Our cultural (as opposed to political) mission is to establish a center to provide information about, as well as promote interest in, the cultural resources of Anaphoria Island. In 1993, a temporary field station was set up to facilitate the first in a series of concerts. This became the permanent Embassy in 1994 following the Northridge Earthquake. It is the Anaphorian belief that traveling religious artifacts have been known to cause earthquakes as the result of evil forces fleeing their presence. The custom has been to house them in the location in order to prevent or detain their return. This embassy is thus our symbol of good will to the peoples of North America. Since its founding, it has been responsible for numerous concerts, lectures, shadow plays and publicly available recordings.
Part of the oceanic mesocosm, Anaphoria, located 1,000 miles from the nearest major land mass, is 6,432 square miles with a population of 43,234 (1990 census). No place on earth can rival its human diversity-73 different ethnic groups- and it is just this diversity that is responsible for so many misconceptions about Anaphoria in the west; often only a single group is presented as "representing" the entire island.
Known even to its inhabitants as the "Isle of Exiles" because it has so long been home and host to expatriates from all over the globe, Anaphoria's myths and history are replete with examples of heroes/heroines reappearing from distant lands in time to ward off perceived dangers - usually threats of foreign intervention. Researchers are often baffled to discover even inhabitants who have never been off the island referring to themselves as "foreigners". Eugenio Barba summed it up on his recent visit: "Many of us have a desire to be foreigners."