Coming this September...

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Where life became literature and literature became myth

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF KAZANTZAKIS AND ZORBAS

Land, People and Freedom in Kazantzakis’ Mani

Stoupa, West Mani, 25–27 September 2026

A three-day site-specific festival in Stoupa, West Mani, the place where Nikos Kazantzakis met George Zorbas and where one of the most iconic narratives of modern Greek literature was born.

109 years after the meeting between Nikos Kazantzakis and George Zorbas in Stoupa, and 80 years after the writing of Zorba the Greek, the festival reconnects the place with the memory, creativity and lived experience that gave birth to one of the most significant works of modern Greek literature. Through artistic, narrative, participatory and experiential activities, Stoupa is transformed into a living meeting ground of land, humanity and freedom.

The festival forms part of the broader cultural initiative STOUPA: The Kazantzakis - Zorbas Project, a cultural initiative that highlights the enduring relationship between place, people and creativity, activating memory through contemporary artistic expression, community participation and a creative dialogue between past and present.

The programme is continuously evolving and enriched through collaborations with public institutions, cultural organisations, artists, scholars and active citizens, creating an open space for encounter, dialogue and creation.

alter ego (2017) by Vasiliki Kateri, featured on the festival poster, functions as the conceptual prologue to the event “In the Footsteps of Kazantzakis and Zorbas.” The work is a visual approach to the profound, existential relationship between Nikos Kazantzakis and George Zorbas, as it unfolded in Stoupa of Western Mani. It captures the creative tension between thought and action, reflection and lived experience. The reflection of the two forms upon the mirror suggests, beyond a simple duality, an inner dialogue: the human being who reflects and the human being who dares to live. Kazantzakis is mirrored in Zorbas as an alter ego — as a version of the self he longs for and admires, yet cannot fully embody. The festival extends this dialogue into the place itself. As in the artwork, so in Stoupa of West Mani, the landscape becomes an active interlocutor, a field of reflection, coexistence and reactivation of memory.

alter ego proposes the way of reading the festival, setting the conditions for an experience in which land, human being and freedom emerge not merely as concepts, but as living relationships that continue to shift the boundaries of self and creation.

alter ego (2017)

Composition / mixed media

Materials: two big pebbles from Mani (Pantazi Beach), sand (Kalogria Beach), coal dust mirror

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Land. People. Freedom.

Where Land Reflects the Human Spirit

The festival “In the Footsteps of Kazantzakis and Zorbas: Land, People and Freedom in Kazantzakis’ Mani” draws its inspiration from a specific place and a defining encounter that left an indelible mark on the life and work of Nikos Kazantzakis.

His encounter with George Zorbas and their shared experience at the lignite mines of Prastova, near Stoupa, are approached not merely as a historical event, but as a living field of relationship, tension, interaction and creative transformation. A relationship born from the meeting of opposites, which evolved into a creative experience and ultimately into a literary work of global significance.

Stoupa of West Mani functions both as an active landscape and as a land that carries memory, resilience and freedom. The festival unfolds across the very places where this encounter took shape, through artistic, narrative and participatory experiences that engage in dialogue with the past without attempting to recreate it.

The locations do not simply host the works; they actively participate in them. The individual becomes collective, contrast becomes a bridge, and friendship is transformed into an act of creation.

The festival creates conditions for encounter, freedom and inner transformation. It activates memory in the present and proposes a contemporary journey alongside place, humanity and creativity.

Youth Participation

The festival seeks to build bridges between memory and the present, encouraging younger generations to engage creatively with the place and its stories.

Student Field Research: "The Young Researchers of Stoupa"

A participatory educational initiative inviting school communities to explore and document present-day Stoupa through the perspective of Kazantzakis and Zorbas.

Taking on the role of young researchers and reporters, students are encouraged to investigate how the place associated with one of the most significant stories of modern Greek literature is experienced and narrated today.

The results of the research may be presented on the festival’s website after the event, creating a contemporary collective portrait of Stoupa and West Mani.

Organizers' Note

Festival Programme

NOTE: The festival is based on collaboration and the support of individuals and organizations who believe in culture as a collective good. Those who wish to contribute financially may support the festival in the way and to the extent of their own choosing.

I SUPPORT THE FESTIVAL

Invitation & Framework for Business Participation

The festival extends an open invitation to businesses and organizations that wish to participate, either as hosting partners for festival activities or as participating businesses/exhibitors.

Participation is based on the principles of collaboration, transparency, and equal treatment, within the framework of a cultural program with a clear identity, a social orientation, and a meaningful connection to place.

Detailed terms of participation and collaboration are outlined in the relevant document below.

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM (word)

Full terms & details (pdf)