Walking with the shadows of Karagiozis, Studies - Essays

Author: Giannis Chatzis

He was born in Thessaloniki in 1945, where he studied, lives and works. Researcher and scholar of the Shadow Theater, he has been giving performances throughout Greece and abroad for about four decades. Organized and participated in Karagiozis art exhibitions in Thessaloniki, Serres, Xanthi, Drama, Naoussa, Veria, Katerini, Nafplio, Lamia, Athens and abroad. He enriched the repertoire of the Shadow Theater with many works, while his work in figures, posters and sets is in various museums. At the same time, he developed writing and research activities in popular readings and in various fields of folklore.

From time to time, he has collaborated in television and radio productions (ERT2, NET, ET3, FM 102, FM 103, FM 95.8, TV 100, TV Macedonia etc). He gave many lectures, participated in workshops, while teaching in various training seminars, in collaboration with higher education institutions, organizations, associations and institutions for children with disabilities.

Guides workshops for setting up performances by children, in programs for acquaintance with the shadow theater in children's libraries and cultural centers of municipalities, as well as in various high schools, lyceums and primary schools. He has published and published plays, reports, vignettes, cartoons, studies and analyzes for the local shadow theater.

For his work and contribution he was honored with the "Silver Medal" of the 1st District (historical and financial center) of the Municipality of Thessaloniki by the Association of Publishers of Northern Greece, the Music Society of Northern Greece, the 3rd Municipal District, the Karagiozis Museum and the festival of Bursa and with many other distinctions in Greece and abroad. He is a member of the Association of Visual Artists of Northern Greece and the Association of Visual Artists of Central Greece.

His performances are a theater of battle news, the ripe fruit of his long and varied tenure in the world of shadow theater. With special sensitivity he tries with his Karagiozis to combine the local cultural treasure with topical and modern speech. From the tradition and identity of yesterday, to the voice, visions and concerns of today, with a wealth of folklore, ethnographic and ethnographic elements.