The long-term collection ‘Gods, Myths & Mortals: Greek Treasures Across The Millennia’, from the world-renowned Benaki Museum, Athens, will open its doors to Melburnians on 12 September at the Hellenic Museum.
The exhibition, to be housed for an unprecedented period of 10 years at the museum, is the first travelling collection from a ten-year partnership between the Benaki and Hellenic Museum.
Spanning some 8,000 years of Greek history and featuring pieces like the marble head of a statue of Paris from the 2nd century AD, gold myrtle wreath from 4th-3rd century BC, and Attic marble funerary lekythos from 360 BC, the exhibition will bring the history of modern man to Australia’s doorstep.
The collection is expected to resonate with Melbourne’s multicultural community through the appeal of the historical eras it traverses – pre-historical, Greek and Roman periods, Byzantine, Post-Byzantine, and Neo-Hellenic Period.
Last month, Victorian State Premier, the Hon. Dr Denis Napthine, announced State Government support for the Benaki Museum and Hellenic Museum venture, which will see a strengthening of ties between Greece and Australia as the two institutions embark on one of the most committed partnerships that the global arts scene has witnessed.
The Benaki Museum is one of the oldest museums in Greece. Established and endowed in 1930 by founder and benefactor Antonis Benakis, the museum is housed in the Benaki family mansion in Athens. Since 2000, the museum has expanded with the creation of satellite museums that hold specific collections, including an Islamic collection that is among the world’s finest, with pieces from the Ottoman Empire, Asia Minor, the Middle East, North Africa
and India; as well as other museums that house the Children’s Toys Collection and the Historical Archive Collection.
For more information on the collection, visit www.hellenic.org.au/coming-soon or contact 03 8615 9016