ISSUE #04

GREECE 200

In his poem "Ithaca," Constantine P. Cavafy, a Greek from Alexandria, describes Ulysses’s island as the prize for an intrepid voyager undertaking life's journey. Ithaca is poor and humble; however, the poet is now rich in experiences and knowledge, fearless of monsters and perils, and even equal in fame to immortal gods.

Nostos is the Greek word for "longing for home." Longing/Sehnsucht is the title of a jewelry series created by fourteen students at the Pforzheim School of Design who were inspired by Greece's heritage and challenged by SMCK's question: What is Greece to you?
What is Greece to us? The ancient cities and temples? The concept of life and death? The ideal of beauty? Philosophy or yearning for wisdom? The arts and crafts? Poetry and music? Politics, freedom, and democracy? Faith and truth? Love for nature? Soft healing? Sharing and empathy as social practice? The Greek people? The diaspora? The philhellenes? The Greek cosmopolites? The vast cultural heritage?

This GREECE 200 issue celebrates the 200th anniversary of Greece's War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire by presenting stunning examples of the rich and enriching contemporary Greece.
Robert Liddell, the British writer and Cavafy's biographer, mentions a meeting of the Greek poet with F. T. Marinetti in 1930. The latter called Cavafy a "futurist." Cavafy politely demurred; Marinetti explained: "The one who is avantgarde in life or art is a futurist."
Rooted in the long tradition of poetry recited in the courts of Syria and Egypt – Greek kingdoms established after the death of Alexander of Macedonia – Cavafy's work is timeless, unique, and inimitable. It is the very definition of avantgarde.

Every designer and artist, regardless of origin or background, who decides to dig in the fruitful soil of Greek tradition will discover that the country's treasures give ingenious answers to tomorrow's challenges.