Books

Sitting in bed now, embracing cancer, I can look back on my life and see that
I’ve done many bold things unconsciously, because I thought them to be
natural and legitimate.
One of the most important things I did –and it might seem small and
trivial compared to much bigger and courageous things I’ve done– was an
event for diabetics during the Hellenic Parliament Foundation’s Feminism
in the post-1974 era exhibition, where I managed to bring together the conservative
world of diabetes patients with the feminist movement. I was so
proud.
I’ve always liked this bringing together of people and movements and
communities. My friends and acquaintances have been a motley crew of
genders, cultures, religions, sexual identities, etc., and I find this mix wonderful;
I take pleasure in it; I admire it. And I am proud of having managed
to unite such different worlds and people. This is how the world should be,
by definition: a blend of good people, where the villains wash away on their
own over time, not fitting into this huge magical puzzle.
My grandmother always said: “Be a good person, my child.” She herself
was a solitary figure, perhaps even a misanthrope, who lived to be a hundred
and three.
The Outview Film Festival, a ten-day LGBTQ+ film festival I created and
ran for twelve years, was such a fertile, mixing ground. I feel incredibly happy
to have started it and to have accommodated within it such diversity of
themes and issues, even beyond the LGBTQ+ community. I’m especially
proud for having brought together LGBTQI individuals on the one hand,
and the bravest voices of the disability community of Athens on the other.
Our house was always open and constantly flooded with people. My
mother cooked for everyone; hundreds have appreciated her cuisine. I got
used to this from a very young age, I don’t think we, as a family, have ever
eaten alone. Perhaps this feeling of extroversion was commonly enjoyed
by both my parents, who were constantly up for going out, traveling, visiting
places and people. Dad would lead and mom would follow with immense
joy. We youngsters accompanied them, learning a lot in the process.
My life goes on, I carry my traumas and escape them with the persistent
20 work and good habits I have acquired throughout the years. I was brought
up to love people, to feed them, to empathize with them, to introduce
them to one another, to be a spirited part of their world; and to fight!
The photographic album/book you are holding was created based
on these very values and momentum: the spirit of communal feasts, love
above all, and on the empathy one finds in abundance around good people.
I created it together with three wonderful women. We endowed it
with a political identity, an unmistakable title, and a spirit of pride. And
we’re now sending it out into the world…
Maria Cyber