The Sino-Hellenic Performing Arts Alliance staged a theater and music performance at the Trianon Theater in the center of Athens on Friday, celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit with Greeks.

"Suppressing the pandemic with art" was the theme of the show. The key message was "Katharsis", the concept first mentioned by ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle in "Poetics", which means to express emotions and purify the soul through art.

In the past three years, the pandemic caused by Covid-19 has brought great trauma to people all over the world. The organizers of the performance reviewed many touching moments from 2019 to 2023 through artistic expression and tried to heal the wounds through art, through singing, dancing, music, martial arts, calligraphy and sketch shows.

This script of the show was based on true personal experiences of the amateur actors, interpreting “love”, “family”, “depression”, “art spirit” and “passion” under the cloud of pandemic, pursuing the rebirth of the soul.

After all the performances were over, a video of all the cast and crew taking off their masks and showing their smiling faces was played on the big screen. They tried their best to dispel the haze of the epidemic with the light of literature and art, and "welcome the spring warmly" with sincere smiles.

Chinese artist Lin Qinghua has donated a calligraphy, that she wrote down on spot, to Greek Embassy in China. In return, Greek visual artist INO has donated a big size printed artwork, with the theme “Dialogue Through Time and Space”, to Chinese Embassy in Greece. Both artists expressed their good wishes to people from both nations.

Lai Bo, Minister Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, reviewed in his speech the remarkable achievements of China and Greece in fighting the epidemic in the past three years.

The Sino-Hellenic Performing Arts Alliance (SHPAA) is an NGO dedicated to stage performances aimed to promote bilateral cultural communication between China and Greece. Since its official establishment in March 2021, the alliance has presented two drama plays, “The Myth of the White Snake·Remix” and “Medea and other Friends I Made in Athens”.