The Mayor of Camden, Councillor Theresea Fedeli unveiled the latest work of Greek-Australian artist Angela Kiki Konstantinopoulou’s, Convergence of Glory, at the Camden RSL Club on 4 June.
The work which was sponsored by Camden Council represents three battles in history: Thermopylae 480BCE; Alamana Bridge 1821; and Thermopylae-Brallos Pass 1941- all linked by a common cause, the freedom of Greece.
Present at the unveiling were Kostas Giannakodimos representing the Greek Consulate in Sydney, Bill Skandalakis, the president of the Australasian Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA). Also present were New South Wales MP Peter Sidgreaves and RSL sub branch president Iain Richard Evan.
Historian and genocide scholar Dr Panayiotis Diamadis delivered a presentation on the new painting in which he reflected on the three historical events that were linked in the painting namely the Battle of Thremopylae in which the Spartan king Leonidas fell with his men defending the pass against the Persian invasion; the Battle of Alamana Bridge where Athanasios Diakos and his men fell defending the stone bridge at Alamana and the Battle of Thermopylae and Brallos Pass where Australian and New Zealand troops stood against Nazi forces on 24 and 25 April, 1941.
“Three episodes of sacrifice, of defeat, of bloodshed, that have no end. The legacy of those heroes, those Hellene, Australian, New Zealander freedom-fighters, continues to be commemorated. Convergence of Glory is Angela Kiki Konstantinopoulou and Camden Council’s contribution to this tradition of honouring those who fought for freedom and dignity,” said Dr Diamadis.
Four of Ms Konstantinopolou’s paintings were used by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia for its stamps that lasted year commemorated the 1821 Bicentennial of the Greek War of Independence.