In recent years, the first days of Autumn in Drama, have been dedicated to the creative people of this city, thanks to the initiative of AMKE KYKLOPS and its eupatridis founder Aris Theodoridis.

The impressive Anastasiadis mansion, the Marble House as it is known to the locals, bought and fully restored by the president of KYKLOPS, opened its beautiful garden to host the event of awarding the winners of the annual photography competition, as well as the presentation of the prizes to Drama personalities.

This 19th-century building of unique architectural beauty, which dominates one of the prettiest corners of the coastal city, in the water park of Agia Barbara, shone from end to end at this year’s awards ceremony, and now it is all set to host the large collection of cameras of the active businessman Aris Theodoridis, but also a number of cultural events and activities in its particularly well-kept premises.

Stratos Kasmeridis, a member of the Photography and Image committee of CYCLOPS, made a very interesting historical review of 130 years of the photographers of Drama, starting from the period of the Turkish occupation and reaching the present day. In fact, he noted with emphasis, that in the end “Drama had a much greater photographic wealth than we think”.

The presentation of the photography awards

Mr. Kasmeridis also announced the winners of the 6th photography competition of AMKE KYKLOPS, which this year had the theme “Light and Shadow” and artists from all over Greece could participate in it.

The 3rd prize, with a cash prize of 1,000 euros, was awarded to Dimitris Leventis from Aliveri Evia. The 2nd prize, with a cash prize of 2,000 euros, was awarded to Thenia Xenidou from Drama. The first prize of this year’s photography competition, with a prize of 3,000 euros, was won by Stavros Makridis from Katerini.

At the end of the awards, the 7th photo competition of AMKE CYCLOPS was announced, which starts on 16/6/2023 and will last until Sunday 29/7/2024, with the theme of water.

Rewarding science and contribution to nature

The evening continued with the awarding of the CYCLOPS awards for 2023. The award, which is accompanied by an honorary distinction and a sum of money of 4,000 euros, is awarded every year to two citizens who come from Drama or live and work in its area and who distinguished themselves for the non-profit and community service they serve and develop.

The sculpture was designed by Draminos artist Giorgos Taxidis, a graduate of the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The artist designed the award, with the aim of highlighting the particular local elements that characterize the uniqueness of Drama.

The Innovative Farmer – Livestock Breeder award was awarded to Dimitrios Monio, from Pagoneri Nevrokopiou, for his contribution to the preservation of the genetic variety of indigenous domestic animals.

The Distinguished Scientist award was given to Nasos Vagenas, Emeritus Professor of Theory and Criticism of Literature at the University of Athens for his rich poetic and literary work.

Speaking a little later to the local media, Mr. Vagenas described his award as a great honor and added that “I don’t feel like I’ve left Drama even though I’ve lived 4/5 of my life outside of it”, while at the same time he pointed out that “Drama lives a spiritual flourishing thanks to two people, Aris Theodoridis and Costas Apostolidis”. For his part, Mr. Monios said that in 2006, seeing the biodiversity in his area, he decided to deal with three breeds of animals that are facing extinction, the Greek brachyceratia, the black Greek pig and the Greek buffalo.

At the end of the event, the official presentation of the photographic exhibition NELLY’S took place, which is organized by the Benaki Museum and hosted at the exhibition space of CYCLOPS in the Marble House.