.
Montis’ Lysistrata will be the first screening of the digital festival to include English surtitles while the team is also working on adding a sign language translation for Thursday’s documentaries. Director of the Cultural Centre Professor Michalis Pieris said they are currently working with a translator to add sign language to all of the festival’s screenings.
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He added that the two documentaries to be shown on Thursday about Cypriot interpretations of Lysistrata are not to be missed. One was filmed in Rizokarpaso and is about the 2010 production that was put on for Radiomarathonio at the School for the Blind.
The response from the public so far to the digital festival has been excellent, the Professor said. “Just today I received letters from Amsterdam and Italy sharing how much they enjoy the performances we upload.”
The Deputy Ministry of Tourism has asked to share the performances on their platform, meaning they will reach a wider international audience, making the English surtitles even more necessary.
There are two ways to stay up to date with the festival’s uploads. One is to simply follow their social media channels, the other is to join their mailing list where the week’s video and descriptive text will be sent every Tuesday and Thursday. To do so, email politistiko@ucy.ac.cy
The festival will continue until the end of the summer and if the coronavirus situation doesn’t improve by then, the second part of the festival, from September to October, will continue to entertain digitally. The cultural performances and productions will not run out, as Pieris said the centre has a 25-year legacy to fall back on.
