The event “If we sing them to you? | Our rights become songs” was marked by great success! The event was organized by the Network for Children’s Rights (NCR) and Mikri Arktos on Sunday 21 November, in the context of the homonymous campaign of NCR, aiming to raise awareness around children’s rights. On the occasion of World Children’s Day (November 20th) the message of the event was loud and clear! The gave children a voice to… sing their rights and we sing along with them!
During the event there was an official presentation of the book/CD “If we sing them to you: Our rights became songs” (published by Mikri Arktos), including 14 songs with lyrics written by children inspired by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (in the context of a relevant competition organized by NCR). Lyrics were turned to songs with the help of acclaimed artists such as: Aggelos Aggelou, Foivos Delivorias, Nikos Zoudiaris, Tatiana Zografou, Christos Thivaios, Kostas Leivadas, Aristides Marantos, Savveria Margiola, Adrianna Babali, Dimitris Bashlam, Dafni Panourgia, Maria Papageorgiou, Antonis Papatheodoulou, Thodoris Papaioannou, Kostas Parissis, Stavros Siolas, Babis Stokas, Georgia, Nefeli Fasouli, Giorgos Charonitis, Giorgis Christodoulou, Burger Project and Dilemma, while in the pages of the book/CD are also included original illustrations, inspired by the children’s lyrics, created by Myrto Delivoria, Iris Samartzi, Daniella Stamatiadi, Chara Marantidou, Achilleas Razis, STMTS, Maria Bacha, Alexis Kyritsopoulos, Vasilis Papatsarouchas and Pavlos Nikolakopoulos, which will constitute different versions of the cover art of the homonymous collectible vinyl, to be released soon.
Aggelos Aggelou, Foivos, Delivorias, Tatiana Zografou, Georgia, Dafni Panourgia, Thodoris Papaioannou, Kostas Parissis, Nefeli Fasouli, Giorgis Christodoulou and Burger Project attended the event, all of which presented live songs from the album, pumping up young and old alike, while Chara Marantidou, Ioanna Riga, Antonis Papatheodoulou, Iris Samartzi and Dimitra Kouzi ran creative workshops for children.
Among the artists who sang was Efthimia Milioni, who, as a student at the Musical School of Agrinio, had participated in the competition providing both lyrics and a melody and her song was amongst the 14 chosen to be included in the album.
The presence of children from different parts of Greece was particularly moving, like Thessaloniki, Heraklion of Crete and Agios Thomas of Boeotia, who attended the event to listen to the songs they wrote presented live for the first time.
During the presentation of the book/CD, song-maker Foivos Delivorias, writer of children’s books Antonis Papatheodoulou, along with Miranda Papadopoulou and Panos Christodoulou (President and Director of the Network for Children’s Rights, respectively) shared with the audience how rights became songs, beginning with the initial inspiration for a workshop for kids, which later became a lyric-writing competition and ended up becoming a big campaign, embraced by children and the artists mentioned above. Characteristically, Foivos Delivorias mentioned that his participation in the campaign is “One of the most beautiful moments he has experienced” as “he did not expect, when entering the first workshop, that something so magical was about to begin” while other artists in attendance shared very similar views.
*The event was hosted under the auspices of the Municipality of Athens. Especially important for its success was the contribution of our sponsors, which, through their donations, embraced and promoted the important work of the Network. More specifically, we would like to thank: Coco-Mat Greece (for the cushions that were set up in the appropriate, due to Covid-19, distances, for the children watching the live performances of the songs), Zagori Natural Mineral Water (for the 500 individual bottles of water), Apivita (for the 500 individual hand sanitizer bottles), Manos Backline Services (for the concession of a microphone-equipped installation for the live performances), Evritika Kellaria (for the 30 bottles of wine, for the adults of the event) and PIN Communication (for the creation of the promotional material for the event).
We also profusely thank KN Group_Design that Works, for their generous donation of of the event space, the treats it prepared for all the children and every other facility and comfort they provided us with.
**The book/CD “If we sing them to you: Our rights became songs” is available by Mikri Arktos in all bookstores. Part of sales will be used to reinforce and support the work of the Network for Children’s Rights. More information in ddp.gr and at (+30) 2110133919.
