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PRESS
RELEASE
"Byzantium
and the Arabs"
The Museum
of Byzantine Culture under the
cooperation framework of the five
museums of Thessaloniki "5M Movement",
participates in the 2011 3rd
Biennale events with the temporary
exhibition entitled "Byzantium and
the Arabs".
Focusing
on the revelation of aspects of both the
Byzantine and Arab cultures, the
exhibition "Byzantium and the Arabs"
will present the relations and
interactions between Byzantium and the
Arabs from the 7th c. A.D.
till 1453 (capture of Constantinople by
the Ottomans).
The
identity of the Arabs, the birth of the
new religion of Islam and the
caliphates, the great expansion outside
their peninsula, the sieges of
Constantinople and the capture of
Thessaloniki by them in 904 will all be
represented in topics of the exhibition.
The fights between Byzantines and Arabs
and the emergence of the tradition on
the "Akrites" and especially Digenis
Akritas will also be among the topics of
our exhibition.
Alongside
the wars, the interactions of both
civilizations in the fields of letters,
science and art will also be
represented.
The
exhibition will be comprised of over a
hundred objects, such as icons,
manuscripts, jewelry, coins, ceramics
and sculptures from the collections of
the Museum of Byzantine Culture, as well
as from collections of public and
private museums and Ephorates of
Antiquities in Greece and will be
supported by visual material. The
exhibition will be open from September
until December 2011.
During the
duration of the exhibition they will be
held lectures by historians, educational
programmes for primary school pupils,
concerts with arabic music, film
screening etc.
This
exhibition "Byzantium and the Arabs"
is part of the project "Thessaloniki:
Crossroads of Civilizations" organized
by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and
Tourism. The project's topic for the
year 2011 is Middle East.
Thessaloniki, March 10, 2011
ANNOUNCEMENT
3RD
THESSALONIKI BIENNALE OF CONTEMPORARY
ART
«OLD
INTERSECTIONS
-
MAKE IT NEW»
September-November
2011
The
3rd
Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary
Art
presented under the general title
«Old
Intersections
-
Make it new»
will be open to the public from
mid-September to the end of November
in Thessaloniki.
The 2011 Biennale will differ from its
predecessors not only in terms of its
focus of interest and time it will take
place, but also in respect of the
participating agencies.
Following
on
the
founding
of
the
“Thessaloniki
–
5
Museums
Movement”
(Archaeological
Museum
of
Thessaloniki,
Museum
of
Byzantine
Culture,
Teloglion
Foundation
of
Art,
Macedonian Museum of
Contemporary Art, State Museum of
Contemporary Art),
the 3rd
Biennale
will represent the first official joint
endeavour by the Movement to support the
festival, under the guidance of the
State Museum of Contemporary Art - an
arrangement which will allow the event
to develop even closer links with the
host city.
Apart from the five museums, a number of
other cultural and educational agencies
will also be involved. The Programme
will feature exhibitions
held
mainly
in
the
facilities
of
the
five
museums,
but
also
in other venues not
usually serving as exhibition spaces. It
will
comprise
both
a
Main
and
a
Parallel
Programme
of
Events.
The project is
funded
under
the Operational Programme
Macedonia-Thrace 2007-2013 and is
implemented by the State Museum of
Contemporary Art. It is co-financed by
the European Union (European Regional
Development Fund).
The curators of the Main Programme
will be
Paolo Colombo
(Italy),
Mahita El Bacha Urieta
(Lebanon, Spain)
and
Marina Fokidis
(Greece).
They were selected by the members of the
3rd Biennale International
Advisory Committee,
namely
Catherine David
(art historian - curator),
Maria Rosa Girace Pieralisi
(Director of Italian Cultural Institute
of Thessaloniki),
Jessica Morgan
(contemporary art curator),
Yannis Kounellis
(artist) and
Denys Zacharopoulos (art theorist).
The overall direction of this year’s
event is to be undertaken by Katerina
Koskina,
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
State Museum of Contemporary Art, art
historian, museologist,
who is responsible for planning the
2011, 2013 & 2015 Biennales.
This
year’s
Biennale,
as
well
as
those
in
2013
and
2015 –
to
be
funded
from
the
National
Strategic
Reference
Framework
2007-2013 – will focus their attention
on the region of the Mediterranean, the
cradle of European civilization,
concentrating on the region in general.
In the 3rd Biennale there
will be a special
thematic unit dedicated to Arab art and
the art of Israel, part of the
Crossroads of Civilization programme of
the Ministry of Culture and Tourism
being organized for Thessaloniki in
2011.
The exhibitions and events in the Main
and Parallel Programmes of the 3rd
Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary
Art, (as well as the ideological
framework laid down by the curators),
the associated agencies and venues for
the exhibitions will all be announced at
a press conference to be held in
Thessaloniki at the end of March
2011, in the presence of the curators
and members of the International
Advisory Committee.
INFO
ΥΠΟΥΡΓΕΙΟ
ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥΡΙΣΜΟΥ
ΚΡΑΤΙΚΟ ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟ ΣΥΓΧΡΟΝΗΣ
ΤΕΧΝΗΣ
Κολοκοτρώνη 21, Σταυρούπολη 56430, Θεσσαλονίκη
Τ: 2310 589140-1 & 3, F: 2310 600123
www.greekstatemuseum.com, info@greekstatemuseum.com
press@greekstatemuseum.com
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