Fred Boissonnas’s Greece: Moments in everyday life
Previously unseen images of daily life in Northern Greece at the beginning of the 20th century, as photographed by Fred Boissonnas, are currently on display at the Telloglio Foundation in Thessaloniki. «Images of Greece 1903-1913,» was co-organized by the foundation, the Rizario Exhibition Center and the Apeiron photographic agency. In contrast with many of his colleagues who focused on taking photographs of monuments and the wonders of ancient Greece, Boissonnas captured moments of daily life. In keeping with his country’s philhellenic spirit, the Swiss photographer recorded people and landscapes in Ioannina, Edessa, Xanthi, Kavala and Thessaloniki, among other places, unearthing the lyricism in simple tasks. «The artist went into the homes, recording people’s habits in the first two decades of the 20th century from a very special angle,» said Yiannis Dimou, the exhibition’s curator and general manager of Apeiron. The show (running to January 31, 2003) was recently inaugurated by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos and includes 80 photographs – 30 of which are on display for the first time. Concurrently and in collaboration with the Thessaloniki International Fair, the Telloglio Foundation is also presenting 400 works from its rich collection of art. «Greece, a Changing Country: Art and Personalities of the 20th Century» showcases works by a number of modern Greek artists. The show presents an artistic dialogue on human forms and landscapes. On display are works by Constantinos Parthenis, Nikos Egonopoulos, Yiannis Tsarouchis, Nikos Hadzikyriakos-Ghika and Vlassis Caniaris, among other prominent artists. The exhibition also includes material from art historian and critic Tony Spiteri’s archives; donated by Spiteri and his wife Ioanna. Also on display are documents from the personal archives of philosopher and professor Georgios Mourelos, which were given to the foundation by his son, Ioannis. These include the personal correspondence of artists such as Salvador Dali and Henry Moore. Analysts consider it likely that the French-based Lafarge cement group will sell assets worth around 400 million euros in Greece and Egypt as part of a drive to reduce its debt-to-equity ratio, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The drive is thought likely to affect Heracles General Cement’s export unit and the group’s 38-percent share in Egypt’s Alexandria Portland Cement, which may be sold into the joint partnership with Greece’s Titan Cement in Egypt.
