ACTivities Magazine - Vol.1 Issue 1 (May 2020)

ACTivities Magazine

OUR STUDENT-FOCUSED MAGAZINE May 2020

LEN L O &P G IN AIR E SPR H IN T E AR

QUARANTINED CREATIVITY JUST BECAUSE WE ARE INSIDE, DOES NOT MEAN CREATIVITY KNOWS BOUNDS Volume 1 Issue 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3. Painting

22. TikTok Winners

4. Photography

23 Poetry

5. Poetry

24. Kickboxing

6. Photography

25. Video Submission

7. WeACT

26. Club Information

8. Book and Writing Club

27. Student Shoutout

9. Writing Submission

28. Hope

10. Writing Submission

29. Student Spotlight

11. Haiku

30. Honorable Mentions

12. Digital Media Club

31. Self-care Plan

13. Dance Club

32. Mental Health Month

14-19. Nayia K. Painting Collection

33. Painting Submission

20. ACT Webinars

34. #TBT

21. Dukakis Center

35. Regards

Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director: Leemu Kutu Hall Executive Producer: Natalia Alexiou Senior Editor: Heather Funk Supported by: The International Programs & Student Services Offices

Thank you to everyone who submitted their works

To submit your work for the next issue of ACTivities Magazine email: ipofellow@act.edu

This publication was prepared with content submitted by the members of the ACT community named in the edition. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views and opinions of the American College of Thessaloniki. All content is protected according to intellectual property law.

EVENING WALKS May 2020

MARIA ELEONORA THEODORIDI

FINGER

PAINT

HEATHER FUNK THEODORIDI IPO & Student Services Director

ON

BUTCHER

PAPER

Georgia Papoutsloglou

"SHACKLES AND A BREATH OF FREEDOM" She uses photography to express her emotions, thoughts and fears during times both good and challenging (like a quarantine). She finds inspiration in simple things that exude life and love, like a smile, a gesture, a child's toy or a plant.

"...FINDS INSPIRATION IN

SIMPLE THINGS" JOURNEY Georgia Papoutsloglou is a social worker and administrator at one of our service learning partner sites, Soma Filon AMEA.

POEMS

STUDENT

FELLOW

TATIANA PLESS ORIGINAL WORKS

BOXED UP

HINDERED

Self imposed or forced

When one points a finger, someone will be at

Either way, it will run it’s course

the other end.

Plant a seed and watch it grow

Who’s to blame for my lack of progress?

Months from now, look at what you chose.

My lack of friends?

My lack of stability?

Did it stretch and extend

My lack of tranquility?

Or wither away to its end?

Do not fret, even through regret

All the things I’d have if I acted willfully.

Because you always have a choice

Although it’s easy to point the finger and have

To start over, and forget.

someone at the other end, this time I’m to blame for my lack of amends.

Now plant the seed again.

Looking into a mirror the finger is pointed at

Water it, set it out in the sun.

me.

This time, focus on yourself and your growth.

I’m to blame.

Months from now, look at what you

I’m the one who’s responsible for this atrocity.

chose.

Did you reap the benefits of what you’ve sewn?

Photo credits: Strata Chatzivasileiou

Every women deserves her own

Revolution

WORDS HAVE POWER So join the conversation

Why I Don't Want to Be a Mother EIRINI HADJIKAKOU, 2ND YEAR PSYCH

“As the title of this article states, I will discuss why me personally have decided that I most likely won’t become a mother. To begin with, I am not against motherhood.

Many women (and men) are prohibited to become parents by society and even the state. For example, in the past people of color in America had to endure mass sterilization to prohibit their reproduction (Davis, 1981).

Disabled

women

and

men

are

(not

only)

socially discouraged to have kids. LGBTQ people have the right to adopt children only in the 13 out of the 28 member states of the European Union and the right of one LGBTQ partner to adopt their partner’s child is recognized only in 16 member states of the EU (Rainbow Europe).

Furthermore, the Greek state gives money to Greek women to become mothers at a young age but they do not

help

financially

migrant

women

(Aggeli,

Daskalopoulou, Tziantzi, 2019), while migrant women, men, children live in refugee camps under inhuman conditions. Greek society is very strict when it comes to women having children, many Greek people support that a woman’s role in nature is to bring children into the world. However, when it comes to pregnant migrant women and their children, they do not seem to care that much. For example, recently a boat full of migrants arrived at the shore of Lesvos and local Greek people were insulting a pregnant woman inside this boat with hideous language (HuffPost Greece, 2020). Motherhood should

not

be

looked

at

with

a

one-dimensional

approach.

Discrimination, racism and ...

CONTINUE TO NEXT PAGE

References

Why I don't Want to Be a Mother EIRINI HADJIKAKOU, 2ND YEAR PSYCH ....homophobia remove the right to parenthood from many people. This is rooted to the idea of "normativity”, according to which, some characteristics are considered "normal" (eg heterosexuality and whiteness are considered normal) and some others not, resulting to many people being considered as the "other" (Zevallos, 2011). These people are excluded from the society and they don't enjoy the same privileges as the others. Let’s go back to the subject. Why I won’t be a mother.

There are more than one reasons...The Greek state gives financial support to families with at least one parent being a Greek citizen. However, in the rest of European countries, the standards that need to be met for a family to qualify for financial support is “the economic situation, the place of residence or the social insurance”. The citizenship of the parents

does

not

matter

in

other

countries

(Aggeli,

Daskalopoulou, Tziantzi, 2019).

This fact shows that the “glorification of motherhood” does not

apply

to

whole

motherhood.

It

only

applies

to

motherhood by women who will mother Greek children. The rest of the mothers and children are excluded from the “respect” and “glory” the Greek society gives to mothers and to raising children and migrant women and their kids are insulted as was the case in Lesvos and are denied their rights in Greece. A migrant woman reports her experience: “She remembers that during her pregnancy she was in a state of melancholy and depression, overwhelmed by anxiety and despair, due to her inability to communicate (she didn’t know the Greek language). In the early stages of pregnancy, she visited the Doctors of the World near Omonia….

READ THE NEXT ISSUE FOR PART 2

References

" A H A I K U F R O M M E T O Y O U "

EVEN I F

I

K N O W

I T

I T ' S

T O A S T

E N D S

B E E N

T O

T H E

H E R E

O N E

W I L D

R I D E

M E M ’ R I E S

B Y :

M Y

H E A R T

W I L L

A L W A Y S

B E

I N

T H E S S A L O N I K I

K U T U

H A L L

"Nobody has ever taken a photograph of something they want to forget."

REBECCA MCNUTT

JOIN THE DIGITAL MEDIA CLUB All forms of media are welcome

START NOW PARTY HARDER LATER ACT Dance Club

LIFE IN THE TIME OF LOCKDOWN NAYIA KAPLANIDOU The lockdown was an unprecedented experience.

We were all shocked at being forced to self-isolate at home due to this dangerous and terrible enemy of mankind. We were unprepared to lose abruptly all those things that form our identities, such as our work, our families, our friends. Fortunately for us artists, our identity lies in our art. During the endless hours I spent in solitude at home, my old friends kept me company almost every day: my pencils and my colour pencils.

I love the humble pencils more than any other complex art techniques. Although colour pencils leave a harder mark on paper than a brush, they suit me better because I believe that painting does not need to be soft and velvety to be sensitive and expressive. The exact opposite is likely the case because a combination of hardness in the medium and sensitivity in expression is very interesting.

In addition, colour pencils are easy to carry with you anywhere.

These are a few of the sketches I made during the quarantine. My inspiration was well-known works of art of different periods. It was a time that I spent waiting to see my students again and to share with them my love and knowledge around painting.

Harlequin was inspired by a

HARLEQUIN WITH A MIRROR

Pablo Picasso painting from 1923. Among the colorful world of circus people, Picasso would find the pretext for his future depictions of human situations.

INSPIRATION

COME TO LIFE

Inspiried by Henri de Toulouse Lautrec 1889 we come upon a young girl with red hair in a garden. It is one of the many portraits painted by Lautrec on the subject of Parisian women.

The painter rendered his

GIRL WITH RED HAIR

sensitive works using few and clear colors.

inspired from S.Botticelli painting.

APHRODITE

Portrait of Caravaggio Inspiried by drawing of painter Ottavio Leoni.

His intense, revolutionary and bold character is evident on his face. A man who, despite living an irreconcilable, prodigal and bohemian life, and dying just 47 years old, was one of the greatest artists of all time who brought a great revolution in art.

Caravaggio inspired from a Caravaggios self - portrait

Samuel Becket inspired by a photo.

Gertrude Stein Inspired by a 1906 Pablo Picasso painting Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector. In 1903 she moved to Paris with her brother, LeoDuring that time, many great people of the arts would visti her. She stayed in Paris for the rest of her life.This portrait with its sharp lines and hard volumes and with obvious influences from Iberian sculpture, foretells the style of cubism that is soon to become the expressive technique of Picasso's art.

A Bar at the Follie

A flamenco dancer

inspired by a photo.

A sketch inspired by a 1851 painting by French painter Jean Dominique Ingres

Inspired from a 1881 Eduard Manet painting.

Inspired by a 1916 Gustav Klimt painting.

Madame Moitessier

Portrait of a lady.

LE LE DA DA

inspired by a Leonardo Da Vinci drawing.

PAINTER, sculptor, architect, engineer and writer.

Scientist and researcher of nature.

He studied botany, medicine, geography, anatomy, mathematics.

A Representative of the Homo Universalis ideal man.

HIS painting went beyond the imitation of nature. He studied every painting he made.

Free webinars from ACT Topics for everyone!

Space is limited.

Register now

THE DUKAKIS CENTER PRESENTS

A video podcast series on YouTube that explores how one's training equipped them to think in a post-pandemic world as the corona-virus has morphed the world we once knew.In addition, find out how different streams of inspiration and the efforts of Hellenes assist their fellow citizen to cope with the lock-down.

"This Day and Age"

WATCH.SUBSCRIBE. LIKE & SHARE

FIND DIFFERENT Politis: The Voice of the Dukakis Center

STREAMS OF INSPIRATION

1st Nicole Mattos

TikTok Winners 2nd Noah Eschmann

3rd Sara Martin

During this quarentine, all I can think about is health, habits, and a never coming future. I dedicate this to

LOSE A POEM BY KUTU HALL

Daily she steps up Hoping to plummet down The cool crisp glass pressing into her frayed feet Melding with her veins, pumping blood to a dying heart Exhale, inhale, Exhale, Exhale Let it all come out Let the molecules dance in the air and form a new tune Continue to go, go go and again...

She steps up But she is still there Never falling down, just stuck in the same damn place So she moves, moves,moves Pushing to burn it all down Change is a movement of life Not an catalyst Here she is Ducking and moving and jiving ‘Til once again she steps up And the cool crisp glass turns to charring coals Once again she steps up and seems to inch down But can never seem to fall off the fucking cliff Mounds of Yellow and Red surround her Melting into her core Tracing once sentient beings Again she steps up and again she hopes to tumble down

those that are burdened by the extra weight they carry.

FREE

ACT

KICKBOXING CLUB

Mondays via Zoom 6pm 45'-60' min. sessions

An athletic clothes and shoes are required, and at least 2 X 3 m free space. Having a partner/second person is encouraged.

There will be a total of 4 sessions (May 25, June 1, 8 & 15).

Emma Garcia

Student & Fellow

SPRING II 2020 CLUBS

ALL FREE ALL ONLINE

STUDENT Want to share your social media?

Want to share that lit pic you took?

Want to support ACT?

Then read, comment, share, react, and interact with ACT this semester.Use #act_greece!

We will make sure to shout you out and show our thanks!

SHOUTOUT

"HOPE IS SOMETHING YOU GIVE YOURSELF. THAT IS THE MEANING OF INNER STRENGTH."

Uncle Iroh

Student Doing something great?

Received an award or special recognition?

Then email ipofellow@act.edu with the details

Spotlight

Honorable Mentions Ben Nassif

Angela Quiterio

Self-care tips Always remember to feed your soul Physical Get enough sleep; not too much or too little Stretch and refresh Bonus: add in some yoga and meditation Consume healthy foods and practice mindful eating

Move that body! Go for a walk, jog, workout from home. Maybe a solo dance party at home

Work Time-management Keep work boundaries Make sure you create a positive workspace Breaks are essential depending on how you spend them

Emotional/ Spiritual Find different ways to manage stress: journal, read, breathe or talk with a counselor.

Nature is not quarantined. If you can, walk by water or take a hike. Nature is our blessing.

Keep time for yourself and stay connected, as much as you can, with those you care for.

Take care of your mental and physical well-being You can still contact our ACT MD, Dr. Kounti (kounxat@act.edu) You can also contact our ACT Counselor, psychologist Ms. Florentin (nefloren@act.edu)

It is mental health month in the States and we are bringing it to ACT. Look out for upcoming events.

A study on this "whole coronavirus situation"

Natalia Alexiou Student Services Coordinator

#TBT

Halloween

ACTivities WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER Magazine

OUR STUDENT FOCUSED MAGAZINE MAy 2020

LEN L O &P G IN AIR E SPR H IN T E AR

QUARANTINED CREATIVITY

EMBRACE CHANGE JUST BECAUSE WE ARE INSIDE , DOES NOT MEAN CREATIVITY KNOWS BOUNDS