The Hellenic Foundation for Culture officially opened its doors at the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne last week with the launch of its first major exhibition of antiquities, Athenian Democracy – speaking through its inscriptions.

The exhibition, which is the first of its kind in Australia, features original ancient Greek epigraphs, ceramic symbols, juror’s tablets and ballots, and many other treasures of Ancient Greece.

Athenian Democracy depicts the birth and the foundation of the first form of democracy in the world, and demonstrates how democracy was first established. The exhibition also explains the voting methods of the ancient Athenians, as well as the dealing out of legal punishments and the regulation of the parliament.

The showpiece is a 4th century BC Kleroterion, or allotment machine, which was used as a voting method, to determine the order in which the tribes of Athens would hold the prytany.

The exhibition is accompanied from Greece by the General Secretary of the Ministry for Culture, Mr. Theodoris Dravillas, together with the President of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, Prof. G. Babiniotis, and renowned historians from the University of Athens Profs. Bouraselis and Lambrinoudakis, as well as the Director of the Hellenic Epigraphic Museum in Athens, Dr. M. Lagogianni.

“We wanted to bring something big to Australia to launch the museum, and this is it,” said Prof. Babiniotis. “The exhibition, Athenian Democracy, consists of many precious epigraphs which depict the democratic ideology of our ancestors, providing the fundamentals of an egalitarian system to the world, a system founded on social justice.
What we have here is a direct democratic system, as opposed to the indirect democracy that we experience here in Australia and in other Western democracies. We are proud to launch the Australian Branch of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture with this exhibition,” he said.

In response, Chairman of the Hellenic Museum, Mr Harry Stamoulis said, “The Hellenic Museum of Melbourne is indebted to the Ministry of Culture, the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, the Epigraphic Museum and the University of Athens for their generous contribution to the Australian community, particularly those of Greek background.  We believe that through this exhibition, the first of its kind in Australia, we are opening new avenues of collaboration with Greece’s cultural institutions for the promotion of Hellenic culture throughout Australia.”

Local politicians were also present, including Minister for the Arts, Ms. Lynne Kosky, and Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Ted Baillieu, who both took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The exhibition will take pride of place at the Hellenic Museum, housed at the former royal mint, until 26th May, 2009, when Prof. Babiniotis hopes it will travel to other centres of Hellenism, including Washington DC and Brussels.