Art of Memory and Commemoration in memory of Morris Ganis, who died before his time

The Jewish Museum of Greece presented from May 16th, 2022 until mid October 2023,  the temporary art exhibition “Art of Memory and Commemoration”, as part of a joint temporary archaeological exhibition co-organised and co-hosted with the Epigraphic Museum and with the support of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, curated by Viktor Koen

The exhibition’s curator proposed a new reading of archaeological material through the contemporary gaze of ten artists from the world of the fine and applied arts. It presented an initial attempt to communicate with the specific remnants of a bygone world that usually lie disconnected from their historical and natural contexts.

The treatment of ancient inscriptions as an early form of design requires the involvement of artists from a wide range of art forms but also creators from the field of design: font designer Yannis Karlopoulos, industrial designer Andreas Varotsos, artists Artemis Alcalay, Xenis Sachinis and Katerina Zafeiropoulou, artist duo Kalos & Klio and photographers Aris Georgiou and Marilia Fotopoulou have ensured a wide range of styles and results. The exhibition was completed by a painting by Morris Ganis (1973–2019) that bridges this world with the “other”. The exhibition was accompanied by a bilingual catalogue and special educational programmes for school groups.

The exhibition was financed by the German Federal Foreign Office, from the Greek-German Future Fund.