The journalist, actor and director Vasilis Panayi writes about Omilos! Article in the greek-cypriot newspaper of London “Paroikiaki”
After our music event on Byzantine music at the Hellenic Centre London (21/10/2022), the charismatic actor, director and journalist Mr. Vassilis Panayi shared his impressions with the readers of the newspaper “Paroikiaki”.
先生. Panayi is always interested in our work and gives us the floor to talk about our activities through his TV shows.
We thank him wholeheartedly for unfolding the aspects of our work with his genuine lyrical word and we wish him strength, health and success in his multifaceted cultural path.
You can read his article here:
“During the previous week, I had the joy and pleasure to find myself among people whose desire is to offer to their fellow human beings moments that make them feel calmness and peacefulness.
People whose purpose is to produce civilisation. Civilisation is the most benign thing that brings human beings closer together and gives them the opportunity to converse and exchange opinions on how to make the world a better place.
The Servers’ Society are a group that has come to us from Athens, and we have come to know them through the events that they have organised in the past, always with the ultimate aim of creating an atmosphere that unites people, whoever they may be, wherever they may come from.
They produce civilisation with nothing in return apart from having people around them who enjoy the themes of the events that they organise.
Last Friday (21-10-2022) they came to us again from Athens and they gave us a wonderful presentation on the subject of Byzantine music and its evolution through the liturgies in our churches.
The roots of Byzantine music are found in ancient Greece where the Theatre began. They gave us the opportunity to remember that all good things were born of the Greek civilisation.
They gave us the opportunity to learn how chanting works and the roles played by the priests and the chanters who perform the religious ceremonies in our churches. Like a theatre as it was in ancient Greece.
They explained to us their aims and why they continue to offer their services without expecting anything in return.
Civilisation is not traded and cannot be sold. It is produced with the sole purpose of making human beings better for a better future.
All of us can achieve the realisation of our dreams. As long as we believe that nothing is unachievable.
The Servers’ Society are deserving of congratulations because they fight with their works, which always have to do with the literary arts, with poetry, with the publishing of books, and with no expectation of getting something in return.
They produce Theatre for young children and for children with special abilities and perform it with free entrance at various venues so that their performances can be watched by all the people who wish to do so.
The Servers’ Society have expanded to Great Britain where members of their Association are, besides Greeks, also Cypriots and even English. There are also members from other minorities that live in the UK.
They have also expanded to Istanbul where they will develop the Greek civilisation in the future so as to be spread to the people who will become a part of Omilos Eksipiretiton (The Servers’ Society).
At the end of the day, my dearest friends, hope lives again. After so much bad news that we hear from the mass media every day, the multiple instances of abuse and rape in Greece and elsewhere, we find hope again, and we once more unfold our dreams for the future for a better society.
I am very happy that I managed to find myself in the place where the Servers Society gave us one more lesson in civilisation and strengthened us by giving us causes to reinforce our memory, filling our cells with pieces of our roots and our rich civilisation, 哪, when needed, we will look to in order to strengthen our need to contribute to any efforts to develop our own civilisation.
There are more events of this kind coming in the following days, and we must pursue to be at the venues where they have been programmed to take place, so as to on the one hand support the people of civilisation, and on the other hand to enrich our own knowledge and fill in the gaps that may exist in the repositories of our minds.
The Open University of Cyprus will bring to us a wonderful event with the topic “Seferis… Memory hurts wherever you touch it!“
Let us benefit from the opportunity to be there and… let us hurt when touching the memories!
That’s all for today.
Yours, Vassilis Panagis”
