The Cavafy Archive and the Onassis Foundation open the doors of the Onassis Library, dedicating April and May 2017 to the poetry of C.P. Cavafy. It will be an intensive programme of educational events for everyone with free entrance (on a first come first served basis).

The popular lectures ‘C.P. Cavafy’ of the Cavafy Archive are back with a new series of lectures titled Seven Poems, Seven Lessons. The starting point of each lesson will be the analysis of a poem by C.P. Cavafy. The seven poems chosen for this year’s series are the following: ‘Going Back Home from Greece’, ‘In the Month of Athyr’, ‘The God Abandons Anthony’, ‘The City’, ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’, ‘Dimaratos’, and ‘Simeon’. The lessons aim to shed light at the literary and cultural context, in which these works were written. Thus, each poem leads to a larger discussion, examining the connections with other works by the Alexandrian poet, as well as by Greek and foreign literary figures and artists.

In connection with the educational lecture series Seven Poems, Seven Lessons, the Cavafy Archive launches a series of impressive Performance Lectures that will also take place at the Onassis Library. These Performance Lectures will explore in depth the relation between Cavafy’s work, Cavafy research, the individual experience of reading through an innovative merging of poetry and performance. Each lecture takes as its starting point a particular poem by C.P. Cavafy, weaving together research and argument, emotions, participation, and performance.
The educational series Seven Poems, Seven Lessons and Performance Lectures are addressed to everyone – connoisseurs of C.P. Cavafy’s poetry as well as beginners – opening the way for new approaches on the work of the Alexandrian poet.

The Onassis Foundation acquired the Cavafy Archive at the end of 2012. Its aim was to protect this important material, to create the necessary conditions for making it accessible to researchers and the public, and to promote C.P. Cavafy’s work as well as the international character of his poetry and personality. Working towards this end and in the context of a contemporary approach to the poet’s work, numerous educational projects and events take place in and outside Athens. These are addressed to children and adults, connoisseurs and beginners, opening new paths in the approach of Cavafy’s work.

Onassis Foundation in Brief

The Onassis Foundation was founded in 1975, as specifically outlined in Aristotle Onassis’ will. Its aim has been to contribute to crucial aspects of Greek society: health, education, culture, and social solidarity. The efforts and actions of the Foundation have consistently aimed (and continue to do so) at ensuring the access of as many people as possible to institutions, opportunities, and services, necessary for social prosperity and cohesion. Its long-term aim has been to release the creative potential of Greek society and ensure a better present and a more optimistic future.