Mayor’s Greeting   

In Kavala and in the Municipal Unit of Philippi, where History is not merely a thing of the past but a living presence, where Art has been in dialogue with the landscape and with memory for centuries now, the Philippi Festival returns for its 68th year, continuing a resilient, emblematic and thoroughly contemporary journey.

This year’s tribute to Chronis Missios, titled “8-3=11”, is more than an homage to a great writer. It is a mirror of values, a cry of resistance and humanity, a hymn to the power of offering and of inner revolution.

The paradoxical arithmetic of this title is not a mistake, it is meaning. It is the arithmetic of love, where subtracting from oneself adds to the world. Where lack becomes abundance, and loss a decision for coexistence.

Chronis Missios lived, wrote and envisioned a more just world. Through his personal experience, full of imprisonments, persecutions, struggles, but also of sensitivity, subtlety and humour, he offered us a precious tool for reflection. He reminded us that even in the darkest reality, the right to tenderness, to dignity and to hope remains intact.

This year’s programme — with performances at the ancient theatre of Philippi and in the city of Kavala, with productions by the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala, with two concerts, as well as the presentation of the performance from the 9th Ancient Drama Workshop — reflects the ongoing effort for a living, thoughtful, open Culture. A Culture that listens to the voice of the land and of its people.

The Municipality of Kavala continues to consistently support an institution that does not remain trapped in memory, but instead puts memory to work to offer perspective. Warm thanks to all contributors, to the creators, to the people who work quietly for the success of the Festival, and above all to the audience who gives it life.

I invite you to become fellow travellers on this journey of ideas, emotion and shared experience. Because, as Chronis Missios once “whispered” to us: if we believe in humanity, everything is still possible.

Thodoros Mouriadis
Mayor of Kavala

8-3=11

How much richer do you truly become when you give?

In an absurd world that we have to face daily, this year we present, in our turn, a series of absurd, impossible acts that all lead to offering. To tenderness. To love. And we dedicate this year’s festival to a man of the future, who happened to be born in our land 95 years ago, but who managed to contain entire worlds within him: Chronis Missios. For our title, we borrow the equation from his final, unfinished work and allow ourselves to be exposed to his gaze, to open our door to his generosity, to be burned by his tenderness. Through art, we learn once more how to remain human in an inhuman environment. This year’s programme, which seeks to be painted in his colours, begins with a celebration and ends with a fair. And in between, it unfolds a concert, a special workshop, an art exhibition that composes a peculiar map of the city, and of course, 19 unique performances — 15 guest productions and 5 original ones that will see the light for the very first time here, that will awaken for us and carry us away. Spread once again across the city (Ancient Theatre of Philippi, Halil Bey Mosque, the former Lord building, the Kavala–Prinos route), created by people full of love and overflowing with creativity and gratitude, this year’s Philippi Festival comes to colour our summer with its words and shades. To paint across our grim faces, to laugh at our solemnity, and to help us see life a little differently, helping us realise both its grandeur and its fluidity. The unrepeatable nature of its existence. And we hope that when it departs, it will have changed us even just a little, made us a little more tender, more grateful, and more generous. Because 8 minus 3 will always equal 11 for us.

Eva Oikonomou – Vamvaka
Artistic Director