What was the know-how, the art and the perceptions of each era to get to today? These questions are transformed into exhibition units at the Museum of Modern Greek Culture, where the way of life, the conditions, the perceptions and the aesthetic standards of the time, the know-how and the art of the people of the recent past, those that defined the identity of today and redefining the future…
A great, enlightening conversation of anthropography from 1750 to the present begins at MNEP. After all, the visitors are also the protagonists of the exhibition narrative as they determine their place in the world by discovering elements of their cultural identity.
Pictures from the Where They Lived section and items from how they decorated their homes.
Approach
“In the new exhibition, the human-centered approach dominates in a twofold way: on the one hand, it seeks to highlight the way of life and perceptions of the past through the museum objects, and on the other hand, the emphasis is placed on the experience gained by the visitor, by creating an attractive museum narrative based on the principles of experiential approach and recreational education” he describes in “ET” the director of the Museum of Modern Greek Culture, Elena Melidis, and guides us to the unique public metropolitan museum of our country that deals with the most recent past of the entire Greek area and the material evidence of its culture.
Pictures from the Where They Lived section and items from how they decorated their homes.
In a complex of 4,000 square meters, a neighborhood of modern Athens with buildings dating from the 18th to the 20th century and creating a peculiar monumental and cultural landscape in the wider urban fabric of the city, unfolds the new permanent exhibition which presents aspects of modern Greek culture from the 19th century to the present through evidence of our tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The Museum has annexes that present permanent single-theme exhibitions in the urban fabric of its historic center, the “Bath of the Airs” in Plaka, an Ottoman monument, the only surviving public bath, and the Museum at 22 and 19 Panos Street, where the permanent exhibition “Men and Tools: Aspects of Work in Pre-Industrial Society” with objects from the Donation of the Folklore Studies Society.
Ten sections
Crossing the threshold of the MNEP, time turns… The exhibition is developed in ten thematic sections which narrate the basic ideas and messages related to the concept of the formation of the identity of the new Hellenism from 1750 to 1960. “We seek the MNEP to become an agent of social change and development, willing to expand both the groups of audiences it addresses and its approach to different issues, to expand its role, with its dynamic inclusion in the “leisure industry”, to expand the scientific field of his searches and to proceed with anthropological, ethnological and visual searches” notes the director.
View from the “How They Had Fun” section.
The two centuries – from which the vast majority of objects in the Museum’s collections come from – “constitutes the period of time, also, during which the new Greek culture is formed, flourishes and ultimately, through other cultural influences, reaches to echo in the identity of today’s Greeks”.
Starting point
The exhibition begins to unravel the thread of historicity with the question “Where are you from, where are we from?”. Through disparate objects, which function as trademarks, as travel souvenirs or as heirlooms, we tour the special homelands of modern Greeks and see how great historical milestones are inscribed in objects of everyday use, such as an embroidery or a stamp.
View from the “How They Had Fun” section.
In the section “Where are you? Here, then and now” objects discovered during the restoration work of the buildings star and tell the human stories of the residents of the neighborhood that is the current roof of the Museum. Of particular interest is the section on our faith and worship, where the relationship between man and the divine is developed and the different ways of expressing religious sentiment are presented. The main stages of the cycle of human life and the annual cycle of time are illustrated through some of the oldest and most valuable objects in the Museum’s collections. Festivals, shadow theater, musical and theatrical shows, dances, puppet theater, cinema, cafes make up a colorful mosaic of entertainment for the Greeks. This is the section “How did they have fun?” How do you have fun’ where special emphasis is placed on shadow theatre.
Work Tools from the What Work They Did section.
Women’s work
Among other things, the rich mental world of the anonymous woman unfolds through women’s work and especially in the home industry. The warp of the museum narrative is made up of embroideries and textiles. Architectural members of traditional and neoclassical houses, tools of construction professionals such as a Sarakatsan hut and a Rhodian house as well as views of interior decoration of houses illustrate the residence and its evolution in modern Greece. In a specially designed space, the frescoes with works by Theophilos from the “good room” of the Zolkos house in Napi, Lesvos, are exhibited.
The new exhibition is dominated by the human-centered approach ELENA MELIDI DIRECTOR OF THE YOUNG HELLENIC MUSEUM
OF CULTURE (GIORGOS KONTARINIS/EUROKINISSI)
Exhibits related to the production and sale of food products, cooking and storing food, catering and serving, nutrition in the cycle of time and human life are included in the section entitled “What they cooked, what you cook ?”, while in the section “What work did they do? What work do you do” presents aspects and snapshots of work and the production process in Greece in recent years.
Clothing and jewelry from the What They Wore section.
Evidence from bygone eras that speak of “What They Wore, What Are You Wearing?” about the way people dressed in the Greek area from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. “The big stake for this historical museum was and is to listen every time to social necessity, to capture the anxieties and reflections of social becoming so that a museum thus remains alive, modern and attractive to its audience” notes Ms. Melidis and mentions that the restoration of the museum complex for the installation of the Museum of Modern Greek Culture was implemented with the co-financing of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the Operational Program Attica 2014-2020 of the Region of Attica.
Exhibits
“Family Corners” for the first time
But how did all this become a modern and innovative exhibition? “We experimented with the creation of a complex, multidimensional and participatory exhibition environment that communicates with visitors in a variety of ways” replies Ms. Melidis and with an innovative spirit she explains the principles of experiential design and recreational learning.
Clothing and jewelry from the What They Wore section.
As the director Elena Melidis tells us, they created for the first time in a Greek museum, the “Family Corners”, which are a pioneering effort by the Museum to implement an alternative way of transmitting information in a museum space. In particular, in selected sections of the exhibition, family exhibits are presented in a playful way, so as to attract the interest of even the youngest ages.
#identity #Greeks #today