Cultural Traditional Research Center (KELE)
In 1985 in Thessaloniki, a group of university students meet each other to share their anxiety about preservation and spread of our folk tradition.
Ten years later, in 1995, that seed gave fruits in Larissa (Greece) when 25 people joined and started to talk about ways we have forgotten and they suggest a beautiful struggle, the struggle of trying to preserve our cultural heritage and enrich our everyday life with stored up treasures and tried practices of knowledge.
That’s how it was created the Cultural Traditional Research Center (KE.L.E.), a non – profitable company of about 800 members who aim at making their everyday life approach once more its natural size and human values, should be defined again under the rule of simple, time-lasting joys – the joys of creation, cozy meetings and elimination of loneliness through INTERVENTION.
The members of the Center themselves have created a beautiful, friendly haunt where they meet each other every day. Nearby there is a workshop for making folk costumes (there have already been made about 900 costumes) from over Greece.
Investigation on the spot and information recording are part of the activities of KE.L.E. As a result of these, it’s quarterly – issued magazine – a magazine on life, tradition and vision – recordings that have never edited before, interviews with old men and women, the last eye witnesses of our tradition, traditional craftsmen and collectors, old photographs.
Ten years later, in 1995, that seed gave fruits in Larissa (Greece) when 25 people joined and started to talk about ways we have forgotten and they suggest a beautiful struggle, the struggle of trying to preserve our cultural heritage and enrich our everyday life with stored up treasures and tried practices of knowledge.
That’s how it was created the Cultural Traditional Research Center (KE.L.E.), a non – profitable company of about 800 members who aim at making their everyday life approach once more its natural size and human values, should be defined again under the rule of simple, time-lasting joys – the joys of creation, cozy meetings and elimination of loneliness through INTERVENTION.
The members of the Center themselves have created a beautiful, friendly haunt where they meet each other every day. Nearby there is a workshop for making folk costumes (there have already been made about 900 costumes) from over Greece.
Investigation on the spot and information recording are part of the activities of KE.L.E. As a result of these, it’s quarterly – issued magazine – a magazine on life, tradition and vision – recordings that have never edited before, interviews with old men and women, the last eye witnesses of our tradition, traditional craftsmen and collectors, old photographs.
Traditional music is another sector that KE.L.E. covers. Manners and customs, dance and cultural tradition in general, managed to be preserved till today because of the existence of musical instruments that accompanied every festivity. Whoever wishes to learn how to play the oblong folk drum, the lute, the flute, the violin, Cretan lyre or the bag pipers, he/she can register at one of the classes of learning traditional instruments in the Center or take part in the choir of folk songs.
Having as a motto “Dance is only the motive” 800 people, of 4 to 76 years old, are today taught various traditional dances from all region of Greece. The students are not initiated into practices of acrobatic skill. It is given priority to thymic participation of the dancers, to their sentimental expression and culmination.
Seminars, convention, festivals (we already participated in festivals in Greece, abroad and the origination of School Festival was the initiative of KE.L.E.), every kind of festivity are not dealt with simply as a show, but they aim and will aim at making all believe that social problems cannot be solved by fragmentary, individual action by collective effort and everybody’s accession into a cultural process. We should make spectator ask himself / herself questions, look for the change of today’s crisis, change daily routine, change attitude towards life, create what we call CIVILIZATION
Having as a motto “Dance is only the motive” 800 people, of 4 to 76 years old, are today taught various traditional dances from all region of Greece. The students are not initiated into practices of acrobatic skill. It is given priority to thymic participation of the dancers, to their sentimental expression and culmination.
Seminars, convention, festivals (we already participated in festivals in Greece, abroad and the origination of School Festival was the initiative of KE.L.E.), every kind of festivity are not dealt with simply as a show, but they aim and will aim at making all believe that social problems cannot be solved by fragmentary, individual action by collective effort and everybody’s accession into a cultural process. We should make spectator ask himself / herself questions, look for the change of today’s crisis, change daily routine, change attitude towards life, create what we call CIVILIZATION
