The Fortetsa of our heart in the centre of the world as part of the Memory project.
From 30 October to 4 November 2022, Action Synergy together with the Fortetsa Cultural Association hosted more than 30 young people and youth workers from Peru, Vietnam, Italy and Greece in the community of Fortetsa in Heraklion, Crete.
The purpose of the training was to promote and make use of local memory at the local level. What do we mean by this? Read our programme and you will understand!
On Sunday 30st of October, the 30 participants from all over the world met for the first time in the hall of the main church of Fortetsa. Michalis and Alexandros from Action Synergy took it upon themselves to “melt the ice” between them through non-formal education methods. At noon, the first introduction to the neighborhoods of Upper Fortezza and its inhabitants was made. Despina Katehaki, president of the Fortetsa Cultural Association and the soul of the whole initiative, was the guide to the community’s memories.
At the end of the day, Fortetsa honored the two first memories of the community. The first was about the distinguished scientist biologist Fotis Kafatos who recently passed away. The cultural association in the framework of the project, has designed plans and a proposal to rename the Fortetsa Main Square to Fotis Kafatos Square.
The second memory was organized through the physical presence of the distinguished astrophysicist Minas Kafatos who shared with our visitors his personal journey from the sky of Fortetsa where he first observed the stars to recognition in the academic community in the USA.
These first meetings took place in the newly renovated Hamam – Hall of Culture of Fortetsa. The reconstruction of the hall with its rich history was prompted by the Memory project and will forever remain in the community as a beehive of memory and culture.
On Monday 31st of October we honored the rich history of Fortetsa’s refugees. Until the early 20th century, the settlement of Upper Fortezza consisted mainly of houses of Ottoman origin. After the Asia Minor disaster of 1922, many refugees from Asia Minor settled in Fortetsa.
How do we approach such a historical subject, so familiar to the Greek hosts, but not at all familiar to people from other cultures? There are many ways to approach history. Many times, in our schools – unfortunately – we approach history as a unique narrative, a poem. Our opinion is that history on the one hand has many narratives. On the other hand, when talking about history, it is not enough just to talk about facts and dates, but you have to convey emotion and cultivate empathy.
We followed a methodology we developed within the project. At the beginning of the day, we distributed photos related to the Asia Minor disaster of 1922. We asked the participants to tell us what they think they see in these photos and an emotion these photos evoke in them. We then talked about the historical context of these photos and made connections to the contemporary reality of refugees. Then we shared 4 stories from literary texts or testimonies and formed 4 groups. We asked them to depict these stories through the theatrical technique of “frozen image”. Imagine it like a photograph made by people through their posture. Touching each person on the shoulder, we asked them to tell us the emotions of the role they are playing.
Later in the day, we presented to the participants a trunk (like a big box) that contained tangible memories of the Fortezza refugees. A property swap contract, a bracelet from the era, an old photograph and a bit of… cinnamon. In the form of an exercise, we asked the 4 groups to make use of these memories through various techniques. Urban art, installation, film making and performance. The day ended with a presentation by Aspasia Vasilakis, who has researched the school registers of the era and recorded the changes in names, origin, father’s occupation, etc.
On Tuesday, November 1st, continuing in the atmosphere of the previous day, we visited the cultural association of Alatsatsa (an area in Asia Minor) where we were informed about their activities and history, and learned a Constatinople waltz to the sounds of the song “Meneksedes and Zouboulia”.
Afterwards, we had the honor to welcome the Fortetsan Chef Myron Papadakis, who shared with us the art of cheese making and his culinary ideas based on Cretan cuisine. Members of the Fortetsa Cultural Association also shared the art of making soap with everyday ingredients in an interactive workshop.
At the end of the day, we honored the memory of Manolis Karpouzas who passed away in 2019 and served the art of music with spoons. Manolis had an extra chromosome (down syndrome). A painting was created in his honor and the bus stop across the street from his family’s store was renamed as “Stasi Zois” meaning the Bus Stop of Life. Aristea Karatassou, member of the Fortetsa Cultural Association made a video in his honour and Manolis Papadakis played the lute accompanied by “Cajon” from Peru and “spoon players” from Fortetssa.
Wednesday 2nd of November was the dissemination day of the Memory Project! In the morning we were at the historical site of Loggia (Venetian Town Hall of Heraklion), courtesy of the Municipality of Heraklion, where we presented the memories from Fortetssa, the Bujama community of Peru, the Hua Tat community of Vietnam and the Castelammare di Stabia community of Italy. In this pace, each delegation presented dances and traditions from each country.
In the afternoon we visited the cultural space called “Polikentro” where we presented the methodology of the Memory project. Identification – Valorization- Promotion of memory in local communities. Presentation of the Handbook, e-learning, Memory App and much more which you can see on our website. After the initial presentation, each country presented the 10 memories they chose in the community they work in and how they valorized them.
Thursday, November 3rd was dedicated to love. We celebrated the legendary love that took place in the early 1940s between Eleftheria Paliou from Fortezza and Pipino Daluca, an Italian soldier who came as a tailor with the Italian Army during the invasion of the Axis forces. Eleftheria began to work with him as his apprentice and slowly this stormy love affair began. At the end of the War, Pipino stayed where his heart dictated. In Fortezza.
How did we showcase this love for our guests? First, we set up a treasure hunt game in all the community. At each stop of the game (grocery store, butcher shop, supermarket, tailor shop, church) we had left a qr code. Each qr code led to a piece of the story of this love story. The final qr code led to the wedding invitation between Eleftheria and Pipino. These roles were played by our beloved Italians Elisa and Innocenzo. The rest of the participants were asked to choose through lottery which role they would play in the sacrament. Priests traditional and non-traditional, relatives, friends, former lovers…
And yes, my friends, there was a wedding! With the help of Claire Kambani, local artist, who prepared a beautiful wedding dress and took care of the groom’s dressing, the wedding and the wedding feast was organized.
On Friday 4th November we reached to the last day of our program. First we held a workshop and asked the groups to think about what landmark or souvenir could be created for Fortezza based on the memories they experienced the previous week. With the help of Dr. Harry Kyriakidis they were also asked to come up with ideas for landmarks of welcome signs to the community of the Fortetsa.
And then it was time for the reflection of the week. To express feelings and memories that the participants hold from this intense week. What are they keeping and what are they throwing away? And finally the moment of the farewell cultural evening and Festival. Fortezza put on its best and welcomed its guests with songs and dances. And the guests from Vietnam, Peru and Italy reciprocated by treating the locals with delicacies, drinks, dances and songs from their countries. Until the people became one, embraced and said goodbye to the shared memory they created this week.
To sum up, what is Fortetsa Memory?
A dive into community memory, lots of innovative methods of valorization and a lot of heart! Thank you to everyone who participated in this journey!
