Athens 2004’s old factory for new ideas
The Athens 2004 Organizing Committee (ATHOC) has moved into an old factory for new ideas. The administration, workers and volunteers, a total of 940 people that will grow to 4,400 by August 2004, have moved into a brick building that was once a textile factory. There, they will develop new ideas for the Olympic Games in Athens in the spirit of austerity and harmony, and in keeping with the character of modern Greece, with music, poetry, art and joie de vivre. Dimitris Papaioannis, a talented choreographer, dancer, painter and director of the dance group Omada Edafous, has been chosen to furnish the main concept for the opening and closing ceremonies. The idea came from ATHOC President Gianna Daskalaki-Angelopoulos, who wants to match the big names and internationally established composers – Theodorakis, Hadjidakis, Vangelis – with younger ones whose music has made its mark. There is plenty of room at the new building, but only the president and administration have separate offices. As everyone knows, however, even walls have ears. The building was blessed on Thursday and the media will be shown around this Monday. The address, Iolkou Street and Philikis Etairias, Nea Ionia, is a mini-lesson itself in Greek history. Iolkos was the home of Jason, who set out in the Argo with the Argonauts to find the Golden Fleece in Colchis, according to Greek myth. The members of the Philiki Etairia inspired the Greek struggle for independence in 1821, and Nea Ionia is a suburb built by refugees who left Asia Minor after the Catastrophe of 1922 and named their new home after their homeland of Ionia.
