The Onassis Foundation collaborates with Athens Surreal on a campaign for the anniversary of the birth and death of C. P. Cavafy
Contemporary. Timeless. Everlasting. Poet.
Artwork: Athens Surreal
What does it truly mean to be a timeless poet? To be able to navigate any environment in time and achieve to remain always relevant? On the occasion of the anniversaries of the eminent poet’s birth and death, the Onassis Foundation partners with Athens Surreal and transposes items and poems by C. P. Cavafy to an Athens of an era that is yet to come, in a parallel universe where time does not exist.
The Cavafy Archive is open and accessible to all. With the building of the Cavafy Archive at Frynichou Street at Plaka having opened its doors to the public and scholars alike, Athens is elevated once again to a significant location on the map of the Alexandrian poet’s life and work. The new space inaugurated in November 2023 hosts the literary and personal archive of the poet, along with 966 books that he kept in his library and a collection of items and artworks that bear references to Cavafy. A few months later, Cavafy “returns” once again to downtown Athens in an unexpected manner.
Artwork: Athens Surreal
How would the glasses, the pipe, the desk, the mirror, the portraits of C. P. Cavafy, the entrance card to Club Athénien, or a manuscript of his poems look if placed in a surreal setting?
Artwork: Athens Surreal
In collaboration with Athens Surreal—the most viral surreal Instagram account—we travel to the unknown and timeless world of C. P. Cavafy, in a utopian Athens. We create a series of photographs with the aid of Artificial Intelligence to bring the poet a little closer to us, placing his items, poems, drawings, and notes amid the Athens of the here and now, as well as of tomorrow.
With aesthetic references to the images of Wes Anderson and Denis Villeneuve, as well as René Magritte and Edward Hopper, Athens Surreal weaves the world of which Cavafy speaks—a world beyond any phantasy yet still steered by the words and verses of the poet. Besides, Artificial Intelligence is still based on human beings and words, like a window into the poetry of the everyday.
Artwork: Athens Surreal
This is the element that makes Cavafy, the human being and poet, transcend his era and the place he lived. He situated himself within an indefinite contemporary age, and that is the reason C. P. Cavafy remains universal.
Enter the world of Cavafy, where time does not exist.
Artwork: Athens Surreal
Through each collaboration, festival, and initiative of the Cavafy Archive and the Onassis Foundation, we embed C. P. Cavafy into the contemporary age and the here and now, in an age that involves everybody, beyond age, gender, and nationality.
In this universal condition, to come into contact with the poet and his body of work, it is not necessary to become accustomed to his poetry. You can simply visit the Cavafy Archive at Plaka, see his personal items and portraits painted by great Greek and international artists, listen to his verses through the voices of Laurie Anderson and Rufus Wainwright, and, mostly, discover why C. P. Cavafy still concerns you today.
Timelessly contemporary, political, sensual, and profound, but always relevant, the internationally acclaimed poet C. P. Cavafy compiled and archived his work on a systematic basis, hence creating a unique literary and personal archive. The Cavafy archive consists of more than 2,000 items, including manuscripts of poems, hand-compiled printed editions, prose literary works, articles, studies, and notes by the poet, along with his personal archive rich in correspondence, texts, and photographs.
The Onassis Foundation acquired the Cavafy archive at the end of 2012. This acquisition safeguarded its preservation in Greece and prevented its potential fragmentation. The aim of the Onassis Foundation is to ensure openness and free access to the archive by the public and researchers, as well as to disseminate the universal nature of Cavafy’s poetry.
The Onassis Foundation proceeded with digitizing, classifying, and fully documenting the entity of the Cavafy archive contents in Greek and English, and in May 2019, the digital collection of the archive was published at cavafy.onassis.org, rendering it accessible to all. Responding once again to the need for openness, accessibility, and dissemination of the poet’s work, the Onassis Foundation invested in the creation of the Cavafy Archive, a tailor-made space in Athens dedicated to the poet’s archive, which was inaugurated in November 2023. Yet another international cultural heritage attraction opens for all residents, researchers, and visitors under the architectural design of Flux-office by Eva Manidaki and Thanassis Demiris.
The Cavafy Archive in the historical center of Athens hosts the poet’s literary and personal archive, 966 books from his library, and a collection of documents and works of art with references to Cavafy. The aim was to create a space for the poet’s writings and books, his personal items and furniture, surrounded by artworks that enable us to gain an in-depth understanding of his growing impact on world literature and art from his era until today―a space open to researchers and the public, open to all.