Antenna: News in English (PM), 98-06-03

Antenna News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.gr

Last Updated: Wednesday, 03-Jun-98 23:08:02

CONTENTS

[01] Ancient sculpture

[02] Simitis congratulate Angelopoulos

[03] Posidonia 98

[04] Kosovo

[05] Federico Garcia Lorca-exhibition

[01] Ancient sculpture

Dr. Nikos Poulianos, president of Greece's Anthropological Ephorate, has shown Antenna the sculpture found ten years ago in northern Greece, but which only recently came to his attention.

This figure, barely recognisable hundreds of thousands of years after it was crafted, appears to be an anthropomorphic figure. Dr Poulianos says what certifies that it was made by man is the round hole that runs through it. The hole was worn painstakingly into the rock by pressing and turning a wooden stick against its surface.

It is apparent that whoever made the figure began making the hole at several points.

The find is a milestone for Greek anthropologists who have been conducting years of painstaking research into man's prehistoric past.

What they now know is that the image of Greece's prehistoric man as a being who never dwelled far from his Macedonian cave is wrong.

Their findings verify that prehistoric man who lived in the Chalkidiki region in northern Greece 500 to 800 thousand years ago spread all over what is today known as Macedonia.

The telltale signs of prehistoric man's existence are discernable only to the trained eye. And Poulianos and other anthropologists are continuing their work around the Petralona cave, in nearby Triglia, and in the Ptolemaida basin, where 2.5 to 3 million years ago the remains of hunting tools carved of elephant bones were found.

Aristotle, arguably the greatest Macedonian, inspired and enlightened Charles Darwin's research two thousand years after the ancient philosopher's death.

With Poulianos's latest discovery, it could be that anthropology is returning to the land where it was born.

[02] Simitis congratulate Angelopoulos

Angelopoulos's "Eternity and a Day", the story of the last day in the life of a writer, won the Palme d'Or, which goes to the best picture.

Scores of people from the world of art, cinema, journalism, and publishing joined the prime minister in congratulating Angelopoulos for his prize- winning effort.

[03] Posidonia 98

People from the shipping industry and bankers agreed that they should continue to work together to develop Greece's economy, stressing the cooperative relationship that exists between shipping and banking.

Commercial Bank director Kostas Georgoutsakos says the moves his institution makes in the near future will be key in helping it strengthen its position in the capital markets. The pending sale of shares in the state-owned Ionian Bank will also enhance the position of the Commercial Bank, giving it, says its director, the strongest capital base of all Greek banks.

Antenna president Minos Kyriakou, who is also a shipowner, agreed with Georgoutsakos, adding only that the Commercial Bank is constantly being modernised.

Georgoutsakos called Kyriakou one of his bank's best clients.

The Commercial was one of the first banks that promoted the Greek merchant marine.

The Commercial Bank's Konstantinos Loubidis says his institution will continue to support the Greek merchant navy.

The stock market has much confidence in the shipping industry. Broker Panayiotis Kontalexis believes a global economic recovery will translate into growth in international trade, which will mean opportunities for the merchant marine.

[04] Kosovo

Tensions are running high in what appears to be the intractable issue of whether or not the troubled Serbian province of Kosovo should be independent or not.

Thousands of ethnic Albanians have abandoned their homes following bombardment and headed either for Albania or the border highlands.

The UN reports that two thousand refugees crossed over into Albania Tuesday night, bringing the total to 3,700 who have done so since the latest Serbian assaults began last week.

Most of the refugees are women, children, and elderly people.

Albanian news sources say thousands more refugees are expected to seek refuge in Albania, and that some 50 thousand refugees have sought safety in the hills on the Kosovo side of the border.

The UN has sent 25 tonnes of food aide to the refugees in Albania - the authorites there say it isn't enough.

As for the fighting, there are contradictory reports: while some reports maintain the shelling in the western region of Decani has died down, others say it continued heavily in some areas Wednesday. Apparently, some villages have been wiped out by the attacks.

A report in a Belgrade newspaper says that a hundred Serb policemen have been dismissed for refusing to go to fight in Kosovo.

[05] Federico Garcia Lorca-exhibition

An exhibition of Lorca's drawings is being held at the old university in the Plaka, the area just beneath the Acropolis.

The occasion for the exhibition is the centenary of Lorca's death.

And visitors will be handsomely repaid for dropping by. These drawings are funny, fresh, lyrical, and passionate.

Mediterranean Theatre president Jose Moleon says that the subjects Lorca grapples with are still pertinent today.

Surrealism was Lorca's chosen medium for artistic communication. The famous Spaniard dealt with all the problems and issues that trouble mankind, above all, love and death.

Professor Yiagkos Andreades says Lorca's pictures really have an element of freedom in them, and that's what makes them unique, which is why it has been said that all of Lorca's works were virgin births.

While Lorca - like the Greek poet Odysseas Elytis -

was a surrealist, he, again like Elytis, was not always true to surrealism. A good thing, says Andreades.

The exhibition, which runs until July 10th, also contains models of stage sets and costumes designed by Greeks artists for performances of Lorca's plays in Greece.

(c) ANT1 Radio 1998

Antenna News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article