"Archive of Desire"
A festival inspired by the poet C. P. Cavafy
Dates
Venue
Introduction
On the 160th anniversary of the birth of C. P. Cavafy, the Onassis Foundation in New York presents a week-long festival that traces the influential character of the Alexandrian poet and the impact of his work on a global breadth.
A festival that focuses on the poet as well as the man Cavafy, refracting him through an interdisciplinary kaleidoscope that renders him contemporary and timely, as well as political, sensual, and profound.
Festival Highlights
National Sawdust and ONX Studio, the accelerator of Onassis Foundation and New Museum of New York for digital technologies and artistic creation, will be the festival’s primary hubs, while The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, McNally Jackson Booksellers, Rockefeller Center, and Columbia University, among others, will also host festival activities. “Archive of Desire” will enhance our engagement with C. P. Cavafy through the art and discourse of seminal artists, academics, movers and shakers.
Participating Artists
"When presented with the opportunity to curate a festival based on the work of the poet, Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933), I could not say no. Poetry has been a constant in my life since I was a child. My good friends know that most of my poetry books are deeply worn with notes tracing moments of my life that intersect with the words on the page. Poetry has saved me many times, it has helped me dream the abstract, and it has become an integral part of the music that I write.
And so, as Curator of the Festival, I began a deep dive into the treasure trove of the Onassis Foundation’s Cavafy Αrchive (which is organized with significant care) to create a festival program that reflects and illuminates the poetry of a deliberate, thoughtful and passionate man, one who was measured in his creations and how they reached the world, and whose most famous poems run even deeper into the crevices of the mind and spirit, as his secrets and whispers encourage his audience to open both their ears and hearts with each reading.The idea of the Onassis Foundation pouring such intent and resource into preserving Cavafy’s poetry and, simultaneously, commissioning a new canon in service of further discovery of this unique artist is unique. The time is right for this festival: Poets are in fact true leaders in times of crisis, helping to articulate both the past and the future.
And so, as I stitched the quilt of voices and partners together to bring Cavafy to life, I meditated on many things; his queerness, the lack of binary in his life, his otherness and how this relates to current political themes, his sense of sensuality and how its hot fragrance persists across the decades and still quickens the pulse. How the artists in the festival illuminate Cavafy is yet to be seen as this is all newly commissioned work. What I do know is that, like Cavafy, who as a self-published poet, foreshadowed the current state of an independent sector of artists, such as, the very artists we are working with, who are also fiercely independent, brilliant, and inspired.
Our Festival, “Archive of Desire”, will share Cavafy's poetry and newly commissioned work in intimate settings that mirror the relationship between a reader and the page. We invite you in."
- Paola Prestini, Composer, Curator of the festival & Artistic Director of National Sawdust
"Cavafy
Singular
"Even if you cannot make your life the way you want,
try this, at least,
as best you can: do not demean it
by too much contact with the crowd,
by too much movement and idle talk.
Do not demean it by dragging it along,
by wandering all the time and exposing it
to the daily foolishness
of social relations and encounters,
until it becomes an importunate stranger.”
C. P. Cavafy – “AS BEST YOU CAN”, translated by Evangelos Sachperoglou
- Afroditi Panagiotakou, Creative Director of the festival & Director of Culture, Onassis Foundation"As a lifelong arts administrator and devoted fan of every art form, I have always found poetry to be one of the most difficult disciplines to grasp. The deep emotional connection found in listening to great opera, the geometry and dexterity of dance, the profound storytelling that draws you into the heart of brilliant theatrical productions, and the comfort and heartfelt connection one feels hearing different styles of music, have always been artistic experiences I have gravitated towards most naturally.
Therefore, poetry to me seems more elusive – with the meaning and depth of the poet’s words always just a bit out of my reach. Then, through the Onassis Foundation’s Cavafy Archive, I discovered the poet, Constantine P. Cavafy, and, honestly, I couldn’t get enough! His words are both accessible and adventurous, powered by a life force that draws you in like a great novel. Erotic and aspirational, Cavafy communicates pure feeling with no verbal overdrive. He writes, it seems, for the undiluted joy of self-expression, and generously shares that with his readers.I hope our Cavafy Festival audiences will enjoy the events we have planned and, in doing so, will find their own way to the heart and pen of this talented writer. The contemporary artists and poets featured in the festival have studied and embraced Cavafy’s poems and have added their own sensibilities to his work, thereby amplifying his voice and their own.
The range of poets, composers, musicians, theatre-makers, and writers participating in our Festival, “Archive of Desire,” is amazing. Paola Prestini, our festival curator, has curated a robust range of great performances and readings. Elena Park has organized a wonderful series of short films, entitled “Visual Cavafy.” The Onassis Foundation, led by Anthony S. Papadimitriou, our President; Afroditi Panagiotakou, Director of Culture; Effie Tsiotsiou, Executive Director and Director of Education; Marianna Christofi, Archivist, and Advisor, Professor Stathis Gourgouris have, through their artistic partnership and leadership, made it possible for us to share Cavafy’s work with our New York audiences on an unprecedented scale.I hope you will join us for many of the events at National Sawdust, our partner venues, online, and on television, through our extensive media partnership with WNET’s All Arts and The Onassis Channel."- Karen Brooks Hopkins, Senior Advisor, Onassis USA
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