{"id":10347,"date":"2024-11-01T05:51:03","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T05:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greek-theatre.gr\/new\/onassis-cultural-center-new-york-announces-antigone-now\/"},"modified":"2024-11-01T06:37:43","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T06:37:43","slug":"onassis-cultural-center-new-york-announces-antigone-now","status":"publish","type":"new","link":"https:\/\/greek-theatre.gr\/en\/new\/onassis-cultural-center-new-york-announces-antigone-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Onassis Cultural Center New York Announces Antigone Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four-Day Free Festival Will Explore Contemporary Interpretations<\/strong>
\nof the Story of Antigone<\/strong><\/p>\n

Participants to include, C\u00e9line Cousteau, Bryan Doerries, Jaha Dukureh, Mona Eltahawy, Anya Kamenetz, Maria Papadimitriou, Gloria Reuben, Stefanos Tsivopoulos, Carrie Mae Weems, Samira Wiley and Lee Woodruff.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Onassis Festival NY to Launch #iSTANDfor, a Global Digital Campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n

New York, NY (August 25, 2016) \u2013 The Onassis Cultural Center New York launches its fall season with the second annual Onassis Festival of Arts and Ideas.\u00a0Antigone Now<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0will be presented October 13-16 at the Onassis Cultural Center New York, in the Olympic Tower in mid-town Manhattan. The story of Sophocles\u2019\u00a0Antigone<\/em>, an ancient Greek tragedy about personal conviction is the central theme for this year\u2019s Festival. With bold and innovative programming,\u00a0Antigone Now<\/em>\u00a0explores the myth through visual and performing arts, family programs, and digital media. The Festival will also introduce a galvanizing digital initiative,\u00a0#iSTANDfor<\/a>. Drawing from Antigone\u2019s famed courage in standing for what she believed, #iSTANDfor will encourage young people around the world to share stories of inspiration and change via their social media channels and a dedicated web site. #iSTANDfor shines a spotlight on, and celebrates the young women and men around the globe whose individual and collective acts of heroism and bravery are changing our world for the better. Free and open to the public,\u00a0Antigone Now<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0at the Onassis Cultural Center New York (645 5th Avenue, New York, NY), will include over 30 events for participants of all ages and interests\u2014on site and online.<\/p>\n

\u201cFocusing on the story of Antigone to promote a deeper understanding of how ancient Greek culture has shaped and enriched our modern value systems,Antigone Now<\/em>\u00a0will foster a dialogue among people from the United States and around the globe about many of the problems we face
\nin the world today,\u201d says\u00a0Anthony Papadimitriou<\/em><\/strong>, President, Onassis Foundation. \u201cAntigone\u2019s love for her brother, her sense of duty and her courage to challenge powerful forces, especially as a woman, makes her an admirable figure. Her heroic story applies to many of today\u2019s topical
\nissues such as power struggles, women\u2019s rights, societal laws and immigration \u2013 only a few examples.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSophocles\u2019\u00a0Antigone<\/em>\u00a0speaks to the values and perils of our democratic culture. In organizing this Festival, it has been extremely inspiring to see how artists and thinkers have responded so passionately to this Greek tragedy and the questions it raises for our fractious times, by creating works that call for positive action and unity.\u201d \u2013Amalia Cosmetatou<\/em><\/strong>, Executive and Cultural Director of the Onassis Foundation USA.<\/p>\n

Through exclusive commissions and by building surprising connections, the\u00a0Antigone Now<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0program explores Sophocles\u2019 play across an extensive and diverse range of artistic disciplines, presented by both Greek and American artists. The Festival\u2019s\u00a0#iSTANDfor<\/strong>\u00a0digital platform will augment the program globally.<\/p>\n

Antigone: The Story<\/u><\/strong>
\nSophocles\u2019\u00a0Antigone<\/em>\u00a0is an ancient Greek tragedy about a teenage girl, who defies secular authority by declaring her allegiance to a higher law. Antigone, Oedipus\u2019 daughter, wishes to bury her brother, Polyneices, who died in a brutal civil war against his own brother, Eteocles. Creon, their uncle, and new, untested king, who has just replaced the dead brothers on the throne, rules that Polyneices\u2019 body must remain above the earth to be ravaged by vultures and wild dogs, because he led an army against his own country, Thebes, and must be punished as a traitor.\u00a0Anyone who breaks this law, Creon orders, will be put to death. Antigone openly and intentionally defies him, honoring her brother\u2019s body with proper burial rites, following a higher law, one that transcends that of the state\u2014divine law. Creon is then forced, by his own political rhetoric, and by the fragile authority that he has barely begun to establish since the civil war, to make an example of his niece, by sentencing her to death. In the process of following through with his own decree, Creon loses everything: his son\u2014who was engaged to marry Antigone\u2014his wife, his throne, and the order he struggled so hard to defend. At its core,\u00a0Antigone<\/em>\u00a0is a play about what happens when personal conviction and state law clash, raising the question: When everyone is right (or feels justified), how do we avert the violence that will inevitably take place?<\/p>\n

ANTIGONE NOW\u2013 SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS<\/u><\/strong>
\nOpening Night:<\/strong>\u00a0Past Tense<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(October 13): Acclaimed artist\u00a0Carrie Mae Weems<\/strong>, deemed \u201cone of the more interesting artists working in the gap between art and politics\u201d by\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>, is creating a new performance-based work,\u00a0Past Tense<\/em><\/strong>, for the opening night of the Onassis Festival NY 2016. Through song, text, projection and video, this performance lecture, featuring stunning singers\u00a0Alicia Hall Moran, Imani Uzuri\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Eisa Davis<\/strong>, takes us on a deep dive into the enduring significance of the iconic\u00a0Antigone<\/em>, and its profound relevance to our contemporary moment. It marks the confluence of history. Weems says, \u201cWhile working on\u00a0Grace Notes<\/em>\u00a0for months it occurred to me that I was telling the story of Antigone, wherein an innocent man dies by unjustified means and his sister fights for the right to bury him honorably. But the wider community refuses her; her right to justice, and to peace, is denied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Digital Campaign:\u00a0#iSTANDfor<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(August 24\u2013December 2016): #iSTANDfor is a digital campaign which will empower young people around the world to engage with each other to support common causes\u2014societal, economic, or environmental\u2014and share stories of inspiration and activism via their social media channels. During the Festival a video wall will project a live-feed of #iSTANDfor messages as they appear on social media platforms, as well as quotes from #iSTANDfor \u2018ambassadors,\u2019 and the #iSTANDfor video teaser.<\/p>\n

#iSTANDfor Stage<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(October 15): On Saturday in the\u00a0Olympic Tower Atrium<\/strong>\u00a0there will be an\u00a0#iSTANDfor Stage<\/strong>\u00a0holding lively back-to-back talks with notable participants passionate about the\u00a0Antigone Now<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0themes (sessions will be 45 minutes, with 15 minute breaks in between).<\/p>\n

Topics include:<\/p>\n