Engaging with the Public: A Workshop on the Echoes Project at the Art and Thought Space in Xanthi

The workshop, held on November 6, 2024, in the welcoming Art and Thought Space in Xanthi, offered a captivating journey through time and local history. The audience, consisting of city residents and esteemed invited representatives of local governance, experienced a unique event that combined modern technologies with the authentic soundscape and vibrancy of everyday life in 19th-century bustling, multicultural Xanthi.

The event began with welcome addresses from Ms. Polyxeni Brika, Deputy Governor of Xanthi, and Father Paisios from the Holy Metropolis of Xanthi and Peritheorion. Both emphasized the event’s importance for the local community.

Dr. Vassilios Katsouros, Director of the Institute for Language and Speech Processing, welcomed the audience, while the scientific lead of the project, Dr. Yannis Ioannidis, Professor of Informatics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and collaborator of the Athena Research Center, elaborated on the vision behind the project. The project coordinator, Dr. Despina Tsiaphi, provided an overview of the project’s framework, objectives, and participating organizations. She also highlighted the potential of soundscapes in cultural communication, showcasing how technology can create interactive experiences that reveal the multicultural roots and hidden stories of past communities in Athens and Xanthi.

Next, Dr. Maria Boile analyzed the technological innovations implemented within the project, focusing on the narraline-storymaker tool. This tool enables creators to weave narratives and integrate multimedia content. She also presented the application designed for end users, which offers a unique storytelling experience through 3D sketches and dynamic soundscapes brought to life by 3D sound.

Ms. Natasa Michailidou and Ms. Katerina Servi discussed the challenges of historical research during the recreation of daily life in Xanthi at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. They explained how storytelling is combined with soundscapes and language through routes, fictional scenarios, and individual soundscapes. These soundscapes highlight a multilingual world with dialects and languages such as Xanthiotika, French, Turkish, Armenian, Ladino, and Pomak, unveiling the multi-layered cultural identities that once coexisted and flourished in the city.

Following this, Mr. Panos Giokas, CEO of MENTOR, spoke about the development of the project’s communication strategy. He outlined the dissemination actions that engaged the public on social media, sparking fascinating discussions around the history and cultural heritage of Xanthi.

The workshop concluded with presentations by three distinguished guests who enriched the event with their unique perspectives. Mr. Thanasis Mousopoulos, philologist, author, and poet, presented the contribution of Katina Veikou-Serameti to documenting the Xanthiotika dialect with a pleasantly personal tone. Dr. Pinelopi Kampaki-Vougioukli, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Democritus University of Thrace, explored a range of topics related to dialects and the use of Katharevousa (a form of formal Greek). She discussed the tendency towards linguistic homogenization, the loss of dialectical varieties, the need for studying dialects, the significant role of non-specialists in their documentation, and the historical and social factors influencing both the intonation of dialects and the alternating use of dialect and Katharevousa by the same individual. Lastly, collector Mr. Tassos Tefronidis, administrator of the Facebook group “Old Photos of Xanthi,” showcased extremely rare postcard photographs from his extensive collection, raising intriguing questions about the city’s topography and history.

The workshop concluded with a warm discussion with the audience, whose participation demonstrated their active interest in preserving and promoting Xanthi’s cultural identity. This project delves into the city’s history and identity through a unique, multi-sensory approach. The final app for exploring Old Xanthi through soundscapes will soon be freely available to the public, catering to both visitors and locals.

The research project “Echoes: Reconstructing the life of traditional settlements through interactive experiences and 3d sound” is funded by Greece 2.0 National Recovery and Resilience Plan through the Action “Research – Create – Innovate”.