The Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy, in the context of the Asia Minor Catastrophe commemoration events, hosts at their premises the exhibition 'Rise up, my soul'!... Images and Music of the Refugees of the 1922 Asia Minor Catastrophe.
The main thematic areas of the exhibition are life in Smyrna, Ionia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Constantinople and Propontis-the Sea of Marmara, Eastern Thrace and Northern Thrace (Eastern Rumelia) before 1922, the escape, the loss and the trauma of the refugees, the life and musical creation in the new homeland, the way younger generations have sung the shattering catastrophe and the life of a refugee. Music and singing interweave and create the canvas that holds together all of the above. This way they give answers to different questions that come to visitors’ mind such as: What is the role of music in shaping the personal and collective identity of the refugees? Was music an important driving force for Greek refugees? How are recollections of the Catastrophe recorded in the songs of the refugees? How do these recollections survive to this day and how are they reflected in national life and in the musical creations of the refugees’ descendants?
Exhibits consisting of photos, audiovisual and archive material, provided by major institutions, plus material offered by local associations, networks and individuals engage in discourse with lyrics and different types of melodies: there are dirges, folk songs and dances, rebetika from Asia Minor together with more recent Greek music creations that bear the musical spirit of the refugees.
This discourse is emphasized during the exhibition with the creation of a genuine music stage where musicians and singers of younger generations are encouraged to bring out on stage the musical routes taken by the refugees and the refugee experience.
Experiential learning activities take place every day from11:00 to 13:30 in the exhibition area.
Scientific advisory committee: Dionysis Savvopoulos (chairperson), Nikos Andriotis, Alexis Kyritsopoulos, Aikaterini Polymerou-Kamilaki, Evanthis Chatzivassiliou, Kyriakos Chatzikyriakidis
Musicological advisor: Lambros Liavas
Artistic advisor: Alexis Kyritsopoulos
Curators: Anna Enepekidou, Christos Christidis
