VENUES
- Ionian Academy, 1, Kapodistriou str.
- Department of Audio & Visual Arts, Tsirigoti Sq. 7, 49100 Corfu
Ionian Academy, 1, Kapodistriou str.
The Academy, the higher education institution, of the United States of the Ionian Islands was established in Corfu in 1824, thanks to the generosity of the English philhellene Frederic North, earl of Guilford, and to the initiative of the Ionian State. It has been the first University in the history of Modern Greek education. It comprised four schools: Law, Theology, Medicine and Philosophy (courses of natural sciences and mathematics were also taught). Later, the technology institution, the school of obstetrics and the school of pharmacy were established. In the schools of Theology and Philosophy taught well-known scholars, like Andreas Kalvos, Christoforos Filitas, Konstantinos Asopios, Theoklitos Farmakidis, Neofytos Vamvas, Petros Vrailas-Armenis and more. From the beginning of the 19th century and until the union of the Ionian Islands with modern Greece in 1864, when the Academy closed, a notable literary movement has begun. This movement contributed a lot in the spiritual enlightenment of the modern Greeks. The Academy was housed in an imposing three-story building in south-western side of Spianada square, which used to serve as barracks. After the death of Frederic North in 1827, the financial resources became limited and the decline of the Academy began. In 1864 it closed to support the newly established University of Athens. Some of the professors were hired in Athens, where it moved the Academy’s library, too. Since 1941, the building was hosting only the Municipal Library and the Junior High school, while in 1943 was burnt down by German bombardments. Half a century later, it was rebuilt for the needs of the Ionian University and it operates this way until today. In that building is housed the International and Public Relations Department, in 1 Kapodistriou Street.
Department of Audio & Visual Arts, Tsirigoti Sq. 7, 49100 Corfu
The Department of Audiovisual Arts was founded in 2004 under the EPEAEK programme, in order to cover this lack for the first time in our country. It is a hybrid Department where emphasis is put on the convergence of art and technology in research and teaching. The result of this interaction is in line with current international research data of digital culture.