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- Ελληνικά
"My foundations on the mountains and the mountains the people lift on their shoulders and on them the memory burns like a harmless bush". Daring to attempt to continue Odysseus Elytis' poetic verse, I would say that our own mountain, Troodos, lifts all of us on its shoulders, constituting a natural and cultural heritage resource of unique national importance.
It is for this reason that it is with great pleasure that I participate in today's event, which is organised by the Troodos Mountain Communities Cultural Foundation - the main promoter of the history and the unique cultural physiognomy of mountainous Cyprus. My joy stems from the fact that the event is dedicated to our great engraver, Hampi Tsangaris, the artist who dedicated his life to the struggle to save and promote the cultural heritage of our country.
In Hampi's hands, the myths and traditions of our land take on flesh and blood, to become a source of knowledge and self-knowledge. Poems by Vassilis Michaelides and Michalis Pasiardi are dressed with vivid, fascinating images, giving visual shape and tangible form to the Word.
Thanks to his tireless activity, Hampis contributes, among many other things, to the revitalization of our mountain communities, since 1995 he has been offering every summer, in the Plataniskias Limassol Community, free engraving lessons in memory of his teacher, the great Greek engraver Tassos. There, in Plataniskia, he founded, in 2008, the "Hampi Museum of Engraving", an ark of treasures of the world's engraving art, as its collections include works from the 16th century to the present day.
Friends,
Hampi's multifaceted work is recognized and appreciated on a pan-European level. In 2023 he was awarded the European Heritage Award Europa Nostra in the category "Heritage Advocates", precisely because Hampi's efforts manage to raise awareness among a wide audience, an audience at European and international level, making them part of the Cypriot cultural tradition, of which we are particularly proud.
And it is in this context that one of the basic principles of the Government, on which the overall strategic planning of the Ministry of Culture is based, is that our culture can become a catalyst for change and a driving force for development, progress and social well-being. That is why we essentially support every effort that aims to safeguard, develop and promote traditional arts in our country, all the more so when the overall contribution of an artist, such as Hampi, contributes to progress, the economy, tourism development and employment.
Dear Friends,
I have the feeling that there could not be a more suitable venue for the presentation of the retrospective exhibition of Hampi Tsangaris than the place that hosts us today, the Cultural Centre "Giorgos Seferis", here in Platres. Here, "Champi's Cyprus" proves conclusively that in our land the miracle still works, as Seferis himself once attested.
With these thoughts, I warmly congratulate the Cultural Foundation of the Mountain Communities of Troodos for the valuable initiative, my dear Sula Zavou, to organize this retrospective exhibition of engravings by Champi Tsangaris.
I close by deeply thanking Hampi himself for all that he has offered us over the years and wish him many more years of creative work.
Thank you very much.
(MS/NYAN)
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