Museum’s open-house invitation
The Epigraphical Museum, home to more than 13,000, mostly Greek insciptions from antiquity (up until the late Roman period) and located in a wing of the National Archaeological Museum, is a unique museum housing one of the largest collections of its kind worldwide. Despite its distinctive character, or perhaps because of it, it is more known to scholars than to the wider public. «The Epigraphical Museum Converses with its Neighborhood,» a one-day event organized by the museum’s staff to take place this evening at 6 p.m. is an effort to reach out to the broader public and make the museum’s presence better felt. Members of neighboring institutions – the Historical Archives of the National Bank and the fine arts department of the architecture school at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), for example – have collaborated for the evening’s event, the idea being to greet the inhabitants of the area and make them better aware of the cultural institution in their neighborhood. The evening includes a tour of the museum’s collection for visitors and a presentation of the National Bank’s Historical Archives. Inside the museum, 2monochannels (a project that joins artists Vassilis Boukis and Giorgos Labropoulos) has prepared an interactive sound-and-light that attempts to show a contemporary, hi-tech viewing of the museum’s collection (www.2monochannels.com). In the museum’s atrium, a group of students from the Fine Arts department of the NTUA, have put up an exhibition on their work. Archaeologist and writer Christos Boulotis will greet youngsters for a literary night for children. Educational programs both for children and adults will also be held. Based on volunteer work, this evening shows a policy of openness on the part of the museum and is a friendly gesture toward the surrounding community. It begs the question of how open museums are to the public and explores new, innovative ways of making museums more integral to our lives. The Epigraphical Museum (1 Tositsa, tel 210.823.2950)
