Food sovereignty discourse is gaining attention, yet it is open to contradicting interpretations as to its capacity to address systemic injustices of the corporate food regimes. In our attempt to contribute to a better understanding of food sovereignty and promote awareness within a hegemonic food system that is hostile to alternative economies, we acknowledge that a radical shift is needed in the way we imagine, frame and narrativize our food system and our role within it. Drawing from both global social (...) movements and the rise of social and solidarity initiatives in crisis-ridden Greece reclaiming local and autonomous food systems, we rely on three concepts to develop knowledge co-creation: food sovereignty understood as the universal right to food, food commoning practices, and participatory research processes for food sustainability. We proceed further with the creation of a ‘Training of Trainers’ team engaging instructors involved in both formal and non-formal education in Greece to co-design a game-based educational tool on food sovereignty through serious gaming workshops. Key findings that emerge from this participatory research project include: the development of a shared language on food that questioned power inequalities; the idea of a community both autonomous and interdependent so as to achieve food sovereignty; and the role of collective imaginaries in allowing for diverse economies and alternative visions to emerge. Participation in a process of collective reflection challenged existing stereotypes, reimagined economy and community development and proved to be, in itself, a transformative approach to knowledge and an act of social change. (shrink)

The marble head inv. no. 882 in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki came from the north terrace of the forum ofthe ancient city, where in 1924 and 1973 a sumptuous building of Imperial times was excavated, believed to have been a library (building B). It yielded a large number of important sculptures, including the famous statue of Athena Julia Domna, as well as others which were cultic. The technical characteristics indicate that head 882 must have belonged to a colossal acrolithic (...) statue of the tebennophoros/toga wearing type. The person depicted is identified with the emperor Titus, since the typological characteristics of the head, particularly the curly locks of the hair, point to well known portraits of this emperor. This Greek work presents certain peculiarities in the rendering of the cheeks and eyes that suggest to us a comparison with the head of the statue of Titus from Olympia, which is attributed to an Attic workshop. The interpretation of building Β as a library may be doubted in view of a series of observations about its architectural type. Furthermore its connection with a triple apse building that was excavated in contact with it and belonged to the same building programme suggests that we have to do with buildings of a cultic character arranged in order on a separate terrace, as was the case in the forum at Philippi. It is probable that at least some of the sculptures excavated with the head of Titus had been erected in these buildings. The colossal acrolithic statue of the emperor from which the head came may plausibly have been erected in a temple dedicated to the cuit of the Flavian emperors, which was perhaps founded on the occasion of the deification of Vespasian by his son Titus (79 AD). (shrink)

Le groupe de statues figurées d’une famille d’un hérôon, situé à l’intérieur de la ville antique de Palatiano, près de Kilkis, publié en 1972, a acquis une place éminente dans la recherche des statues honorifiques de l’époque hellénistique et impériale. Cependant, pour son interprétation, on a suivi une piste erronée, puisqu’il a été considéré que le chef de la famille – Patraos, fils de Zoilos – est l’homme qui est représenté nu, selon le type de l’Hermès Richelieu. Dans sa phase (...) initiale, le monument comprenait trois statues, alors que l’on en a ajouté deux autres par la suite. Nous proposons ici une nouvelle restitution du groupe et une nouvelle identification des figures avec les personnes mentionnées sur les plaques inscrites de la base. L’interprétation du groupe que nous présentons est fondée d’une part sur le sens de chacun des types statuaires qui sont adoptés pour la représentation des personnes dans le cadre social de l’époque et d’autre part, sur les éléments dont nous disposons sur la provenance et le caractère des statues analogues. (shrink)

I. Über den Stil des Poems des Matthaios und seinen Inhalt Wir sind nicht die ersten, die sich mit dem Poem des „minderwertigen Priesters Matthaios“ über die Stadt Theodoro beschäftigen. Silvio Mercati gab es bereits im Jahr 1927 heraus, nachdem er zunächst die in ihm beschriebene Stadt fälschlich mit Theodosia (Kaffa) identifiziert hatte, den Fehler aber schon in einer Zusatzbemerkung im selben Band der „Studi bizantini“ verbesserte, in welchem er das Poem publizierte. Mercati unterzog das Gedicht einer strengen literarhistorischen (...) Kritik. Doch seine Bewertung erweist sich nicht in jedem Punkt als stichhaltig, wenn er behauptet: „das vorgegebene Thema ist abgesehen vom Wunder die Klage und die Zerknirschung“. Eine Begeisterung des Autors für das, was er mit Sinnen wahrnimmt, ist durchaus zu verspüren. Er hat eine positive Einstellung zu dem, was er sieht, und stellt es in den Rahmen der göttlichen Schöpfung. Klage und Lobpreis der mönchischen Lebensweise treten dabei in den Hintergrund. Der Dichter schöpft diese Themen nicht aus. Nachdem er am Schluss des Poems der Eitelkeit des Lebens im Sinne des Predigers Salomo vier Verse (143–146) gewidmet hat, kehrt er zur Verherrlichung des Schöpfers zurück und beendet seine Unterweisung mit christlicher Tröstung durch die Liebe ( Vers 147–150). (shrink)