Cultural spaces in Thessaloniki will be filled with theater, music, dance, visual arts and cinema in the next period, as from September 30 to October 22, Dimitria will be held for the 58th year, a cultural event – institution, which touches all the arts.

Major productions from Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece compose this year’s program of Dimitrios, which invites visitors to explore and meet them.

“I believe that this year will also leave an important mark in the field of art and I am glad that the long-standing institution of Dimitrios is developing steadily and dynamically and is a station in the annual cultural program of our city”, emphasized the mayor of Thessaloniki Konstantinos Zervas in the press conference given earlier for the presentation of this year’s program of the 58th Dimitrios.

“Since 2019, when we took over, we decided to make a change: A smaller program, with fewer productions, of quality, from the whole spectrum of the arts, but productions with increasing recognition and popularity, to promote the Dimitrios Festival both in Greece and and all over the world”, pointed out the Deputy Mayor for Culture Maria Karagianni.

Thomas Ostermeier directs Fassbinder and Nikola Piovani conducts the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Thessaloniki

The curtain opens with theater and the performance “The Wedding of Maria Brown” by Rainer Werner Fassbinder directed by Thomas Ostermeir, revealing the high level of this year’s selections. The presentation of the theatrical performances was made by Alkis Sakellariou, who stated that when he assumed the position of coordinator of the artistic program, also due to the situation of Covid-19, he was “numb”, collected and timid. “Year after year, however, I loved this position and my partners, with whom we created human relationships that fuel the inspiration to make these programs,” said the well-known actor. The rest of the plays are “The loser” from the Yogoslav Drama Theater, based on Bernhard’s novel, “Garamond 12” by Maria Drimi from the Theater Poria, “Well you were killed early” by Chronis Missiou from the GAFF group and the “Spyridoules” of Nefelis Maistralis from the 4frontal team.

Two dance performances are included in the program of this year’s Dimitrios. The first in history is “Elvedon” by Christos Papadopoulos, who, according to the Director of the Dance School of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Dimitra Koronaios, “has a completely own and unique way of choreography that is very much based on constant movement, rhythm, pulse and the revision”. Next is “Inventions” which comes from Spain and specifically from the group Mal Pelo founded in 1989 in Barcelona. “It is a musical performance, which includes live classical music by Bach on stage, dance and speech,” added Ms. Koroneou.

In the three exhibitions that will be hosted at the Municipal Gallery of Thessaloniki, the Museum of Modern Art of MOMus and the Telloglio Arts Foundation, it was mentioned by Ms. general director of MOMus Maria Tsantsanoglou. These are the retrospective exhibition on the work of Yiannis Gaitis, the provocative exhibition “Naked” by the photographer Man Ray and the exhibition “Nature – Screams and Whispers II”, which refers to climate change respectively.

The musical part of Dimitrios includes a concert by the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Thessaloniki conducted by the famous composer Nicola Piovani, electronic music by Momery, Felyx & Vajohn, contemporary music by the Contemporary Music Workshop of AUTH, while the closing ceremony is undertaken by the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki , which will partner with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, as part of a new cooperation program between the two countries. “We have started a collaboration program with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra of which we are very proud. We want to invest in the proximity of these two Balkan metropolises. It is a program that has been greatly supported by the Ministries of Culture of Greece and Bulgaria”, underlined the Director of the Greek Theater of Culture, Simos Papanas.

Finally, short films will be screened for a three-day period in Warehouse D at the Port of Thessaloniki and throughout the duration of the festival, on its online platform. The detailed program of performances of the 58th Dimitria is posted on e-dimitria.gr.