Transformation is not a choice but a necessity

In today’s harsh, impersonal, andtechnocratically dominated era—an era of isolated, lost, andvulnerable individuals, where “invisible” powers and rigid biopolitics enforce solitude anddistance people from themselves and each other—we find ourselves in need of havens ofgathering, reflection, and hope.We need to return to theconceptof the ancient “Agora.” AndDimitria,Festival,as the major artistic institution of the city,has long served as such anartistic “Agora”—a place of dialogue and reflection, a chance to engage with contemporaryart and the issues it raises.This year, as we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Kafka’s death, we are reminded ofhis profound exploration of the human soul.

In his masterpiece,The Metamorphosis, Kafkaposes questions about transformation:

Can people truly change?
If so, how and why?
Forbetter or worse?
What is the individual’s role within the city and its institutions?
Whoobserves whom?
Can we ever uncover the truth?
And if so, how and from whom?

In our current “post-truth” era, these unsettling questions feel strikingly relevant because westill lack the answers, making it all the more essential to keep these inquiries at the forefront.

The 59th Dimitria Festival continues to engage with these themes, using the diversityandinclusivityof itsofferings and the fruitful intersection of tradition and modern culture to keepthe conversation alive. At the heart of this festival is the human experience: the struggles,concerns, anxieties, disappointments, passions, triumphs, and defeats of today’speople.

The festival invites citizens to view their city differently, to imagine it anew, to reclaim it in fresh ways, and to love it from a new perspective. It challenges them to consider whether their citycan transform—can it become more beautiful and welcoming?
Can its policies become morehumane?
Does Kafka’sMetamorphosisoffer us lessons?
Perhaps transformation is not achoice but a necessity. Maybe those who cannot transform are also incapable of adapting.

These are some of the questions raised, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, by thechoices of this year’s Dimitria Festival. The spatial arrangementof events also sparks topics for discussion. Locations like the building complex in the Depo area, Islahane, the Archaeological Museum, Casa Bianca, the renovated Modiano Arcade, the Rotunda, Kapani,Warehouse D at the port, the historic restaurant Olympos-Naoussa, the NewSea Front, andthe Music Hall 2, among others, collectively forma geographical network upon which thecity’s biography is imprinted—its virtues but also its many sins. Each venue tells a story, its own story. Some spaces were chosen to showcase their transformation for the better. Others were selected because they remind us of a city that refuses or is unable to transform and adapt to the changing times and the needs of its citizens.

Who is to blame, ultimately?
The authorities?
And to what extent?
And the citizens, whatshare of the responsibility do they bear?
Shakespeare once said that all the world is a stage,and all men and women merely players.

That is precisely what a city like Thessaloniki is: avast stage where all its inhabitants are in a constant process of performing roles. The questionis, where do these performances lead? As Kafka would answer in a similar situation, “the pathis made by walking.” That is, the route that leads to the transformation of a city is charted bythose who walk (who perform) and create opportunities to act. Those who remain passivesimply recycle the same old(ineffective)ideas.We have tried, to the extent possible, to ensure that the various events hosted by the59thDimitria each contribute, in their own way, a comment on the festival’s broader concerns,starting from the very spaces where the actions take place to multicultural gastronomy, music,and, of course, theater, the art that lives exclusively through its transformations. The body asan exhibit in public space, the body’s adventure in the belly of a crocodile, the trial of human”progress” amid the ruins of war, the father-son relationship through the myth of Daedalusand Icarus, issues of power, exploitation, and silence under the sounds of a “mute” bell, thesarcasticand playful gaze of Agami Thytes, the stroll through the city’s neighborhoods, andthe visit to the open studios of its visual artists, the former tram depot and the city’s collectivetrauma, live music in Kapani—all these, whether symbolically/metaphorically or literally,enrich theongoinghuman struggle for survival, meaning, and a better life.We hope our choices resonate with the city’s audience andthosebeyond.