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  A marble female figurine from the early Cycladic II period, circa 2700-2300 BC.

With the Olympic Games in Beijing almost upon us, the Chinese capital is getting ready to welcome some of the wonders of one of Europe’s oldest civilizations. "The Cyclades: Masterpieces of an Aegean Culture" is an archaeological exhibition that will go on display at Beijing’s Imperial City Art Museum on April 3 and is scheduled to run to May 15.

On loan from the Museum of Cycladic Art and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, figurines, tools and pots, dating to the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, are set to travel to China for the first time. The exhibition is part of the ongoing Cultural Year of Greece in China, which started last September and includes more interesting cultural events.

“This is the first archaeological exhibition of the Cultural Year of Greece in China,” said Sandra Marinopoulou, the new President of the N.P. Goulandris Foundation [who took over after the death of Dolly Goulandris], at a recent press conference. She pointed out that a display of artifacts from the ancient Cycladic civilization – the culture that flourished on the islands of the Cyclades – is of particular importance in a country that has not had much contact with Greek culture, because the exhibits are highly reminiscent of modern artworks by 20th-century artists whom they have inspired.

  The exhibits have been carefully arranged so as to reflect a sense of familiarity, as Nikolaos Stambolidis, Director of the Museum of Cycladic Art, explained. “We had at our disposal a huge space with glass displays which could have made the few statuettes almost disappear,” said Bessy Drouga from the National Archaeological Museum. Yet the opposite effect was achieved, since the exhibition has been enriched with maps of Europe as well as colors reminiscent of the Aegean Sea. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog in Chinese and English.

Situated in the center of Beijing, in Chang Pu He Park, the Imperial City Art Museum opened its gates to the public in June 2003. The two-floor structure houses traditional Chinese art but is also keen on showcasing international artwork.

Further events organized in the context of the Cultural Year of Greece in China, as Sofoklis Psilianos, general secretary for the Olympic Utilization explained, include an exhibition of costumes from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, a large exhibition in collaboration with Greece’s National Archaeological Museum, a performance of Dimitris Papaioannou’s staging of "Medea" as well as Sophocles’ tragedy "Ajax" by the Attis Theater, among other activities.

There's also a scale model of the Museum's "Parthenon Gallery". The Gallery will house the original blocks of the frieze and other elements of the architectural decoration of the Parthenon. The new Museum in Athens will be fully opened by late 2008.

Another remarkable event this week debuts a contemporary adaptation of an ancient comedy, by Aristophanes. "The Birds", is to open at Beijing's National Grand Theatre.

The Birds originally was staged nearly 25 hundred years ago, shaping a Utopian ideal of a city comprised of men and birds. The contemporary adaptation, staged for the first time 47 years ago is considered a digest of modern Greek culture and a benchmark in modern Greek cultural history. It is considered the most successful post-war Greek drama to travel the world.

Greek Minister of Culture Mihalis Liapis attended the press conference announcing the events. The Minister said, "During the exhibition, I will promote an agreement with my Chinese colleagues to prevent the smuggling of cultural relics. I know both China and Greece have suffered inestimable losses from smuggling. As for the "Birds", I believe Chinese the audience will love it. It is a masterpiece beyond time and space. We hope to showcase not only the ancient history and culture of Greece, but also it's modern life. And you will find it all in the year of culture."

The Greek Minister of Culture also noted that lighting ceremony for the Olympic flame for the Beijing Olympic Games will be gathered at Olympia, Greece, on March 24. Preparations already are in place.

Aristophanes’ masterpiece “The Birds” opened at the Chinese city’s Grand National Theater last night. The sold-out performances are based on a celebrated production presented for the first time by Karolos Koun’s Theatro Technis at the Herod Atticus Theater in 1959.

The second event, an exhibition on the New Acropolis Museum, was inaugurated at the Hellenic House in Beijing earlier this week.

Presenting both events at a press conference in Beijing yesterday, Greek Culture Minister Michalis Liapis expressed his satisfaction with the way Chinese audiences have responded to the Greek cultural presence. Liapis also announced a large-scale music event scheduled to take place during the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Saturday’s concert at the Beijing Conservatory of Music in the Chinese capital will feature works by five contemporary Greek composers. The Cultural Year of Greece in China series is set to run until next September.

An energetic ensemble that performs extensively both at home and abroad, the Camerata – Friends of Music Orchestra, Greece’s leading chamber orchestra, will perform in China this Saturday at the capital’s Beijing Conservatory of Music.

The show, the latest event for the Cultural Year of Greece in China, a series leading to next summer’s Beijing Olympics, will present to the Chinese public works by five contemporary Greek composers.

The repertoire includes “Kitrino potami” by Giorgos Kouroupos, a composition for soprano and chamber orchestra featuring excerpts of Chinese poetry; “A une Madone,” a project by Dimitris Terzakis for violin and strings orchestra that was inspired by Charles Baudelaire’s poem of the same name; “Kouragio” a work for strings by the Greek-American composer George Tsontakis; “Zeitgeist” by Christos Hatzis; and “Slow Motion” by Thanos Mikroutsikos. The Camerata, conducted by Nikos Tsouchlos, will be joined by soprano Maria Mitsopoulou and violinist Sergiu Nastasa.

The Camerata’s concert on Saturday will be preceded by a performance this Friday by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra with its renditions of compositions by Jani Christou, Nikos Skalkottas, Iannis Xenakis and Giorgos Koumentakis, one of the country’s more gifted newer-generation composers who was commissioned for material that graced the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics in 2004. Also, classical pianist Dimitris Sgouros will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No 3.

Other upcoming events on the Cultural Year of Greece in China agenda include a performance by the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra next month that will be dedicated to Nikos Kazantzakis. The concert, scheduled for December 14, will feature pieces by prominent Greek and foreign composers that were based on works by the writer. Also, the Athens State Orchestra will perform in six Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, between December 27 and January 7.

A shorter version of Classical Memories in Modern Greek Art, part of the Culture Ministry's Greek Cultural Year in China agenda of events in view of the 2008 Olympics, was first presented at the Cultural Centre of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation in New York. The exhibition will travel to Athens in December in its full, China-specific version.

Speaking at a press meeting, Antonis S Papadimitriou, President of the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation, the show's sole sponsor, said that the choice of title could also be suitable for an archaeological exhibition. "However, the featured paintings of select classic, I daresay, contemporary Greek artists face the future and the past at one go," he said.

Greek artists' encounter with their roots was not a simple or self-evident affair, according to the National Gallery's Director, Marina Lambraki-Plaka. The founding of the independent Greek state in 1830 placed Greeks' contact with their cultural heritage on new grounds. But it was not until the end of the 19th century that Greek artists, nurtured by the academic principles of the Munich School, manifested a vivid, nevertheless short-lived, interest in the revival of the spirit of antiquity. At the turn of the century, however, the Munich School was dropped in favour of the light-radiating palette of the French Impressionists, who displayed no interest in antiquity.

"Greek art's turn to antiquity coincides with the interwar period," Lambraki-Plaka pointed out. "It was actually Konstantinos Parthenis who initiated the dialogue with our heavily weighing ancient heritage, urging Greek artists to set aside their reservations and begin to address the ancient world's seductive myths and forms."

Spanning the period from the 1920s to present day, Classical Memories in Modern Greek Art features representative works by 1930s artists such as Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, Yannis Moralis and their descendants, as well as contemporary artists Christos Bokoros and Tassos Christakis.

Greek heritage, though, is not confined to classical antiquity alone, but spreads into the realm of Byzantine sources and folk tradition.

These multiple points of reference are evident in the National Gallery's show. Parthenis' elongated forms combine elements from antiquity and Byzantium, as well as El Greco's art. Ghika's Cubism-influenced compositions reflect the architectural patterns of Greek islands and the pagan spirit of ancient mythology, while Fotis Kontoglou borrows heavily from the Fayum iconography, which has also inspired the art of Moralis.

Giorgio de Chirico's metaphysical approach, also encountered in Sarandis Karavouzis' art, and Byzantine themes coexist in Nikos Engonopoulos' art. Yannis Tsarouchis' handsome youths and male nudes, stripped of religion-associated guilt, suggest a celebration of paganism, a quality that also permeates Alekos Fassianos' anthropocentric paintings. Sotiris Sorongas' turn to antiquity is used as a vehicle to address existential matters. And Bokoros comes up with symbolic compositions to suggest the longevity of painting. Greek sculpture is represented through the work of Christos Kapralos, Ioannis Avramidis and Thodoros.

Opening the event on Wednesday, Greek Culture Minister Michalis Liapis said the aim of the event was to attract global interest "by constantly presenting a flavor of Greek culture in the country which is organizing the 2008 Olympic Games". The Minister noted that they aimed to "present the modern character and the development over history of Greek civilization to the Chinese people". He added that the Year of Greek Culture would further enhance ties between the two countries.

The event will officially begin on October 19 with a concert featuring Greek composer Stamatis Spanoudakis' new work "Alexander: Paths You Haven't Travelled" at the Beijing Poly Theater.

An exhibition, named "Classical Memories in Contemporary Greek Art", runs from October 16 to November 16 in the Beijing-based Capital Museum.

Others events include theatrical and dance performances, cinema tributes, archaeological and modern art exhibitions, opera, folk concerts, modern and popular music, conferences and book exhibitions. The theatrical performances include classical dramas with a history of over 2000 years, like Aristophanes' comedy "The Birds" and Sophocles' tragedy "Aias".

Dance performance "Medea," whose director is also the artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, will be performed in May and June 2008.

As part of one-year long program, the Hellenic Cultural Center has been set up adjacent to Beijing's Forbidden City, and activities including exhibitions, seminars and lectures will be held there.

Just 10 months before the Olympic Games kick off in Beijing, a modern art exhibition in the Asian capital will highlight the relationship between Greek artists and antiquity. As the Cultural Year of Greece in China is already under way, with its official opening scheduled to take place this week, Greek Minister of Culture Michalis Liapis will inaugurate “Classical Memories in Modern Greek Art” at the Capital Museum of China tomorrow. The exhibition will run to November 16, before traveling to Greece where it will go on display in early December.

The exhibition was first showcased at the Onassis Cultural Center of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation in New York in 2001, though on a smaller scale. The foundation took the initiative to support the current project, which is jointly organized by the Greek National Gallery and the Ministry of Culture. Works by a variety of contemporary Greek artists, from the so-called 1930s generation to the present, will demonstrate the different ways in which antiquity has influenced modern Greek creation.

“This exhibition is very appropriate, since both Greece and China have two of the most important ancient legacies,” said Marina Lambraki-Plaka, Director of the National Gallery, at a press conference on Monday. She explained that the dialogue between Greek artists and antiquity did not come about easily and was in essence started by artist Constantinos Parthenis after WWI, at a time when all of Europe was getting reaquainted with its local traditions. “Younger generations experience their legacy as a debt and the dialogue between Greek artists and our ancient legacy started very late. This exhibition is highly indicative of what has been happening in Greece from the 1920s to today. At the same time, it demonstrates the complex dialogue between modern Greek artists and antiquity.”

“Greece is based on its past but lives in the present, although unfortunately the latter is not very well known. This display will show that Greece has a presence today and that it produces important art,” said Anthony S. Papadimitriou, President of the Foundation.

Participating artists include members of the groundbreaking “1930s generation” movement, which revolutionized Greek visual arts and literature, as well as more recent artists. All have been inspired not only by what is perceived as the classic stereotypes of antiquity, but also by Byzantium and Greek folk culture and have depicted their experiences in a variety of forms. There are paintings by the man who had a decisive influence, both through his work and his teaching, on the development of 20th century Greek art, Constantinos Parthenis (1878-1967), by prominent surrealist artist and poet Nikos Engonopoulos (1907-1985) and cubist Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas among others. More contemporary artists include Yiannis Psychopedis, Alekos Fassianos and Christos Bokoros.

Besides the aforementioned artists, “Classical Memories in Modern Greek Art” will also feature paintings and sculpture by Ioannis Avramidis, Christos Caras, Tassos Christakis, Ilias Dekoulakos, Achilleas Droungas, Georgios Gounaropoulos, Christos Kapralos, Sarantis Karavouzis, Giorgos Lazongas, Michalis Manoussakis, Giorgos Mavroidis, Yannis Moralis, Dimitris Mytaras, Nikos Nikolaou, Angelos Papadimitriou, Dimitris Perdikidis, Paris Prekas, Sotiris Sorongas, Panayiotis Tanimanidis, Panayiotis Tetsis, Thodoros, Yiannis Tsarouchis and Spyros Vassileiou.

In 1996, he became the owner of Tzivanidis, the oldest homeopathy medical store in the country and began promoting the magic of herbs with his natural therapies. Since then, Korres has expanded the business to include a range of more than 300 products encompassing face, body, hair and sun care, Korres color, Korres Greek flora and a special line for men. The brand claims that its products “broadly avoid synthetic components that can comprise up to 30-60 per cent of cosmetic formulae, replacing them with greatly beneficial, naturally derived ingredients”.

These include native Greek flowers and herbs such as thyme, basil and crocus, as well as yogurt and honey. Korres has also begun cooperating with Chios Mastiha Growers Association to develop a special line featuring their unique resin. Having spread from Greece to New York, Taiwan and London, Korres will make its debut in Shanghai this month.

Check out the skin care brand that stars like Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue and Naomi Campbell rave about. Despite its celebrity cachet, all products are reasonably priced.

Location: JB City Plaza, 1618 Nanjing Xi Lu

Related Links > www.korres.com

The series of events officially begin on October 19 with performance of Greek composer Stamatis Spanoudakis' new work "Alexander: Paths you haven't traveled". The September 27 concert will feature noted mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa.

According to the Culture Ministry's leadership on Tuesday, events will include theatrical performances, cinema tributes, dance, archaeological and modern art exhibitions, opera, folk concerts, modern and popular music, conferences as well as book exhibitions.

Additionally, the Hellenic Cultural Centre will open in the centre of the Chinese capital for the next two years, coinciding with Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, where it is expected to host exhibitions, seminars as well as commercial events.

Students of Innova JC shared the highlights in a clip that was submitted for MediaCorp News' Roving DV competition, where students shoot, edit, script and narrate a news clip involving their school. Student reporters, Marvin Tang and Kong Jeng Huey, reported live at the musical performance that was put up by Innova students.

The musical was largely inspired by Greek mythology as the ancient Greece had significant accomplishments in producing thinkers, pioneering the study of science, developing the model of democracy, as well as cultivating the love of finer things like culture and literature.

During her opening address, Principal Yeo Hong Mui officially announced the new status of Innova Junior College as the Centre of Excellence for New Media and New Media Arts. Innova JC's school song was penned by celebrated songwriter and performer Dick Lee, with added lyrics by Madam Citra.

Kounellis, born in Pireaus, Greece in 1936 and living in Rome since 1956, made a name for himself when, in 1967, he joined the arte povera (poor art) movement in Italy, initiated by critic Germano Celant. Poor art refers to the use of humble materials, both antique and modern, man-made and organic, in the making of a piece.

After a stint with modernist painting, Kounellis began to challenge the edicts of classical art and introduce found objects such as live animals, burlap, coal, trolleys, smoke and odd pieces of furniture into his works. His current installation contains 12 clusters of 12 old wooden chairs in a circular format. In each circle, under the dismal light of a specially erected street lamp, Kounellis has created a series of visual conundrums: a pile of earth, scores of black shoes, large cloth bundles or sewing machines on each chair, or the chalk outline of a body from a crime scene are the kinds of ciphers the viewer is exposed to. What they mean belongs to the imagination of the person moving between the circles. And why 12? Are they the Apostles, a representation of the zodiac, or possibly a reference to Israel's tribes? Or do they merely reflect on the relationship between art and life?

Jannis Kounellis, Main Gate Hangar, Jaffa Port. Information on opening hours:  (03) 681-6834.

Since first appearing there in 1987, the Greek singer has pursued something of a love affair with Israeli audiences. All his shows there have sold out, and his records have done brisk business over the years. His forthcoming visit on September 24-27 was originally a two-date tour, but due to the rush for tickets, the organizers had added a third gig to the agenda.

Dalaras has been at the top of his profession for over 30 years. During that time he has cemented his standing as one of Greece's most successful artists but has also managed to appeal to a wider audience across the globe. If you are trying to access market sectors outside your own cultural milieu, it helps to perform material in the audience's own language, so Dalaras has recorded and performed songs in numerous languages, including Hebrew. On his forthcoming tour, his repertoire will include Dalaras' readings of songs by a whole slew of top Israeli songwriters and artists, including Yehudah Poliker, Haim Moshe and Zohar Argov.

Dalaras has also spread it around stylistically over the years, incorporating Greek genres, such as rebetiko and laiko, along with Latin material, pop and even Arabic compositions. Dalaras has also mixed it with some of the biggest names in the Western music pantheon, with his brothers in music to date including the likes of Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Jethro Tull and Peter Gabriel.

Dalaras has also become known for his peace-mongering and is a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). While in Israel, Dalaras will donate his fee from one of the three concerts here to the Physicians for Human Rights organization.

At the Mann Auditorium on September 24 and 25 at 9 p.m.; At the Caesarea on September 27 at 8:45 p.m.

A new museum, a joint Jordanian-Greek project, is currently being constructed on the new 400-kilometer highway linking the capital of Amman with Aqaba, just three kilometers outside the town of Safi. The shell-shaped edifice enjoys a view of the Dead Sea on one side and a huge, bare mountain on the other.

The program for the construction of the building is already under way, while the museological study and lay-out of exhibits, the organization of exhibitions and educational programs, as well as the website design and development is being undertaken by a team of Greek experts. The museum is scheduled for inauguration in 2008.

Launched in 2002, the project was assigned by the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to the Greek Society of Middle Eastern Studies (EEMES), under the supervision of Dr Constantinos Politis, who spearheaded the program.

The professor has a profound knowledge of the region after conducting excavations and research there for over 23 years as a special envoy of the British Museum.

“Thanks to the finds yielded by those excavations, and especially the discovery of the Monastery of Saint Lot and the remnants of an Early Christian basilica containing mosaics with Greek inscriptions, the area was designated a holy site by the late King Hussein of Jordan,” explains archaeologist and museologist Giorgos Papaioannou, general secretary of EEMES and professor at the University of Ioannina, who is in charge of the museological study.

“Bronze Age cemeteries containing literally hundreds of thousands of graves that are of great architectural interest have been excavated by experts as well as illegal excavators. The Israelites, Egyptians, Nabataeans, Greeks and, after Alexander the Great, the Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans, all passed through the region, influencing the indigenous Arab communities,” explains the archaeologist.

Each has left its mark in the area, he says, be it in the form of architectural structures, ceramics, weaponry, grave sites, mosaics, inscriptions, jewelry or clothes.

“Monasticism developed in the early Byzantine years, as attested by the Monastery of Saint Lot, which dates to the 5th to 7th century and was excavated by Dr Constantinos Politis, as well as by the large number of places of retreat that have been found, most of which were carved into the rock of the wadis that can be found in the area. The site is mentioned in the Bible and in the Koran. It is said to be the site of Sodom and Gomorrah and a place visited by Moses, the prophets, Jesus, Mohammed and even Lawrence of Arabia,” says Papaioannou.

All this and more was what prompted the Jordanian government to promote and develop the area, which is, moreover, of special geological and geographical interest. The material that will comprise the new museum’s displays is rich and varied.

“Some of the artifacts are of equal value to the Dead Sea Scrolls,” says the Ioannina University professor.

Like many Cypriots, Christodoulos Antoniou Paphios is a man who knows how to pull strings. But Paphios is rather different than the rest, he is a shadow theatre puppeteer and a renowned one to say the least.

Cyprus is set to participate in an international festival for shadow theatre taking place in Iran on August 28 and Paphios will be our man out there.

He has already taken part in festivals around Europe and is now looking forward to taking his show to another continent. Performing his act, The Eerie Tree, Paphios, also a member of the Pan-Hellenic Association of Shadow Theatre and Association of Friends of Karagiozis, was selected to represent the island at the upcoming festival. “I have never performed in Asia, so I am really interested about the response of the audience,” he said. “I will also be looking forward to seeing other artists and their work.”

Speaking about the prospect of playing in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in what will be the 13th event of the International Ritual-Traditional Theatre Festival, Paphios said that he would attempt to do his own extensive research to please his newly awaiting audience. “Iran is well known for shadow theatre because of its ancient Persian tradition, so, if I have enough time, I’ll do some research and buy some new puppets to add to my collection.

“Anyone wanting to participate in the festival had to send a tape of their recorded performance,” he continued. “Then a special commission from the Dramatic Centre of Iran chose the artists and plays. Mine was one of the selected performances.”

The non Greek-speaking audience will be given a translated copy of the transcript of his performance at the festival.

Paphios took his passion for shadow theatre from his grandfather, Christodoulos Paphios, who is regarded as the best-known puppeteer of a generation. Paphios had been helping his grandfather from an early age. After finishing his studies in France, he then collected his grandfather’s puppets and gave his first performance in 1983.

When his grandfather died in 1987, at the age of 83, Paphios decided to continue the family tradition and embarked on an international career participating in festivals in Poland, Greece, the Czech Republic, Spain and France. During his journeys, Paphios also brings back puppets from the countries that he visits, adding to a collection of around 400 puppets that will be exhibited on September 17 at the University of Cyprus.

Paphios explained that he would be dedicating the exhibition to his mentor and grandfather. “I am going to show the puppets, photos and drawings of my grandfather,” he added. During the exhibition Paphios will perform a tribute to his grandfather by staging the tale of Alexander the Great and the Dragon, a favourite of both grandfather and grandson.

Paphios is also set to perform a landmark show in Lapithos, in the Turkish occupied north area of Cyprus, on September 21 and will perform a show with a rather different twist. “I will perform Eurovision,” he explained with a smile. “Each of my puppets will sing a different song, but it all will be about communication and friendship.”

Believing that the tradition of shadow theatre must be cultivated and passed down in his family, he is hoping that one day his son, Antonis, will follow in his family’s footsteps. He will be contributing to a remarkable legacy.

THE EERIE TREE > The Eerie Tree is a traditional story that features the famous character of Karagiozis (‘black eyes’ in Turkish). Karagiozis characterises poor people, and is usually the main speaker of the play.

In this particular tale, the title tree has become haunted by the bad spirit, which transforms everyone who steps under the tree into an animal. Every animal, according to the tale, is the alter ego of the transformed individual. Transformed into a donkey, Karagiozis finally manages to defeat the bad spirit by being enormously happy as a donkey since he can eat and make love whenever and wherever he wants. This in turn prompts the disgruntled bad spirit to convert all its victims back to their normal selves.

  Corner of the temple to Artemis at Failaka.

On his way back west from India, Alexander the Great’s Admiral Nearchos reached the island of Failaka, about 20 kilometers from what is now Kuwait City, and founded a town there called Icaros. Twenty-five centuries later, that Hellenistic city is slowly coming to light again on the 24-square-kilometer island that was depopulated during the Gulf War of 1991.

This coming November, Greek archaeologists are to go to the island to continue the excavations, organize the site, and restore the finds from that ancient Greek colony in the heart of the East. An accord to that effect was signed on July 25 by Culture Ministry General Secretary Christos Zachopoulos and the Kuwait National Council Secretary-General for Culture, the Arts and Letters Bader Abdulwahab Al-Rifae.

The island, which reflects “many periods of archaeological interest,” said Zachopoulos, has been previously excavated and has revealed part of a Hellenistic town and a temple to Artemis, the ancient Greek goddess of hunting.

Many Greek coins and inscriptions have been found, along with figurines and ceramic vessels. The most important artifact found so far is the Icaros inscription, consisting of 42 verses in Greek, a find that was decisive in identifying the island with the city of Icaros referred to by ancient historians Strabo and Arrian. Previous excavations were carried out by teams of archaeologists from Denmark, the USA, Italy, France and Kuwait.

Zachopoulos highlighted that the agreement signed is part of a broader cooperation program between the Culture Ministry and the Arab world that includes archaeological missions to Jordan, Oman and Syria. The Greek team is headed by archaeologist Angeliki Kottaridou, who has worked at the site in Vergina, and her deputy Panayiotis Hadzidakis, head of the Delos site.

A substantial find of 6th-8th century gold Byzantine coins in China has naturally sparked great interest both in China and Greece.

They are an addition to the growing friendship and cooperation between Beijing and Athens in view of the 2008 Olympic Games and cultural events connected with Greek Cultural Year in China.

The gold Byzantine coins and their numerous Chinese copies were found in royal tombs and had been placed over the mouth of the deceased or near the head. The copies raise questions, since the counterfeiting of coins was strictly prohibited throughout China on pain of death. In the Middle Ages, the Chinese saw Byzantium as a place of prosperity, and there is evidence of this in many old Chinese ceramics and illustrations that employ Byzantine elements.

Archaeologist Lin Ying of Sun Yat-Sen University in Hong Kong will study the Byzantine items found in China for a new book, she said on a visit with Liang Yequiang, the Athens correspondent for the Xinhua News Agency. China's Ambassador to Athens, Tian Xuejun, and his wife have shown great interest in Lin's research and are assisting her.

The discovery of the coins has also inspired writer and historian Katerina Agrafioti, biographer of Herod Atticus and Dora Stratou, to collect details linking Byzantium and China via the Silk Road. Professor Lin is a regular visitor to Athens. Visiting the Numismatic Museum to inspect the coins, she was given a guided tour by Museum Director Despina Evgenidou, who noted that the discovery of the coins opened «interesting prospects in relations between Byzantium and China which must be examined in depth.»

And Dimitra Tsangari, curator of Alpha Bank's coin collection, told Vorres Museum Director Ion Vorres, «We Greek archaeologists will do everything we can to help the research of our Chinese colleagues.»

Yet newly appointed Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing Maisie Cheng Mei-sze vigorously defended them Friday, saying they had not made a mistake in telling an exhibitor at the Hong Kong Book Fair to remove a book on Greek mythology because the front cover had a picture of a 1798 painting of a nude Psyche receiving her first kiss from Cupid.

  The authority later relented and allowed the bookseller to keep it on the stand, but not before news of the temporary ban had gone around the world and Hong Kong had its world face reddened. The painting, by French painter Francois Gerard (1770-1873), is titled Psyche receiving the first kiss of Cupid and which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

In explaining their apparent disrespect for art, Cheng said that on Wednesday night, a day before the exhibition opened, the authority's inspectors were invited by fair organizer Trade Development Council to visit the exhibition to give opinions to booksellers.

On seeing nakedness portrayed on the book cover and some inside pages, the officers told the Yuan-Liou (Hong Kong) Publishing Company to remove the book from the shelf as it may offend the sensitivities of some Hong Kong people. However, the authority relented the following day and informed the TDC which, in turn, informed the publisher.

"We discussed the book with the publishers and told them it may upset some members of the public ... it did not mean the book cannot be sold," Cheng said. "After our discussion, we thought there would be no problem." Cheng said inspectors at the fair had to make quick decisions and had no time for consultation and research. "It is not easy to deal with marginal cases," Cheng said.

She rejected claims the authority had made a mistake, but admitted there was room for improvement. Consequently, frontline staff will be given more training and the notification mechanism improved, she said. "The way the authority's inspectors handle such matters can be improved, especially the communication between frontline staff and their supervisors," Cheng said.

Yuan-Liou manager Chan Kwok- wah was less than enthusiastic about Cheng's explanation. "The frontline staff should be trained to make professional judgments," he said. "It is a waste of time if they have to keep referring to their supervisors and this could cause us to lose a business opportunity." He said the TELA officers just flipped through the book "casually" before deciding it was not suitable for sale.

In a separate incident, a Taiwanese publisher was found to be selling comic books laced with what appeared to be child pornography. Cheng said the publisher had been told to stop selling such comics until they had been properly inspected. She said to date no book at the fair has been classified as obscene.

Wang Zhonglong, a deputy editor of the comic's publisher, said policies with regard to such comics were different in Taiwan and he was unaware of local laws. He apologized for any offense caused and said they had been pulled from the book fair.

One of the chapiters depicts the Roman god of medicine and pharmaceutics Aesculapius, while the other depicts the Greek goddess of hunting Artemis, which was also known as Diana by the Romans and was a goddess of fertility in the East.

Two of the Corinthian columns were made from imported white marble, while the rest were made from sandstone. The site where these discoveries were made dates back to the Hellenistic and Roman era, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

Such was again the case on Friday night, when the National Gallery in Central Jakarta was transformed into a garden of abundant narcissus flowers, re-creating the atmosphere of Greek mythology for the 39 images of Narcissus on display.

Widayanto had left nothing to chance. Everything was as meticulously prepared as he had with his ceramic sculptures, from the flowers named after the tragic Greek hero to the classical pillars of that time, and from the different mirror frames to the framed certificates for each purchase. Widayanto's solo exhibition Narcissus Narcissus once more proves the enduring fascination with Greek mythology, with its gods and goddesses, demons, monsters and other supernatural creatures.

The myth of Narcissus has many variants. One story says that Narcissus had a twin sister. They looked alike and dressed alike, and he fell in love with her. When she died, Narcissus pined after her, gazing upon his own reflection in the water and pretending it was her. Another story says that Narcissus was exceedingly beautiful and was prophesied to live a long life, provided he never gazed upon his own features. He challenged the vengeance of the gods when he rejected the love of the nymph Echo and of his young male lover Ameinias. He fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water and died because of this obsession. It is also said that he was turned into a flower, thus named narcissus. The myth of Narcissus has been a constant source of inspiration among visual and literary artists for at least 2,000 years, according to Wikipedia.

But how remarkable that two exhibitions in Jakarta, held almost during the same period of time, were inspired by this same mythology. Hamad Khalaf and F. Widayanto, artists born in the Eastern hemisphere, both delving into the mythology of a people foreign to their own. While the Kuwait-born Khalaf seeks justice for all, drawing analogies between the greed, hatred and war raging in the mythological heavens and the same situation that is splitting the world of today, Indonesia's Widayanto is drawn to the dramatic and the romantic.

In presenting the 39 sculptured images of Narcissus, he draws on the widely used term "narcissistic", adorning his figures with jewelry, coquette poses and feminine clothing, as he says, the social tenor of male urbanites who love to beautify themselves as ladies of leisure do. Men today are in want of more attention, said Widayanto in an earlier interview.

His Narcissus sculptures in the ongoing exhibition are meant to reflect the male figure by taking on the air of the female, mostly through gestures, expressions and poses that recall the artist's female sculptures of previous exhibitions.

Such duality is also noted in the execution of the exhibition, which re-creates the Greek environment with Widayanto and his team wearing headdresses from classical Greece, as well as in the Narcissus figures whose facial features take after classical Javanese art. The titles also include names or words that may be either Javanese or Sundanese.

As usual, Widayanto's works are executed with meticulous craftsmanship, exposing his experience as a ceramist of over 15 years. Created at his studio in Tapos, Bogor, the clay used in these sculptures was taken from Sukabumi, West Java.

Born in 1953 in Jakarta, Widayanto graduated in 1981 from the Ceramics Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design at the Bandung Institute of Technology. This is his twelfth solo exhibition since 1987.

Narcissus Narcissus, A solo exhibition of ceramic sculptures, Through July 5, Galeri Nasional, Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur 14, Central Jakarta, Indonesia.

Yon affirmed the importance of these texts in introducing Palmyra's civilization and its cultural impact on east and west to scholars and scientists.

Yon pointed out that Palmyra is considered an important center for similar studies, with it having been a melting pot that gathered most of the world's cultural and civilized currents during the first three AD centuries.

To that end, the government flew Konstantinos Vasalos, executive chef of the prestigious Greek Yacht Club, into Tokyo last month to showcase Greek food, both traditional and modern, in tandem with Kiyomi Mikuni, a celebrated French cuisine chef and Greek culinary expert.

Although Greek cooking, known for extensive use of olive oil, seasonal vegetables and fresh herbs, shares similarities with Italian and Spanish cuisines, its distinguishing characteristic is its rustic heartiness, "a taste of home," as described by Mikuni, head of Shinjuku's Hotel de Mikuni.

"Cooking today has become too complicated, and confusing," Mikuni lamented. "In Greek cuisine lies the essence of Slow Food. Eating what's in season is good for your health. You'll find what's important in life when you go to Greece."

Surprisingly, Greek and Japanese cuisines share a number of similarities: Octopus is widely eaten, with fish traditionally being the main protein source. The Greeks, like Japanese, also savor raw sea urchin and botargo (karasumi in Japanese), which is cured gray mullet roe and a highly prized delicacy. But above all, the two cuisines share the underpinning philosophy of using the freshest ingredients and minimizing interference with their natural flavors, Vasalos said, adding: "Japanese food reflects a love of nature that Greeks share."

"A Taste of Greece," organized by the Hellenic Foreign Trade Board (HEPO) and the Greek National Tourism Organization, arrived in Tokyo last month following its launch in New York last autumn. The campaign is intended to promote Greek olive oil, cheeses, herbs, wines and other agricultural products. "It's simple but never plain," agrees Aglaia Kremezi, author of the award-winning "The Foods of Greece."

The Tokyo promotion began with a dinner hosted by The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, where Vasalos cooked some of his original recipes for more than 120 guests, including Greek Transport and Communication Minister Michael Lapis, on an official visit to Japan. Vasalos' five-course feast began with a mousse featuring botargo. This was served in a "purse" of smoked salmon tied with a leek. At the Yacht Club, he routinely uses sliced raw serranid instead. Kozani saffron soup followed, then came calamari "spaghetti" with feta cheese and a modern moussaka, free of the high-calorie bechamel sauce traditionally used, served with fresh tomato coulis. The dessert was an ice-cream filled Greek beignet, deep-fried pastry, served with Greek thyme honey sauce.

"The food was excellent," the Greek Minister commented as he left. "It was the best dinner I've ever had at this club," said Chuck Lingam, an FCCJ Life Member.

For Vasalos' cooking demonstration held last month in front of more than 30 chefs from hotels and restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka, Mikuni joined in with his own Greek-inspired recipes. Mikuni prepared two dishes, one featuring octopus and ratatouille, and the other sea bass, ouzo, an aniseed-based alcoholic drink, and Greek beer, followed by Vasalos who cooked five traditional dishes including spanakopita, Greek spinach pie with feta cheese, and deep fried cod fillets with garlic sauce.

"This is how my mother made it," said Vasalos, as he poured olive oil over the spanakopita, which is on the menu at the well-heeled yacht owner's club, where the late Aristotle Onassis was a member and the President of Greece, Karolos Papoulias, is currently the patron.

Chefs from the Grand Prince Hotel, Tokyo Disney Sea and more than two dozen other restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka are expected to introduce "a taste of Greece" in their eateries over the next 14 months.

"The demonstration was very easy to follow," said Yoshitaka Fukushima, assistant manager of Hotel Kintetsu Universal City in Osaka, as he walked away with a Vasalos-Mikuni recipe book distributed by the organizers. Kazuo Kogoshi, a chef from Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa, commented: "Cooking methods aren't too complicated. It should be easy enough to adapt some of them for our restaurant."

"I'd like to present my recipes to those who love food, said Vasalos, who was brought up on Sifnos island, about 100 km southeast of Athens, where he relished home-baked bread and slow-roasted chick peas in a wooden fired oven for Sunday lunch. "Modern cooking, in many cases, has lost a sense of purpose. It doesn't feed the soul."

HEPO named its gastronomic promotion Kerasma, meaning "a treat" in Greek, as the sharing of food with families or friends, at home or tavernas, is a way of life in Greece.

"As long as families remain at the core of the society, and grandmothers remain active in the kitchen, good food will survive," said Vasalos, who learned cooking from his mother. "In Greece, too, there is a battle between yesterday's values and today's, and if yesterday's win it will be good for everyone," he continued.

In the meantime, over the last few years Vasalos' cooking has seen some Japanese influence, particularly in presentation techniques, he said, concluding: "I'd like to come back here to explore Japanese food. I'd like to refine Greek cuisine the way Mikuni did French cuisine."

For more information in English or Japanese on the "A Taste of Greece" campaign in Japan, visit www.visitgreece.jp/gourmet/gourmet5.html For information in English on the campaign worldwide, visit www.kerasma.gr 

Kalashadur in-charge Athanasios Lerounis, a teacher at a technical school in Athens and member of the GVs, had started work on the Museum in 1995. He said that the GVs had been established in 1999. Before the establishment of the NGO he was working individually under a Greek teachers’ federation.

The NGO has started welfare activities in the Hindukush range where the Kalash valley exists. It has constructed schools, water tanks and hospitals and provided free medical treatment to the valley residents.

In 2001, it built the Bashali maternity home in the Karakal village of Bamboret and completed the construction of Kalashadur in 2004 with the assistance of its main sponsor, Hellenic Aid of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lerounis said the GVs members worked voluntarily and the entire fund was exclusively spent on the welfare of the people of the region. The NGO supervises the work from its foundation to completion.

The aim of Kalashadur, he said, was to support the unique Kalasha tradition and improve education, health and living standards of the people in three Kalash valleys, Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir.

Lerounis also said the NGO had also planned a health centre, a school, seminar halls, a technical centre, a library and an ethnological museum in Bambore.