From the 17th
to the 22nd of May 2010, the American non-profit literary
organization The Readers of Homer and
the Uruguayan Foundation Maria Tsakos (www.fundacionmariatsakos.org) are
presenting in Montevideo, Uruguay:
JORNADAS HOMERICAS - a series of
educational and cultural events based on Homer’s timeless epics, the Iliad
and the Odyssey.
These events will include night-long Readings and
Song Renditions of the epics by 475 individuals of all ages, young children and
teachers, university students and faculty, along with professionals from across
Uruguay and Latin America, in Spanish, English and Ancient Greek. They will also
include:
• musical, theatrical, dance and choir performances,
• concerts and
recitals,
• lectures,seminars, round table discussions,
• film screenings and art
exhibits on subjects related to Homer and his
diachronic relevance and
immediacy.
Politicians,
diplomats, journalists, cultural and academic leaders from across Uruguay, the
Americas and Europe, as well as the general public, will be invited to
participate in the Readings and all parallel events. Foreign visitors in
Uruguay will be invited to offer Homeric passages in their native tongue. All will be invited to feast on Homeric fare.
This unique Homeric
celebration in the chronicles of Uruguay and Latin America is under the
personal aegis and with the participation of the Mayor of Montevideo, Dr.
Ricardo Ehrlich, who is declaring JORNADAS HOMERICAS a Montevideo-wide
celebration, and is requesting from the National Theater of Uruguay (Comedia
Nacional), the Philharmonic Orchestra of Montevideo, the Museum of History of
Art and the National Library, to organize parallel performances and cultural
events in honor of Homer. It has also been placed under the personal aegis of
Dr. Rodrigo Arocena, President of the University
of the Republic, in whose halls and with the support of whose faculty and staff
the Readings will take place, along with lectures, seminars and performances
from students and lay participants, from within and without the school.
JORNADAS
HOMERICAS is also under the aegis of the World Trade Center of
Montevideo, the Uruguayan National Academy of Letters, the Foreign Ministry of
Uruguay, the Embassy of Greece and the Consulate of Cyprus, the National
Library and the State Organization for Secondary Education, the European
Commission and the General Secretariat of UNESCO in Uruguay.
Finally,
the newspapers and magazines Busqueda, Brecha and
Dossier, and the radio station Oriental AM 770 have already
committed themselves to comprehensively cover and promote the entire process of
preparation and execution of the Homeric celebrations.
Participation in, or
entrance to, all JORNADAS HOMERICAS events will be free of charge.
