Acropolis News

Open mic attracted a lot of talented and sincere young people. Anything original was welcome – poems, prose, song, dance – though participants were asked to keep whatever it was that they did to 7 minutes.

We closed out the night with conversations about love over tea.

The mural of The School of Athens is only one of the four that make up the series of la Stanza della Segnatura, a room to sign documents in the Vatican. The room was designed and decorated by the great Raphael, who extrapolated philosophical ideas into paintings. The symbols of the center of the roof pertain to the supreme ideal, source of the major archetypes of Plato: truth, justice, good and beauty. These ideas, represented by four figures, are captured in the paintings on the walls. The School of Athens corresponds to the wall of Philosophy and refers to Truth. A talk was held on the philosophers depicted in the mural, their ideas and basic concepts.

The New Acropolis Balvanera Center presented the seminar entitled ‘Vikings: Between history and myth’, with the idea of bringing forth the main values of the Nordic peoples.

Gonzalo García spoke to attendees about the customs, the visionary knowledge of astronomy and navigation and the depth of the mythology of this fascinating culture.

The cooperation with the UNESCO Center continues after five years in which several series of activities dedicated to philosophy, science, and the world’s cultural heritage have been organized.

On this occasion, New Acropolis Slovakia launched in January, a series of public lectures organized jointly with the Center for Information and Documentation of UNESCO. The series is on the great figures of art, to whom a range of activities will be dedicated throughout the year.

The first presentation was dedicated to Johann Wolfgang Goethe and was held at the University Library of Bratislava.

A great surprise for children and their parents was an interactive chamber concert  My Home. My Music by Contrabass Quartet held in New Acropolis Moscow, Central Russia . The audience had the opportunity not only to listen to great music performed by professional musicians, but also to get acquainted with instruments including violin, viola and contrabass.

The musicians of Contrabass Quartet are lovers of the stories of the musical traditions of the family.What music is for a birth? And what music is for remarkable events in the family? The concert was dynamic, joyous, not only for children but also for their parents. Participants of the concert became orchestra artists, singers, dancers, composers…

Petrozavodsk hosted the International Winter Festival Hyperborea. It traditionally unites northern cities, lying “beyond Boreas” – beyond the 60th parallel, and is held to show the attractiveness of life in the North, and on this day citizens are offered a series of fun and exciting contests and games.
New Acropolis philosophers suggested to people who came to see the ice sculptures, to consider the meaning of the festival, and to answer the questions: “Why do you love the North? What is attractive, for example, in the winter, which lasts six months, or in the long, dark nights and cloudy days? ” It was interesting to hear from people not only “skates, skis and sleds” for which one can thank the North, but also the awe inspired by stars in the long, dark nights, the gratitude for the earth on which we live, and also  the opportunity to develop discipline offered by the cold northerly days.   And of course, living in  Petrozavodsk, beyond Boreas, teaches us to love and appreciate beauty.

This unusual format was born out of the increasingly popular “improvised” sessions “science slams”, where young scientists gather and are given the opportunity to share the results of their research. It is not a lecture, it is something more casual. One speaker, for 10 minutes presents and exposes his point of view on the investigation topic.

New Acropolis has developed this format in the field of Philosophy. The topic was ‘Life with meaning’. What makes our life meaningful? What types of opportunities does life offer us? How to live in a meaningful way? Does life have any meaning or not?

Several young people, from different social and professional fields including design, programming, music, psychology, etc, were willing to share their thoughts. Despite the difference of interests, all agreed on the search for a meaning that is essential for their lives, and on the search for guidance and understanding of what is happening today in the world.