“Tracing the human presence and life” is the name of the permanent exhibition that will be presented from February 19 on the ground floor of the Lending Department of the National Library of Greece, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC). The exhibition concerns the history of the SNFCC area from antiquity to the present day. “We tried to be ready for the five-day events (19-23 / 2) that will take place for the five years of operation of the SNFCC in five locations,” Irini Gratsia, coordinator of MONUMENTA, who created the permanent exhibition, told APE-MPE. with a donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (ISN), in collaboration with the National Library of Greece and the SNFCC and a helper of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Piraeus and Islands.
The proposal for its creation is due to two important Archives. The first is the Archive of “Contractor SA”, the construction company of the interwar period that built many private buildings, but also public works in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities in Greece. “One of the projects he constructed was the Hippodrome, between 1924 and 1925”, explains to APE-MPE the head of MONUMENTA who has undertaken the classification, maintenance and digitization of the Archive of “Ergoliptiki SA” -also donated by ISN- in order to be donated to the National Library. “The collector Giannis Lambrou, who found the archive of ‘Contractor’, also had a very interesting collection for horse racing and in general for the area of ​​the Faliro Delta. On the occasion of these two Archives, it was proposed to ISN to hold this permanent exhibition, which was included in the donation for the Contractor’s Archive as it is to highlight a part of the Archive “, adds the coordinator of the exhibition Irini Gratsia.
The new permanent exhibition in EBE is divided into three sections, in space, time and memory. The space presents three drawings depicting its use in each era, a topographic with the tombs of the necropolis, a blueprint with a view of the podium of the Hippodrome of Sotirios Mayassis and a topographic of the SNFCC designed by the architectural office Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration Betaplan. The Time section presents a Chronology of the unique history of the area that begins in Antiquity with the Necropolis of Faliro, continues with the Hippodrome of modern times and ends today, with the SNFCC. “The large cemetery of Faliro, known since the beginning of the 20th century, was found at the site of the SNFCC. Thousands of tombs were located and searched there, bringing to light very important finds, such as the ‘Boundaries of Faliro’, who died violently probably due to political unrest that took place in Athens in the 7th century. e.g. “Searches had been carried out in the past, in the years 1911 and 1915, when archaeologists found the ‘Apotibanismenoi’ in the Faliraki necropolis, who were also sentenced to violent death,” Irini Gratsia points out.
The third section presents items from each era that inform and activate the memories of the place. “The original items are protected in drawers, which the visitor will open to see. Indicatively, tickets and programs of the horse races, financial documents related to the construction of the Horse Race are mentioned. “In these” memory drawers “, in addition to authentic items, there are also photographs from various times in the area, from the excavation, the maintenance of the Hippodrome Archive, the classification of books in the National Library”, notes the interlocutor of APE-MPE . The interactive activities that accompany the exhibition are entertaining – and not only. One of them is the “postcard of memories” in which visitors note impressions and memories of the place.
“We are interested in and collect the memories of the Hippodrome and the wider area”, emphasizes the coordinator of MONUMENTA and the exhibition, explaining that with EBE a series of meetings are planned with residents of Kallithea during which the opportunity will be given to collect oral testimonies which will enrich the exhibition touch screen material. The touch screen includes a map with the landmarks of the Faliro Delta and a large number of items from the two Archives. Also, a video with stories of people who knew the place and contributed to its formation completes the journey in the history of the place “.
As Irini Gratsia adds, through the exhibition “we wanted to show how the area evolved from the Necropolis in Antiquity, into swamps and plots during the Byzantine years until the 19th century, when the development of Faliro begins with the construction of villas and the area to acquire another use, in a racecourse at the beginning of the 20th century and in the SNFCC in the modern era, in a cultural space. It is worth noting that the Hippodrome in the 1950s and 1960s had developed into a place of entertainment, a pole of attraction for Athenians. “As we know from interviews, many residents went for a walk with their children on the Hippodrome on Sundays, to have a picnic”, concludes the interlocutor of APE-MPE.
The museographic-museological study was done by the museologist Marlen Mouliou, the architect-museographer Spyros Nasina and the architect-graphic designer Akrivi Anagnostaki.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
