Gay Greeks cite legal loophole to tie the knot March 16, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Gay Life, Lifestyle.Tags: Church of Greece, Gay Life, Greece, Lifestyle, News, Religion & Faith
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A lesbian organization in Greece said Thursday it has discovered a loophole in a 26-year-old law that would allow gays to marry legally.
The group, OLKE, said a 1982 law legalizing weddings in civil ceremonies refers only to participating “persons” without specifying gender. Therefore, OLKE said, it will sue Municipalities that refuse to marry gay couples.
“If the Municipalities don’t give us the OK, the next step will be legal action” OLKE spokeswoman Evangelia Vlami told The Associated Press. “There should be no impediment for us. The law refers to ‘persons,’ not a man and a woman. … So we will proceed as if there is no obstacle.”
Vlami said the group had informed the Justice Ministry of its intentions, ahead of plans by the Ministry to introduce civil partnership legislation later this year granting legal rights to unmarried couples. It was not immediately clear whether gays would be included in the new law.
Gays are protected under Greek anti-discrimination laws, but gay groups complain they face widespread discrimination, in public and at work.
Ministry officials met Thursday with Greece’s new Orthodox Church leader, Archbishop Ieronymos, to discuss the civil partnership issue. The Church is traditionally staunchly opposed to granting gays legal rights, and the idea of common-law unions. But Ieronymos, enthroned last month, has not raised any objections to the proposed reforms. “There is a need to change with the time,” Ieronymos said Wednesday.
Greece to be featured at the Nye Beach Gallery March 16, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Greece Islands Aegean, Hellenic Light Americas.Tags: Arts, Exhibitions, Greece, Greek Islands, Greek Wine, Hellenic Light, Travel
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Hillside buildings at Fira, Santorini. Typical architecture on the island begins in caves and extends outward to terraces overlooking smaller islands of the volcanic crater.
Photographs of the Greek Islands and the Acropolis by Elizabeth Atly will be on exhibit at the Nye Beach Gallery and paired with a Greek wine tasting featuring Santorini wines for the gallery’s weekly wine tasting. An artist’s reception will be held at the same time, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, March 15. Nye Beach Gallery is located at 715 NW Third St. Atly’s exhibit will be on display through the month of March.
Through several vocations as a French professor, residential designer/architectural historian, and filmmaker, Atly, who recently transplanted from Portland to Newport, has avidly pursued the avocation of photography, with occasional one-artist shows and inclusion in group shows.
The photographs on exhibit at the Nye Beach Gallery were taken in Greece in 1996.
Santorini is the only volcanic island in the Aegean, said by locals to be the site of the sunken city of Atlantis. Prior to visiting the island, Atly considered only black and white photography, nurtured to life in the darkroom to become “art.”
On a walk through the colorful Fira neighborhood the morning after embarking from the ferry, Atly returned to her room and put away the black and white film. This show is a result of that decision.
Atly is a founding member of the For ARTSAKE Gallery, soon to be open at 258 NW Coast St. in Nye Beach. Her work and that of the nine other For ARTSAKE members will be on display at the new gallery. Watch for opening information.
The first thing you notice about Santorini is the whiteness of the buildings, all massed on the ridges of the crescent-shaped island, with green and rocky hills and fields between the villages. Just as the white shapes up close reveal a kaleidoscope mingling subtle and outrageous color, the fields reveal various phenomena. Olive trees and even prickly pear cactus grow, seemingly out of rock, and in springtime, one sees fields on rolling hills, full of what appear to be crowns of thorns. These are the starts of the grape vines from which the remarkable Santorini wines are cultivated. Training them into circular patterns on the ground protects the starts from the harsh winds that can tear through these islands.
Santorini cuisine for the traveler on a budget consists of variations of souvlaki, chicken and potatoes roasted together, Greek salads and spaghetti cooked in a thinner tomato sauce than its Italian counterpart, subtly spiced with bail. Lobster and other seafoods are plentiful, served up with orzo pasta and local seasonal vegetables; and what would a Greek meal be without olives, feta, olive oil, Greek bread, all accompanied by ouzo, or retsina, or best of all, one of the delicious Santorini wines.
For more information contact Wendy Engler at the Nye Beach Gallery at 265-3292.
Greek tourism on E!Entertainment March 16, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Tourism.Tags: Destinations, Greece, Greek Islands, News, Tourism, Travel
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Greece’s Tourism Development Ministry and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) signed a cooperation agreement with the E!Entertainment international network serving the sector of entertainment on a 24-hour basis.
The one-year agreement provides for the promotion of Greece’s new tourism advertising campaign at a European level both on television and the internet, while guaranteeing the GNTO presence in “red carpet” high-level events such as, the film festivals of Cannes and Rome. Moreover, the GNTO will be the main sponsor of the UK, France, Italy and Germany E!Entertainment websites.
Related Links > http://www.gnto.gr
MoMA Director visiting Greece for series of lectures March 16, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Arts Events Greece, Arts Museums.Tags: Arts, Athens Concert Hall, Events, Greece, Museums, News, Thessaloniki
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Director of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, Glenn Lowry, will visit Greece for the first time and address public audiences in Athens and Thessaloniki as part of the “Great Ideas” series.
Featured in the Megaron Plus series, he will speak at the Athens Concert Hall on Monday, March 17, at 19:00, on “Making the Modern: A Disruptive Theory of the Museum of Modern Art.” His lecture will focus on how the Museum has dealt with the collection and display of artworks, the way in which it periodically reinvents itself, and the changing nature of contemporary art.
On Wednesday, March 19, at 18:30, he will speak in Thessaloniki on the same topic. This event is co-organized with the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry and will take place at the Chamber’s Conference Hall.
During his visit to Greece, Lowry will also address student audiences at the University of Athens School of Fine Arts and the Thessaloniki Aristotle University School of Fine Arts.
Lowry was appointed Director of MoMA in 1995. One of his initiatives was the construction of MoMA’s new building, which was completed in 2004, and was a turning point in the history of the Museum and a major cultural event for the city of New York.
The goal of the “Great Ideas” series is to bring noted American experts and artists to Greece to perform and discuss current topics of interest to the Greek and American people.
Glenn Lowry, MoMA, Making the Modern: A Disruptive Theory of the Museum of Modern Art >
Athens Concert Hall, 1 Kokkali Street and Queen Sophia Avenue, Athens.
Conference Hall, Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 29 Tsimiski Street, Thessaloniki.
Related Links > www.moma.org
My animal and other families > an exhibition March 16, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Arts Events Cyprus, Arts Exhibitions Cyprus.Tags: Arts, Cyprus, Events, Exhibitions, Limassol
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My Animal and Other Families > an exhibition about relationships and honesty > communication cartoon style
My Animal and Other Families, the latest exhibition by talented young artist Nina Sumarac offers a combination of visual stimulation with an honest exploration of self-image and human intercourse and relationships.
The exhibition comprises mostly portraits and figurative paintings. The artist used oil paints for half of the paintings, while the rest were developed using mixed media, creating work that combines drawings, pastels, collage and scattered words.
My Animal and Other Families will be opened on March 18 by Mirco V. Jelic, Ambassador of Serbia and Dr Nadia Anaxagorou, Director of Cultural Services, Limassol Municipality at Rouan Gallery, 28 Dodekanisou Street, Limassol, Cyprus. The exhibition will stay open until March 30.
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