Athens on the night of museums

09 May 2014 / 18:05:35 GRReporter

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Photo: Benaki Museum

We will present below the programme prepared by three of the major museums in Athens to mark the International Museum Day, 18 May, which this year will take place under the title "Collections unite us."

International Museum Day at Benaki Museum

The main building of Benaki Museum (1 Koumabri Street) will host at 8:00 pm on Friday, 16 May 2014, an evening dedicated to the International Dance Festival in Kalamata, which this year celebrates 20 years of its establishment.

In addition, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika Art Gallery will offer from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday, 18 May 2014, Musical Guided Tours.

Five musicians, representatives of different musical styles, will create their own connection with the Museum, showing visitors works or artists exhibited in the gallery.

By performing various musical pieces or musical improvisations, they will reveal, through music, the thoughts and feelings that each work of art provokes in them. The "tour" with each of the musicians will continue 50 minutes and it will be followed by a 30-minute break during which visitors will be able to see the gallery and its unique exhibits.

The department of educational programmes at Benaki Museum has planned for those breaks special routes for children aged over five years, based on the principles of music-driven education. Starting from the collections of works in the Gallery, the children will be able to walk among works and familiar tunes, going from artists to musicians, from shadow theatres to dance, and meeting with heroes and mythical monsters. These tours for children will end up with a little surprise in the spirit of the event.

The culmination of the celebrations will be a concert, which will associate Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika with the musicians participating in the event, as well as the participation of a video artist.

The guides of the Musical Tour in the Gallery of Benaki Museum will be:

Anargiros Deniozos, a musicologist and composer (he will present the only Musical Tour in words)

Thanos Daskalopoulos, body percussion

Christina Katsari, video

Anna Pangalou, mezzo soprano

Fotis Siotas, violin

Spiros Dsekos, clarinet.

Project Manager: Anna Pangalou

On occasion of the International Museum Day, all items at Benaki Museum will be sold at a 10% discount and the publications of the Museum at a 50% discount. Especially for members the discount will be even greater, namely 20% for different items and 20% for the publications of the Museum.

Admission for visitors to all buildings of the Benaki Museum will be free.

International Museum Day at the Acropolis Museum

To celebrate this year's International Museum Day, the Acropolis Museum in cooperation with the National Mint has issued a jubilee medal with the image of "The Rabbit of the Acropolis."

Photos: Giorgos Vitsaropoulos

The ancient Greeks knew a lot about rabbits, namely the following: they run very fast preferring steep hills, choose slopes in order to see danger in time, use their long ears like “handlebars” while running, but also that they are playful animals, always ready to take part in a love story. The jubilee medals are available in the museum kiosks selling brochures and souvenirs.

On Sunday, 18 May 2014, the Museum will welcome visitors with two festive events titled "The Rabbit of the Acropolis" and "Kriophoros (the ram bearer): a masterpiece of the Acropolis rises again."

The opening hours of the museum will be shorter due to the local elections, namely from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, and admission will be free.

International Museum Day at the Museum of Cycladic Art

The Museum of Cycladic Art will mark this year's International Museum Day on Saturday, 17 May 2014. The museum department of educational programmes will organize a number of events with free admission, as follows:

11:00 am - 11:30 am and 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm - a discussion for children and parents in sign language, organized by the "Bridges of Communication" Institute for Sign Language in Greece.

11:00 am - 11:45 am and 2:00 pm - 14:45 pm - a workshop for children that will inform them about the problems of deaf people, organized by "Bridges of Communication" Institute for Sign Language in Greece.

12:00 - 1:30 pm - a theatre performance entitled "Crutches in the city of MO" for children aged between 6 and 12 years, organized by "Short Stories" zone for creative activities. This is a dramatic story inspired by a folk tale from Central Europe, which comes to life through dance and song, a story about the freedom and power that hides inside each of us.