Interdisciplinary art • site-specific projects • art–science collaboration • cultural initiatives
KALLIERGON syn seeks to leave a lasting imprint on culture by opening paths of thought, creation and collaboration, paths that remain open and continue to be walked
Because creation begins with syn, together
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF KAZANTZAKIS AND ZORBAS
Land, Human Being, and Freedom in Kazantzakis’ Mani
Stoupa, West Mani, 25–27 September 2026
Coming this September...
Where life became literature and literature became myth
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF KAZANTZAKIS AND ZORBAS
Land, Human Being, and Freedom in Kazantzakis’ Mani
Stoupa, West Mani, 25–27 September 2026
A three-day, site-specific festival in Stoupa, West Mani, marking 109 years since the encounter between Nikos Kazantzakis and George Zorbas, reconnecting the place with the experience that inspired the writing of Zorba the Greek, one of the most widely recognised works of modern Greek literature worldwide. Through artistic, narrative and participatory experiences, Stoupa is transformed into a living field where land, humanity and freedom converge.
The festival forms part of the broader cultural initiative WEST MANI: The Kazantzakis - Zorbas Project, which seeks to highlight the enduring relationship between place, people and creativity through the contemporary artistic reactivation of a defining moment in Greece’s cultural heritage.
The programme continues to evolve through collaborations with public institutions, cultural organisations, artists and the local community.
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. Human Being. Freedom.
Where Land Reflects the Human Spirit
The festival “In the Footsteps of Kazantzakis and Zorbas: Land, Humanity 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.
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.
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.
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.
A trace of human presence in the landscape, between creation and freedom
STOUPA
The Place Where Kazantzakis Met Zorbas
Festivals organized by the same creative team prior to the establishment of
KALLIERGON syn
Under the auspices and in collaboration with
Supported by
