The cultural experiences available to Antreas during his time at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have led to a proud opportunity promoting his country’s culture across Europe.
Looking proud minutes after graduating
Antreas Sofokleous from Cyprus graduated from DMU today with a 2:1 in Arts and Festivals Management, and starts his role as an event coordinator for the Pafos2017 Organisation next week.
With the prestigious EU title ‘2017 European Capital of Culture’ given to the city of Pafos in Cyprus, Antreas’ job will involve mobilising members of the public and artists to take part in cultural events across the city throughout 2017.
The events that Antreas will help to organise will focus on creativity and will both look to the future and pay tribute to the city’s heritage, while strengthening Cyprus’ sense of European cultural identity.
The 23-year-old said: “I’m really proud to be representing my country in this way and I’m excited for the opportunity to work with both local and international people and artists to learn more about different cultures.”
Antreas has already visited his new workplace to get to know his colleagues
A number of opportunities at DMU helped prepare Antreas for his new job, including his involvement with the university’s 15th anniversary of its annual arts festival, Cultural eXchanges 2016.
Working with a small group of students, Antreas helped organise 44 events over five days.
The stellar line-up included author, comedian and TV presenter David Baddiel, journalist and transgender rights activist Paris Lees, legendary Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, award-winning playwright Willy Russell, and best-selling crime writer Mark Billingham.
He said: “Being part of the team running the festival was a fantastic opportunity and a great experience.”
Antreas also learned about cultural policies in Berlin following a #DMUglobal trip during the second year of his course. The trip included valuable visits with the Berlin Arts Council and Maxim Gorki theatre.
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“As well as the trip to Berlin, I also enjoyed finding out about the theatre industry in the UK through a talk from the Ambassador Theatre Group which was organised by DMU,” said Antreas.
The group of students (Antreas pictured in the green T-shirt) who ran DMU's 15th Cultural eXchanges festival
Also during his second year, Antreas worked with DMU Square Mile to support local children at Stokes Wood Primary School through crafty workshops in which they painted animals associated with Leicester’s sporting achievements, such as a tiger and a fox.
Antreas particularly enjoyed the balance between theory and practice that his course offers, saying: “It enables you to apply the knowledge you gain in real life scenarios, which is essential experience to get a job nowadays.
“I would definitely recommend my course to anyone interested in the cultural and events sector. The experience gained together with the knowledge creates great prospects for future careers.”
As an international student at DMU, Antreas liked the compact DMU campus and enjoyed the buzz of living in the city.
He said: “I love Leicester. It’s a smaller city than some others, but includes everything a student wants.
“I really enjoyed the various cultural events and festivals on offer and I will miss Premier League football as it was really exciting following Leicester City’s journey to the top last year.”
Posted on Tuesday 19 July 2016