The photo exhibition in the Acropolis Museum in Athens pays a tribute to stonemasons’ role in safeguarding the antique treasures
Some of the big photos in the exhibition give the visitor an impression of being among the workers who „balance on towering scaffolds, maneuver the huge blocks of marble and bring materials into and out of position“, as said in a press release. Until October 31, 2019, the photo show „Chisel and Memory“ in the Acropolis Museum in Athens pays tribute to the craftsmen who worked in safeguarding the antique stone treasures.
Over 40 years of photographs and documentation from the restoration works are grouped around 6 themes: self-denial, labor, cooperation, zeal, pride, and companionship, presenting the human element and the emotions that the workers still today experience in restoring the monuments.
„Equally impressive are the images that capture the craftsmen’s techniques embodying centuries-old expertise and others showing their use of the state of the art technologies“, the press release continues.
The exhibition is shown on the ground floor temporary exhibition gallery in the now ten-year-old Acropolis Museum. Some of the black and white photos cover a complete wall. Others give a closer look at tools or catch special situations where the craftsmen had to take difficult decisions.
The exhibition is dedicated to the former President of the Committee for the Restoration of the Acropolis Monuments (1975-2016), the late Charalambos Bouras. Entrance is free.
In 2015, the long Greek tradition of working with marble had already been honored by Unesco when the Marble Sculpting on Tinos Island was inscribed in the list of Intangible Heritage in 2015.
„Chisel and Memory. The contribution of marble craftsmanship to the restoration of the Acropolis monuments“, Acropolis Museum, Athens, until October 31, 2019
Photos: Acropolis Museum / Giorgos Vitsaropoulos
(04.07.2019, USA: 04.07.2019)