Identities | Conflicts | Craftsmanship

As part of the “ReInHerit” project, funded by the “Horizon2020” program of the European Union, the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, the Graz Museum in Austria and the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation in Nicosia collaborated and developed 3 thematic exhibitions with the title “ReThinking”. The “ReThinking” exhibitions focus on social issues which have been relevant to the world from antiquity to the present day: identities, social conflicts, craftsmanship. The exhibitions aim to explore the question of how objects can be presented in the museum space when the original itself cannot be exhibited. Each thematic exhibition features three objects selected from the collections of each of the three museums involved in the project. After being presented at the museum where it was originally conceived, each exhibition will travel to Austria, Greece and Cyprus respectively, in order to tell a special story under the broad theme of social issues.More specifically, the thematic exhibitions and the dates on which they will be hosted at the Museum of Cycladic Art are the following:ReThinking Identities: Gender, Diversity, Discrimination: March 20th – May 8th, 2023 ReThinking Conflicts: May 18th – June 15th, 2023 ReThinking Craftsmanship: June 29th – July 27th, 2023The three museums have also developed three digital exhibitions which mirror the physical exhibitions and are enriched with interactive digital storytelling tools, painting tools and educational activities which are available through the following link: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://reinherit-hub.eu/exhibitions">https://reinherit-hub.eu/exhibitions</a>. At the same time, a digital collection has been created which includes objects from other museums in Greece and abroad and focuses on the themes of identities, social conflicts and craftsmanship. The digital collection is available through the following link: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://collection.reinherit-hub.eu/">https://collection.reinherit-hub.eu/</a>.

RETHINKING CONFLICTS

May 18th – June 15th, 2023The Museum of Cycladic Art participated in the development of the exhibition “ReThinking Conflicts”, the second thematic exhibition part of the series “ReThinking”. This exhibition focuses on conflicts which have accompanied humankind from the very beginning. Conflicts appear in different forms such as fighting, disputes, classism and competition, strikes and industrial conflict, class conflict and rebellion, war and civil war.The exhibition is co-curated by Marina Plati, Eleni Markou and Nefeli Bantela from the Museum of Cycladic Art, Catalin Betz and Sibylle Dienesch from Graz Museum in Austria and Irini Khenkin from the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation in Nicosia.Conflicts can serve different functions for society: they can relieve social tensions and, under certain conditions, they can even become an important engine for necessary social change. Conversely, conflicts can escalate so far and unleash such a destructive force that they have fatal consequences for the people and societies affected. We are currently experiencing many forms of crisis. We cannot foresee where these will lead us, as individuals, on a national or global level. All that is certain is that the world is going through a huge process of change. In this situation, conflicts are a normal and inevitable consequence. The exhibition «ReThinking Conflicts» emphasizes this realization through objects which belong to different time periods and places, facilitating the expression of different viewpoints.The exhibition at the Museum of Cycladic Art includes three works in digital form from the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Graz Museum in Austria and the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation in Nicosia which aim at presenting the theme of conflicts from antiquity to the present day: a pyxis with lid (760-750 BC), a woodcut with the title “Cherry Rage 1920” (1955) and a loose-sheet map with the title “CIPRO” (1570), which come from the three museums respectively. In the framework of the exhibition, a specially curated path with the title “Conflicts” has been created. This curated path guides the visitors through selected objects from the permanent collections of the Museum of Cycladic Art which are related to conflicts. The objects of the “ReThinking Conflicts” exhibition will also be exhibited in digital format and digital tools and activities will be available in the exhibition space. This way, visitors will have the opportunity to explore both the objects and their own experiences and beliefs in terms of conflicts.

PARALLEL ACTIVITIES

• In the framework of the exhibition “ReThinking Conflicts”, physical and online guided tours and guided tours in sign language will follow. More information will be available soon on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.cycladic.gr">www.cycladic.gr</a>.• In the framework of Cycladic Art Café Project, part of the Museum’s Contemporary Art Program, works of contemporary art –relevant to each one of the thematic exhibitions– will be presented consecutively. During the second thematic exhibition “ReThinking Conflicts”, a work by Iranian artist Shirin Neshat with the title: Stories of Martyrdom (1994) will be on view. The work Stories of Martyrdom is part of her celebrated photographic series “Women of Allah”, made between 1993 and 1997, through which the artist explores the complexity of the female dimension in Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1978-1979.

PROJECT PARTNERS

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101004545.