Greek Spring, a cultural exchange event

TIRANA, March 22 – Painting, photo and translated book exhibitions will identify through visual impacts but also words the cultural proximity and cooperation opportunities between Greece and Albania, says Greek Ambassador to Albania Nicolas Pazios in his opening remarks of the Greek Cultural Spring which is being marked with a series of events to commemorate Greece’s National Day.
“Maybe for the first time we chose this form to honour our March 25 National Day but also to shed light to those elements and fields which configure the joint Greek-Albanian journey which targets the same goal. It is exactly the identification and promotion of these elements which is the gist of this initiative in general,” says the Ambassador.
The Greek cultural spring will also bring musical, cinema, linguistic and even gastronomy events contributing to better mutual recognition and understanding between the two neighbouring countries.
Organized by the Greek embassy in Tirana and the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, the events will open with an exhibition at the EXPO gallery where 15 Albanian painters inspired by Greek motifs will display their works. On March, 20, an exhibition of books translated into Greek and Albanian will be displayed at the National Historical Museum in Tirana. Some 500 book titles by Greek and Albanian authors including fiction, history, ancient books will be showcased.
Events will continue on March 26, when renowned Albanian photographer Roland Tasho who has pictured successful Albanians around the world, will unveil his collection of the Albanian community in neighbouring Greece, estimated at more than 500,000.
From March 24 to 26, the Albanian Academy of Science will host a conference on the linguistic relations between Albanian and Grek bringing together linguists from Greece, U.S, Russia and Germany.
A classical flute and piano concert has also been scheduled for March 21 at the Academy of Arts in Tirana. Events will close with the week of Greek cinema.
The Greek Independence Day, a national holiday celebrated annually in Greece on March 25, commemorates the start of the War of Greek Independence in 1821. It coincides with the Greek Orthodox Church’s celebration of the Annunciation to the Theotokos, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear the son of God.