The Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments (ESMA), the Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA) and the Directorate of Modern Culture (DINEPOK) contribute to the celebration of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 with the exhibition “Chisel and Memory: the contribution of marble craftsmanship to the restoration of monuments”.
As the works are to be completed shortly we all too often find the need to refer to the archive compiled after the systematic and thorough recording of the daily works at the worksite. The numbers are really impressive: more than 300,000 documents are today stored at the Acropolis Restoration Service’s archive and have become accessible to researchers. This rich repository of knowledge can be approached in various ways and through different viewpoints. The exhibition “Chisel and Memory: the contribution of marble craftsmanship to the restoration of monuments” attempts a very special way of approaching this material, by shedding light on the everyday life at the worksite. The exhibition attempts to answer a series of questions: What have marble craftsmen contributed to the restoration works and what is the level of their involvement in the task? What emotions do they experience and share during the interventions? How is the community of marble technicians organized and how do they operate when they collaborate, exchange knowledge and experience, and enjoy free time?
In parallel, the exhibition “Chisel and Memory: the contribution of marble craftsmanship to the restoration of monuments” attempts to promote marble craftsmanship as an intangible cultural good. It aims to highlight not only the work of the craftspeople, but also the tradition, cultural experience, shared relations and collective memory within the context of which this craft has been handed down, for centuries now, from one generation to the next. In 2013 the Tinian Marble Craftsmanship was inscribed on the Greek National Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece and in 2015 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports is responsible for implementing in Greece the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). Among its concerns is the sensitization towards the need of safeguarding and promoting elements of the intangible cultural heritage which form part of our collective memory and identity.
Also contributing to the project is the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, which will accommodate the exhibition in fall 2018, in Thessaloniki and in spring 2019, in Tinos.
Latin Chapel at the Old Fortress of Corfu
6-30 July, 2018
Exhibition opening: Friday July 6, 2018 at 8 pm
The tour of the exhibition starts from the Latin Chapel at the Old Fortress of Corfu, as a response to an invitation by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Corfu. The opening of the exhibition will be held on Friday July 6, 2018 at 8 pm. The exhibition which will last until Monday July 30, 2018 presents archival material of the Acropolis restoration works, emphasizing on the contribution of the human factor to the process of restoration.
Archaeological Museum of Mytilene
9-27 August, 2018
Opening: Thursday 9 August, 2018
Mytilene is the second stop of the exhibition: the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lesvos will accommodate the exhibition at the Archaeological Museum of Mytilene, where it will remain from the August 9 to August 27, 2018. The opening will be on Thursday August 9th, 2018 at 8.30 pm.
Piraeus Bank Conference Center in Thessaloniki
1st of October – 31st of December 2018
Opening: Saturday 29th of September 2018 at 8.00 pm
The Acropolis Restoration Service dedicates this exhibition to the memory of Makis (Iakovos) Kladios who worked on the Acropolis for 23 years and was lost prematurely on July 23, 2018, helping his parents during the lethal fire that stroke Mati, Attica.
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