Anakara: The high heads of Kefalonia

The importance of culture
"Man without culture is a tree without fruit." This phrase by the French poet Antoine de Rivarol has never proven to be so true and urgent as it is today.
Today, when it is so easy for us to be entertained while the powerful get rich, and so difficult to be informed to enrich ourselves. In the age of money, it is more profitable to dull the people than to educate them. Thus, the Youtuber is paid better than the actor, and the IT specialist is paid better than the doctor.

Worse still for the nobles of the kingdom of money: culture guides us to question the existing order.
Besides not being profitable, culture as the fuel of thought is a risk, a threat, a fear for the Popes of the new economy. By distracting us from the new conceptual and mutated religion, we make them less powerful.

So, you might ask, why is it so important to educate ourselves, to become less savage and to question the order of the powerful? In the end, we could just keep spending our days on TikTok, admiring those influencers who flood us with more or less luxurious brands and materialistic dreams in Dubai... The answer is simple. The answer is the seed that resides in the soul of the people of this country, to the point of being omnipresent in its anthem and its currency: Freedom.
By questioning the functioning of our societies, culture ensures our ability to cultivate our freedom; this foundation of Greek identity.

But culture requires effort: there are no cultivated people, there are only people who pursue culture, as General Ferdinand Foch of France, a hero of the First World War, would later say.
This effort can be made in various ways: by reading a book, studying, going to the theater, to a concert or watching a film. Even going to church can be considered a cultural effort.
It is easy to understand that this effort cannot be made alone: to read a book, you need a library. To study, you need a university. To see a play or a concert, you need a venue... All these things that are required for the implementation of a cultural project are supported by people, time and energy.

This combination of factors allows for the creation of islands of culture.
For the reasons I mentioned, and especially to ensure that the Greek people of Kefalonia remain free, every island of culture, no matter how small, should be considered as a garden to be protected, as an insurmountable fortress, as a guarantee of our freedom.

The example of Anakara in Kefalonia

On our island, a group of people decided to dedicate time and energy to culture. And all for free.

In Lixouri, it is now possible to attend free Greek writing classes, watch a movie with your children, a concert, participate in artistic creation workshops... And all for free.

This island of culture is the Anakara association. And having been there several times, I must say that I am very positively surprised by all the initiatives taken to serve the population of our island.

Although I do not share the political views of most of Anakara's members, this does not prevent me from admiring their commitment to the people of Kefalonia. And to thank them warmly for these moments of happiness shared with my family and friends. I must also say that it would be good to extend Anakara's initiative to Argostoli and to our beautiful region of Eleioi, where cultural activity is lacking.

To carry out its activities in Lixouri, Anakara can use the university premises. But... with the closure of the university, these premises have been transferred to the municipality.

Culture in danger

The mayor of Lixouri, whom we usually appreciate for his humor, recently stated that he would like Anakara to vacate the university premises to convert them into a storage area for municipal material.

With this action, the mayor of Lixouri decided, certainly without realizing it, to destroy the cultural island of our island. The mayor of Lixouri is attacking one of these impregnable fortresses that guarantee the Greek people of Kefalonia their right to education and thus their right to remain free.

Faced with the reaction that followed this municipal announcement, the mayor decided to postpone his decision. And I must say that this is a brave stance on the part of the mayor of Lixouri who recognized his mistake.

Now we hope that he will go all the way in his effort and completely cancel this plan.

We do not need new storage spaces nor new museums for tourists (as was also discussed). If we want to revitalize our island and this country, to bring back minds and talents, entrepreneurs and workers, we need living spaces for culture, for thought and for the spiritual elevation of people.

Anakara means "with head held high" in the dialect of our island, so let's keep our heads high, let's not back down from anything.

Gerasimos P.