Poet, writer, and performer Koraly Dimitriadis is returning to live events with an an afternoon of poetry about love, loss, divorce, feminism and the migrant experience at the Sydney University Museum.
Koraly’s performance will be followed by an ‘in conversation’ section and live Q& A with documentary maker, journalist and academic Dr Helen Vatsikopoulos.
Interestingly, the Greek-Cypriot artist will perform next to the ancient ruins of the Paphos Theatre. The closest she has been to Cyprus since the beginning of the pandemic.
“I was so excited! I feel such relics hold special powers and stories. So, in my performances I’m definitely going to try and tap into that energy,” Koraly tells Neos Kosmos, explaining that the museum has had a long history of interest in the archaeology of Cyprus.
More than 2000 Cypriot items are housed in the Nicholson Collection, including many finds excavated or acquired by former curator James Stewart 1913–62, who conducted significant fieldwork in Cyprus in the mid-20th century. The Paphos excavations are a Sydney University Museum’s fieldwork project supported by the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens.
Neos Kosmos also spoke to Dr Craig Barker, the Manager of Education and Public Programs at Sydney University Museums and Director of the Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project who invited Koraly to perform.
“Over the 25 years we have been excavating the archaeological site in Paphos we have worked with Australian visual artists capturing the process of archaeology through a creative lens, but not with wordsmiths,” he says.
“In more recent years we realised that as the theatre was a space of words and performance that we needed to work with a writer and a performance artist. I had long admired Koraly’s work, and her ability to challenge both Cypriot and Australian perceptions in her writing and when we asked her to be a project patron for the excavation we were delighted when Koraly accepted. Having Koraly in Sydney to perform so close to Cypriot antiquities is very exciting and we hope to collaborate more in future.”
To have the ruins of the Paphos Theatre in Sydney while exploring the perception of archaeology in popular culture; one might wonder how does it resonate and what feelings or realisations can be made hosting often thought-provoking performances such as an afternoon with Koraly.
Dr Barker believes that archaeology is often misrepresented as being about treasure. He argues it is not.
“It is the study of people through things; through material culture. Marrying materiality with words is very exciting and very powerful. They are both two sides of the same coin: what makes us human. Koraly is not afraid to tackle big ideas in her writing and her focus on human experiences is very similar in many ways to the process of archaeology.
“Why do human behave in certain ways? Can we see patterns in ancient human activity reflected in the way we live today?,” he asks while leaning into how those two worlds disconnected in time and space, cross-reference in some sort of third-dimensional space.
“There are extremely interesting themes that united ancient and modern, word and material, performance and stillness that can be explored in both a creative and in a scientific manner. Australia and Cyprus have much to offer each other,” he explains.
For Dr Barker, the way that Koraly’s work challenges ideas of the ‘norms’ of contemporary Australia and the experiences of modern life is not radically different from ancient playwrights whose works were performed at the theatre of Paphos more than two millennia ago in front of thrilled audiences.
“They were challenging the moral and humanistic questions of their existence in a world directed by their gods,” he says.
“Stories matter, and they matter across time and space. Words bring us all together.”
In deed, Koraly has never been afraid of tapping into popular culture, questioning norms and identity markers both as a woman and as a daughter of conservative migrants growing up in Australia. Like many artists in Australia, the past two years have been “a roller-coaster, a blur, a loss, a re-alignment”. Last time Neos Kosmos featured her work, she was somewhere between the UK and the USA, making regular stops in Athens and Cyprus, her motherland.
“This is my first trip since the pre-Covid era to perform,” she says, sharing her excitement to soon resume travelling and visit Aphrodite’s island in the flesh, again.
“When the pandemic happened I had to my cancel my USA tour. I’ve been focusing more on my writing and I also started a new festival: ‘No, I am not washing your dirty plate’ arts festival, which is digital, and brings together women and non-binary artists from the southern European diaspora.”
In the past two years, Koraly has written many new poems and has also received a grant from Creative Victoria for research in order to develop her first non fiction book ‘Not Till You’re Married’. “I’m conducting a large survey,” she explains.
“During Covid, I have also worked hard redrafting my debut fiction novel, ‘We Never Said Goodbye’, and I’m working hard now to find a publisher for it.”
“I realised that life is short recently, and there is no time to second guess oneself. From now on I’m really going to trust my instincts and go for it. That’s what Covid-19 taught me.”
Like many artists and performers in Australia that received close to zero help, she’s not wasting any time. She is excited to return to the stage but thinks that “it’s too quick to call it”.
“I’m happy Scott was voted out but I’m sitting back and seeing what Labor actually do and if they will deliver on their promises. Much work needs to be done to support the arts. So let’s see.”
In the meantime she will continue to challenge societal and cultural norms both as a feminist and artist that has had to not only transcend Australian societal perceptions to speak so freely about the female journey at a time not many others did, but also as a migrant woman.
Koraly Dimitriadis is the author of the poetry books Love and F**k Poems (also translated into Greek) and Just Give Me The Pills. In 2019 she was the recipient of the UNESCO City of Literature residency in Krakow for her debut fiction manuscript. Koraly’s opinion articles and essays have been published widely across Australia with international publications in The Washington Post, The Guardian and Alijazeera. She is currently developing her first book of non-fiction thanks to funding from Creative Victoria, Not Till You’re Married.
When: Saturday 11 June 2022, 2pm – 3.30pm
Where: Nelson Meers Foundation Auditorium, Chau Chak Wing Museum, Sydney
Registration needed (free event): www.eventbrite.com.au/e/an-afternoon-of-poetry-with-koraly-dimitriadis-tickets-346943656817