It was a normal school day for Kleopatra (Kleo) Kokkas when she put on a traditional Mani costume to attend class last week.
Her government high school in Melbourne does not run any Greek language programs.
Rather, the International Baccalaureate student dressed in the special attire, as part of her presentation for a Year 11 assignment on ‘Theory of Knowledge’.
“It’s like ‘baby philosophy’, that’s how I describe it to friends.
“Because you talk about what knowledge is, where it comes from, basically ‘how do we know what we know’,” she told Neos Kosmos when asked about the pictures her mother Marietta Kokkas posted on socials.
“Kleo, has become the accidental(?) ambassador for our heritage through her Theory of Knowledge exhibition at school,” the first line of the proud mum’s post read.
The Mani traditional clothing, Kleo said, was one of the three reference points she used when presenting on how her acquired knowledge links to culture.
“The stoli is an example of personal knowledge.
“It helps me connect to my culture […] it carries that knowledge.”
Kleo said the presentation blended themes around Greek Australian identity with the shared history of sea navigation as seen in Greek and Polynesian cultures.
“Polynesian culture is really different to the Greek culture but they have this strong overlap in the area of oceans and specifically boats.
“This connection they have with boats is personal knowledge to each nation. But it also creates a shared knowledge between the two, bringing the two nations together and creating this connection.”
The final part of her presentation discussed the recurring myth of women losing their shoes, from ancient times to the contemporary version of the Cinderella tale.
‘Cinderella’, before becoming a brand-name through the Disney character had been seen across the centuries in folk tales of different cultures including in China, with a girl named Ye Xian, and in Egypt with Greek slave Rhodopis as the protagonist.
“In ancient China and ancient Egypt, they didn’t have a means of reaching each other at the time of these stories, so these had to have been developed separately from each other,” Kleo explained.
“It shows that even though they were such different places with different values, gods, beliefs and even landscapes, they made very similar stories with similar values and lessons to draw from.”
It was the synthesis of these ancient folk tales that became the basis for Disney’s popular worldwide Cinderella version, Kleo said.
“So, it shows how knowledge can transform from closed off to a group of people to shared knowledge for everyone.”
Three seemingly unrelated objects of culture – a traditional Greek costume, Polynesian boats and the Cinderella story – the 16-year-old student says, where the means she used to describe her take on culture and knowledge. From the personal to the shared and the global.
Mani is not Kleo’s place of heritage in Greece. But her choice of traditional clothing, she explained, “speaks to the bigger picture” of Greek Australian identity.
She was five years old when she migrated to Melbounre from Greece with her Australian-born mum.
For Marietta Kokkas, it’s “a privilege” that her daughter is growing up inspired by the best of both countries and the presentation was an example of that, she said.
“I think teenagers are not given many opportunities to express their own take on things, to voice their objections. So, it’s fortunate when they are encouraged to be independent thinkers.
“This [the presentation] I liked it so much that’s why I was keen to share it publicly on socials. Special thanks to her amazing teachers and especially the course coordinator, Demi Flessa, for all their hard work.”
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