The Greek Cultural Spring staged for the second year in a row to commemorate Greece’s Independence Day on March 25 will bring to Albania a series of musical, cinema, art and gastronomy events along with scientific conferences from March 25 to April 23
TIRANA, March 27 – A digital portrait of Mother Teresa designed by Greek artist Charis Tsevis will be placed in the Tirana square named after the famous Nobel Peace Prize winning nun of Albanian origin. The Mother Teresa portrait composed of a mosaic of children whom Mother Teresa helped during her charity work around the world will be placed at the Mother Teresa square in Tirana’s central boulevard after being enlarged and stamped. The portrait was awarded as a gift to Albania in the frame of the Greek Cultural Spring events that are taking place in Albania.
“I came across the idea of Mother Teresa from her world famous charity work and my acquaintances with Albanians in Greece,” said Charis Tsevis, an award winning visual designer living and working in Athens.
Born in Aug. 27, 1910 in Skopje to Albanian parents, Mother Teresa grew famous for humbly ministering to lepers, the homeless and the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, and in 1985 she received the Medal of Freedom from the United States. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 19 October 2003, placing her one step from sainthood in the Catholic faith.
A concert by the Greek theatre of traditional songs and dances opened the series of events with some special performances at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
Greek cultural spring
The Greek Cultural Spring staged for the second year in a row to commemorate Greece’s Independence Day on March 25 will bring to Albania a series of musical, cinema, art and gastronomy events along with scientific conferences from March 25 to April 23.
“The events are very important to us. Albanian and Greek artists participate in them and there will also be contributions by Albanian scientists,” said Greek Ambassador to Albania Leonidas Rokanas, adding that the events bring the two neighbouring countries closer through the diversity of culture.
A scientific conference called Neo-Hellenic Illumination and Albanian Renaissance brought together Albanian and Greek academics.
“The Greek cultural spring in Albania will serve above all to strengthen the friendship, cultural and scientific exchange between our countries,” said the Greek ambassador.
Some 500,000 Albanians live and work in Greece since the early 90s after the country’s communist regime collapsed. Greece is Albania’s second major trade partner and top foreign investor.
Last year painting, photo and translated book exhibitions identified through visual impacts but also words the cultural proximity and cooperation opportunities between Greece and Albania.
The Greek Independence Day, a national holiday celebrated annually in Greece on March 25, commemorates the start of the War of Greek Independence in 1821. It coincides with the Greek Orthodox Church’s celebration of the Annunciation to the Theotokos, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear the son of God.
