Magazine RADIOTILEORASI
Issue No. 1617, 10–16 February 2001:

(in rough translation)
Television ET1 Documentary, “Creating Tomorrow”
Sunday, 11 February 2001, at 12:45 p.m. (Repeated in 2002 and later)
A documentary series comprising sixteen half-hour episodes, produced in 2000. Prominent figures from the fields of art and science reveal aspects of their everyday lives before the cameras.

Episode 5: “Nadia Seremetakis”. The renowned ethnologist and anthropologist Nadia Seremetakis is not merely a distinguished university academic who came to us from the other side of the Atlantic to shed light on a discipline that was scarcely developed in Greece, if not virtually non-existent: anthropology. She carried out one of her most important anthropological studies in this country, spending eight years in Inner Mani. That experience, viewed through the lens of anthropological research and interpretation, was recorded in her book The Last Word at Europe’s Edge, which is regarded as one of the most important and pioneering anthropological works of our time.

Throughout her work, Nadia Seremetakis focuses on the anthropology of the senses and memory, thereby opening up new dimensions within her field. For her, the key words are “the border” and “the journey,” two concepts she has transformed into a way of life and creative practice, both in her everyday life and in her scholarly work.

We spent four “Athenian” days with her, following her through the places she frequents in the city and visiting her home, which is shaped by her own distinctive perspective, always mindful that the anthropologist’s natural environment is the “outside world,” the field of research and…
of wandering. We gained a small glimpse of this relationship during our journey to Mani, the place that shaped both her creative path and her as a person.

Anthropologist Nadia Seremetakis knows very well how to define anthropology and explain its contribution to our lives. As she herself puts it, it is “the study of people in crisis by people in crisis.” Listening to her during the days we spent with her, we discovered that it is much more than that—and exceptionally fascinating.

Directed by: Kostas Charalambous. Editorial supervision: Katerina Maggana. Produced by: Niki Koula-Linardou.