meaningful moments
Anchor points
20 May 2023
Anchor point 1:
Exceptional Transport
On 20 May 2023, we handed over George Dalaras’ bouzouki to the Museum Vleeshuis. This museum is a partner of our project. It is a dynamic music-inspired museum that aims to capture the sound of the city. Under the title ‘The sound of the city’, Museum Vleeshuis brings 600 years of music back to life. Literally!
Housed in one of Antwerp’s oldest medieval treasures, the museum is just around the corner from the former Greek quarter.
Mister Dalaras made the donation out of sympathy for the sailors’ project but also as a tribute to his father’s generation of musicians who came to earn their living here last century. The handover of the bouzouki was realised with a boat trip between Brussels and Antwerp and a procession across the Grote Markt. Several dozen musicians took part, all active in Greek music.
3 October 2023
Anchor point 2:
With United Partners
On 3 October 2023, we gathered with our partners at MAS (Museum aan de Stroom) to get a better feel of IN ΣKIPPERΣTREET. We also looked forward to the expected project results in 2024. It was a first moment of sharing knowledge and a first physical gathering of this surely very large partnership around a very layered project. One of the questions was how to preserve the ‘excavated material’ (f.i. the interviews).
We also watched an artistic short film based on literary work by Greek sailor-writer Nikos Kavvadias and ended the day with a walk in the Skippers’ Quarter.
6 December 2023
Anchor point 3:
Once upon a time there was… Saint-Nicolas
Which Greek customs are still honoured today in Flanders? Hosted by our partner Stadsmagazijn, we brainstormed with several other project partners and
representatives of the Greek heritage community around this question. Fairly quickly we came up with a solid list!
The next question we pondered was: which of these practices are worth registering in the Great Collection that the Werkplaats Immaterieel Erfgoed (Workshop for Intangible Heritage) manages for the Flemish community?
Getting some of these practices registered is one of the aims of IN ΣKIPPERΣTREET. By doing so, we aim to raise awareness around migration heritage and set the example for other heritage communities in which migration plays an important role.
We decided to register the use of tapping red Easter eggs or “tsougkrisma”… around the Easter period. After all, we still needed to celebrate Christmas with
brio first! Not to mention the fact that we were discussing all this on the day when the patron saint of Greek sailors was celebrated: Agios Nikolaos!
2024
Next anchor points
The Anchor Points for the year 2024 are in preparation. We have in mind lectures, films and concerts, whether or not in combination. Although the dates, interpretation and form need further concretisation, we also want to explore how to link them to Heritage Day (Sunday the 21st of April) with the theme ‘Home’ and to Open Monuments Day (Sunday the 8th of September) with the theme ‘Heritage of routes, networks and connections’.