Five Thessaloniki museums to host Louvre exhibits, artworks

Art works and artefacts on display at the Louvre will be exhibited in Greece for the first time, with five museums in Thessaloniki to host the exhibits, as part of events commemorating the centenary of the northern Greece metropolis' liberation.

The five venues -- the Museum of Byzantine Culture, the Tellogleio Art Institute, the State Museum of Contemporary Art, the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum -- are participating in the overall exhibition entitled "The Louvre in Thessaloniki".

The initiative comes in reciprocation of the renowned Paris museum's hosting of the significant exhibition entitled "Ancient Macedonia: In the Kingdom of Alexander the Great", which was hosted at the Louvre from October 2011 to January 2012, replete with exhibits from various collections across the province of Macedonia, Greece's largest province.

Source : amna

Acropolis Museum bags Keck Award for Caryatid restoration

Restoration and conservation work carried out on the Caryatids from the southern porch of the Erechtheion temple has earned the Acropolis Museum in Athens an international distinction. 

The museum was awarded the Keck Award 2012 by the International Institute for Conservation (IIC) in Vienna on September 14. The restoration and conservation of the Kore from the Erechtheion was carried out with the use of laser technology.

Established in 1994, the award is presented on a biennial basis and was endowed by the late art conservation pioneers Sheldon and Caroline Keck.
According to the IIC Council, the award is presented to “the individual or group who has contributed most towards promoting public understanding and appreciation of the accomplishments of the conservation profession.”

The Acropolis Museum was honoured for its efforts to offer visitors the chance to observe conservation procedures that previously could only be seen in conservation labs. According to the museum, more than 2 million visitors have watched the conservation specialists at work since December 2010.

The scientists working at the Athens museum used a highly innovative laser technique developed by the museum and the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser at the Foundation for Research and Technology on Crete.
At the museum, the specialists work on the sculptures inside a closed-off area while visitors can watch the procedure on a screen.

Designed by Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi in collaboration with Greek architect Michalis Fotiadis, the Acropolis Museum opened its doors to the public in June, 2009. The museum showcases about 4,000 objects from the Acropolis.

Nuits de Première : la rentrée du cinéma

Bienvenue à la 18ème édition du Festival International du Cinéma d’Athènes “Nuits de Première”. Le rideau du festival a été levé hier avec le film dramatique de Jacques Audiard “De rouille et d’os” (8 nominations et prix Swann d'Or du meilleur film 2012) dont les rôles principaux sont interprétés par Marion Cotillard et Matthias Schoenaerts.

Du 19 au 30 septembre, 179 films seront projetés en plein centre de la capitale. Les cinéphiles auront l'occasion de découvrir en avant-première des films du cinéma américain, européen, japonais, brésilien, australien, israélien et philippin.

Si vous aimez le cinéma français, vous aurez l’occasion de voir plus de 12 (co-) productions françaises, parmi lesquelles, “Amour” de Michael Haneke avec Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva et Isabelle Huppert (prix Palm d’or Cannes 2012). Des ”master-classes”, des concerts et des happenings sont également proposés aux visiteurs.

Hollywood thriller to be filmed in Athens and Crete

A number of scenes of a planned Hollywood thriller, "Two Faces of January", based on a Patricia Highsmith novel, will be shot on location in Athens and Crete. The film will be directed by screenwriter Hossein Amini, and star Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst.

Filming in Athens will take place around the Acropolis and the Roman Forum on Oct. 14-17, culture ministry officials said on Wednesday.
The psychological drama unfolds in Greece and Turkey and centres on a con artist, Chester MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen), who accidentally kills a private detective investigating him. He becomes a fugitive from international police with his wife (Kirsten Dunst).

Highsmith is the writer of popular novels The Talented Mr. Ripley, The American Friend and Strangers on a Train.

Meanwhile, parts of the Turkish documentary on the life of Mehmet II, produced by the Turkish TRT channel, were filmed at archaeological sites in central Athens on Wednesday.

Source : amna

Commission pour le retour des frises du Parthénon

Le ministre adjoint de la Culture, Costas Tzavaras, a mis sur pied une commission consultative spéciale chargée de coordonner les actions et planifier une stratégie pour le retour des frises du Parthénon exposées au British Museum à Londres.

La commission est composée de l’avocat, Christoforos Argyropoulos, président de la Fondation “Melina Mercouri”, l’archéologue, Dr Elena Korka, l’avocate, Irini Stamatoudi, directrice de l’Organisme de la Propriété intellectuelle, et Panos Kalogeropoulos, représentant du ministère des Affaires étrangères.

“Nous restons fermes dans la revendication d’un objectif national posé pour la première fois par Melina Mercouri, à titre de ministre de la Culture, en juillet 1982, à la Conférence internationale des ministres de la Culture de l’UNESCO, et nous constituons une commission, qui aura un caractère permanent, avec des personnalités de renom qui, grâce à leur haute formation, leur grandes connaissances et leur expérience de longue date sur des questions de rapatriement de monuments, ont beaucoup à apporter dans le combat difficile pour la restitution des Marbres”, a noté M. Tzavaras.

Source: amna

Ancient words sound fresh notes at the theatre of Dionysus.

After 2,500 years, the words of ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus, will resound once again, this time accompanied by original music, at the ancient open-air Theatre of Dionysus, on the southern slope of the Athens Acropolis, in a single performance on Saturday, September 22.

George Kouroupos has taken Aeschylus’ text and created a concert entitled "Monologue", which has its world premiere on the 22nd. The work is based on two monologues from Aeschylus' tragedy Prometheus Bound. It is dedicated to Greece's archaeologists and all those working on the preservation and restoration of the country's ancient theatres.

The Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus is one of the oldest preserved theatres in Athens. It used to host the city's Dionysia festival, a competition among playwrights that involved the production of four plays, including three tragedies and one satyr play. Aeschylus’s works, as well as other masterpieces of ancient drama, were first performed at this theatre.

Greek authorities announced in 2009 a six-year, six million euro program for the partial restoration of the ruined marble theatre, which includes extensive modern additions to the surviving stone seats.

“Deux fois étranger”: l’histoire du déracinement des populations grecques de l’Asie mineure, au musée Benaki

Le drame du déracinement subi par des populations expatriées au cours du XXème siècle fait l’objet de l’exposition “Deux fois étranger” qui sera présentée au musée Benaki du 19 septembre au 25 novembre.

A travers des témoignages de migrants et de leurs descendants, ainsi que de rares vidéos et photographies, l’exposition raconte l’histoire des populations déracinées de leur terre natale et transférées ailleurs en dépit de leur propre volonté.

 

“Deux fois étranger” met en lumière l'échange des populations grecques et turques en 1923, des populations allemandes et polonaises après la fin de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, mais aussi le transfert entre musulmans et hindous lors de la partition de l’Inde en 1947 et la naissance du Pakistan. Chypre y fait partie aussi de ce tableau pour ce qui concerne les événements de 1974, suite à l’invasion turque sur l’île.

A noter également au programme, des événements parallèles, comme des narrations de contes, des projections de documentaires, ainsi que des soirées gastronomiques inspirées de la cuisine de l’Asie Mineure et de l’Inde.

Les prochaines escales de cette exposition, qui a déjà voyagé à Istanbul et à Nicosie, seront Stockholm et Luxembourg.