Featured Event
DEMO2024
06/05/2024
11AM
Screenings
Theatrical Premiere and Q+A | Archive of Desire: Visual Cavafy
Presented by the Onassis Foundation
Cover Image:
Courtesy: Onassis Foundation
The Onassis Foundation will premiere a newly commissioned collection of new short films at the New Museum. This screening is part of its city-wide, multi-venue celebration, “Archive of Desire”: A Festival Inspired by the Poet C. P. Cavafy, curated by composer Paola Prestini, under the creative direction of Afroditi Panagiotakou.
The screening comprises a series of visual poems that explore the cinematic power of the famed poet’s writings, and features artists such as Taylor Mac, Julianne Moore, Carl Hancock Rux with Daniel Bernard Roumain, Bora Yoon, and Jeffrey Zeigler. Visual Cavafy also showcases the work of directors Evi Kalogiropoulou, Elena Park, and Christos Sarris in collaboration with incarcerated individuals in Greece; creators Jad Abumrad and Mac Premo; and filmmakers/ editors Justin Ervin, Steven E. Mallorca and Pete Scalzitti. These films include works created both in New York, conceived and produced by Elena Park/Lumahai Productions, and in Greece by the team at Onassis Stegi.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Jad Abumrad, Elena Park, Christos Sarris, and Evi Kalogiropoulou, and creative contributor Carl Hancock Rux.
Learn more about the festival at cavafyfestival.onassis.org.
Tickets
This program has reached capacity.
Can’t make it to the premiere? All the Visual Cavafy films will be played on loop in the New Museum Theater on May 5 and 6; free with Museum admission! Learn more about those screenings here.
The program will be presented onsite at the New Museum. Vaccination and masks are strongly recommended, but not required. Please review the New Museum’s COVID guidelines in advance of your visit.
Accessibility
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Festival Credits
Films were produced in New York by Lumahai Productions: Elena Park, Creative Director & Executive Producer; Nicole Potter, Producer; Paola Prestini, “Archive of Desire” Cavafy Festival Curator and Creative Advisor; and Jocelyn Clarke, Creative Advisor.
About Constantine P. Cavafy
A poet of the in-between, Constantine P. Cavafy was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1863 to Greek parents from Constantinople, Turkey, and inhabited a fluid cross-cultural existence that strongly influenced his writing. Cavafy spent most of his life in Alexandria where he lived in a neighborhood of intersecting walks of life—and his work mirrors the vibrancy and tensions of the worlds mingling outside his door. Cavafy’s poetry is marked by a pervasive sense of liminality: his language can be idiosyncratic, playful, and modern to the point of being prosaic, yet also nostalgic. His poetry often references Greek history and mythology, yet he is a monumental figure of modernism—his works offer viewpoints that transcend their time and resonate today. Cavafy’s poetry was a safe haven for him to explore his queer identity, sometimes explicitly, sometimes in more coded language.
The mission of the Onassis Foundation, founded by Aristotle Onassis in 1975, will always be human-centric; to create the conditions, explore the ideas, and spark the discussions that lead to a better society.
Sponsors
Onassis Foundation
The Foundation works to promote the rich contributions of contemporary Greek culture throughout the world. The Onassis Foundation’s work is based in Athens, Greece, but spans the globe, focusing on culture, healthcare, and education. It has awarded more than 7,500 scholarships to young people worldwide since the late ’70s and presents countless cultural events each year.
When it comes to culture, it’s not just art; it’s a way of living. At Onassis Culture, with the Onassis Stegi as its hub in Athens, the Foundation encourages the talent and energy of local and international artists to thrive and starts conversations that aim to shake and shape society. Onassis Stegi is a center of global contemporary culture that, through a series of initiatives and works, promotes dialogue about democracy, social and environmental justice, racial and gender equality, and LGBTQIA+ rights.
In the US, the Onassis Foundation offers generous support for and curation of cultural programming across various art forms and creative endeavors. Onassis USA, based in New York, includes ONX Studio for Extended Reality; an accelerator, a subsidized workspace, and an exhibition gallery located in the Onassis Gallery of Olympic Tower in Manhattan.