Museum Day

| Nationwide | May 18

It’s International Museum Day on May 18 – this year dedicated to the theme “Museums, Sustainability and Well-Being” – and institutions all over the country are opening their doors, with free entrance, and organizing special events to allow the public to get acquainted with their work, enjoy their collections, learn new and exciting things about the country’s history and culture, initiate youngsters to the joys of museums and so much more. The Goulandris Museum (reservations and info at goulandris.gr) is hosting special tours and workshops for young children and teens, as well as a concert with the De Profundis string ensemble. Atopos (atopos.gr), it’s all about environmental conservation, with artist-in-residence Lily Consuelo Saporta Tagiuri and botanist/food scientist Manos Bazanis holding a tasting with edible plants that grow where water is scarce, as well as a handson introduction to starting your own seed library.

The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ascsa.edu.gr) presents “Poetry, Language and Revolution” (in Greek), where the group Oper(O) presents a poetic recitation of the “Dialogue” of Dionysios Solomos, the National Gallery (nationalgallery.gr) is organizing a tour of its garden with the experts who designed it and the National Archaeological Museum (nam.gr) is also interested in the climate crisis and studies how it may have contributed to major natural disasters in the prehistoric Aegean. The Foundation of the Hellenic World (fhw.gr), meanwhile, is dedicating the day to Darwin, and this is just a fraction of the great things planned. It is also a stellar opportunity to explore the lesser-known archaeological museums all across the country. The full program of events in Greece by the local branch of the International Council of Museums is available on its website (icom-greece.mini.icom.museum), though it is, unfortunately, only in Greek.