The Greek poet C. P. Cavafy, born in Alexandria in 1863, served as the focal point of the weeklong festival “Archive of Desire.” Presented by the Onassis Foundation, the festival surveyed the poet’s influence with a wide-ranging slate of events across New York City.
“Cavafy is a poet for everyone, even and perhaps especially for those who don’t consider themselves poetry fans,” Onassis Foundation Director of Culture Afroditi Panagiotakou said of the poet in a statement. “It thrills me to know he’s coming to New York and entering the lives of those who don’t already know him — his legacy walking the streets, alive within the minds of the crowds.”
ALL ARTS, a media partner of the festival, asked artists and writers participating in the week’s events to share how the poet has inspired them. Their responses, gathered below, provide a port for both those arriving to his work for the first time and those setting off to explore familiar connections.
Stathis Gourgouris
Professor and member of the Cavafy Academic Committee
Days of 2023: A Poetic Symposium on C. P. Cavafy
“It’s easy to say that Cavafy has influenced me as a poet, because there is no Greek poet worthy of the task who can refuse being influenced by Cavafyan poetry regardless of their style or sensibility. The real, most substantial influence, however, has been for me his attitude toward the world: his refusal of the literary market; his understanding that the historical past is always present in the very body of society; his uncompromising eroticism, in all its subtle, furtive, even illicit — but always tangible — dimensions. Cavafy is an idiosyncratic poet, who is so particular and unique that he is disconnected from the specific regimes of time and space. For this reason, he is endlessly rediscoverable and reperformable — now, a New York City poet in the 21st century.”
Phoebe Giannisi
Poet
Days of 2023: A Poetic Symposium on C. P. Cavafy
“Reading Cavafy in my early years showed me how poetry is an embodied experience. How the poem is a metamorphosis of a voice and a child of love, the presence of the Other becoming rhythm and narrative. A flame of memory hides inside his well-constructed poems.”
Matthew Niederhauser and Marc Da Costa
Creators of “Ekphrasis,” a video work and artistic research project
ONX Studio
“Seeing a world in such constant flux, especially with the rise of machine learning, we find a sense of connection and grounding in Cavafy’s poetry. Cavafy keenly draws together the intimate and psychological implications of the passage of time within our lives against the broad sweeps of historical time. As we set out to explore the contours of our era’s shiniest new tool for conjuring images out of the written word, Cavafy’s poetry provides a way of pushing back against the breathless hype-cycle, reminding us that such tools, still made by human hands, will all eventually pass away under the long sweep of history.”
Ali Santana
Creator of “Walls,” an interactive, audiovisual installation
ONX Studio
“Cavafy’s ‘Walls’ inspired me to reflect on the barriers that prevent us from being truly free. Despite being written over a century ago, the poem’s themes remain relevant today. I saw it as a commentary on the housing crisis in NYC, and realized how universally applicable the poem’s message is. This inspired me to create an immersive artwork, “Walls,” that prompts audiences to identify personal obstacles and realize a path to true liberation. Through play and collaboration, I aim to convey the themes of hope and resilience through the beauty of abstraction and the complexities of modern life.”
Elena Park
Director and producer of “Visual Cavafy”
The New Museum
“‘Sometimes, within our dreams, they speak … sounds from the early poetry of our life,’ writes Cavafy in one of his first poems. I love the elusiveness and play of memory in his work, how he creates a liminal space of remembrance and forgetfulness, of far away recollections and loves lost. Taking his cues, in our ‘Visual Cavafy’ films we have tapped words, imagery and music to try to conjure up his dreamspaces, with Cavafy’s poetry sometimes unfolding in a whisper and, other times, in a roar.”
Petros Klampanis
Composer of “Cavafy Ghost” (with Helga Davis)
“Waiting for the Barbarians”
“As a child growing up in Greece, I was exposed to C. P. Cavafy’s work, but it wasn’t until I matured that I truly grasped its importance. As an artist, I’ve been captivated by Cavafy’s minimal and symbolic style, which he used to craft his imaginative worlds. His exploration of personal and historical themes, such as the pursuit of self-expression and the search for identity, has helped me gain better insight into my own experiences. Additionally, Cavafy’s work highlights larger societal issues like power dynamics and the quest for acceptance. As an artist, I appreciate the personal way he used language and expression to convey complex emotions and ideas, which has influenced my own artistic pursuits.”
https://www.allarts.org/2023/04/cavafy-inspiration/