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…And the journey continues
Nikos Kazantzakis was a great traveler. During difficult times, when traveling was not easy, as it is today, and with the difficulties of controlled borders, the body of the great Cretan was flying together with his soul seeking contact with his fellow men, whether they lived in the West or the East, in countries far or near, to share with them anxiety for a new world. A world different than the one that the humanity of that era was living in and experiencing, a world that, directed by the leading powers with human as their center, would promote the “man”. The history and the culture of the peoples was the pedestal that the writer and intellect, Nikos Kazantzakis, needed to speak in the same spiritual language with other people, to understand their tendencies, their beliefs, and their concerns and to meditate with them the next day. And then, all his thoughts and experiences were transferred in paper so that his thoughts remain indestructibly engraved, a trust for the next generations, who, as Nikos Kazantzakis was hoping for, would follow his route to a better tomorrow.
The trips to Russia of Nikos Kazantzakis took place during the period following the October Revolution of 1917 which led the world into a new era. An era that for 70 years through a unique and original philosophy, full of contrasts, shaped and determined the modern history of our planet. The October Revolution, of course, did not leave Nikos Kazantzakis unmoved as anything that was coming from anthropocentric mood of overthrowing the social order that had been imposed on the peoples of the earth over time inspired him in his quest for the new structure and philosophy that would govern mankind as he envisioned it. Thus, in “Traveling Russia”, the book that is the occasion for the third part of the festival "Traveling ...", that was established by the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum in 2016 devoted to his travel books, the Cretan intellect unfolds experiences of that period, refers to the history, the social structures, and the culture of the big country that seemed to lead the human thought to a new era, and puts forward personal thoughts about the change of social structures that seemed to be starting from the former empire of the tsars to expand all over the world.
This year, we tried, again to transfer the look of Kazantzakis to the honored country with all the means we have. Speech, music, theater, cinema, play, all dedicated to Russia, which of course during the period of Kazantzakis was referred to as then Soviet Union, will accompany us for a few days in Myrtia and Heraklion, transferring the Russian culture to Greece to retrieve historical memories of a time that marked humanity, to marry them with modern reality, but also to remind us that the co-operation of the peoples is the only weapon we have in our hands to fight all those who are threatening the future of our planet with their own unholy means.
And the journey continues…
Michalis Taroudakis
President of the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum
