We could go through the exposition humming a familiar song, a popular tune. On the ground floor is “The Net” from the film “Rebetiko” composed by Stavros Xarchakos and also the Kytheraic dance by Dimitris Mitropoulos. On the first floor “You will come again” by Costas Giannidis in the amazing performance of Danae, and “Echo” by Nikos Skalkotas. In the second, “Bakhtse Tsifliki” by Tsitsanis and “The witch of Arapia” from a private recording by Manos Hatzidakis with Fleury Dantonakis. On the third floor, we remember Hadzidaki’s “The North Star” performed by Nalyssa Green as well as “Double Libra”, a rather unknown, early work by Iannis Xenakis.
Whether we like Greek music or not, the world of the 11 composers hosted at permanent exhibition of the Benaki Museum at the Ghika Gallery it is part of who we are, the culture in which we grew up. Vamvakaris, Theodorakis, Konstantinidis, Mitropoulos, Xenakis, Xenos, Papaioannou, Sisilianos, Skalkotas, Tsitsanis, Hadjidakis and Stavros Xarchakos, they all meet at 3 Kriezotou Street. What connects them? The eclectic affinities that formed the permanent exhibition of the Benaki Museum / Ghika Gallery, set up by the museum’s historical director Angelos Delivorrias, and at the same time the original action “I think it’s time to listen…”, an initiative of the newly founded Institute of Greek Musical Heritage ( IEMK), in collaboration with the Benaki Museum.
Within the valuable “ecosystem” of the exhibits presented in the Kriezotou building, the new exhibition that opens today to the public intervenes. The activity, curated by museologist Eratous Koutsoudakis and with the scientific assistance of the “Friends of Music” Association, invites us on a journey to (re)discover the work of these 11 iconic composers, through the eyes of today and with the use of technology.
We can listen to samples of their music, their interviews, and remember the once close creative and friendly relations that united them. Visitors with their mobile phones and headphones will be able to discover more about how other “tenants” of the Gallery – poets, writers, directors, painters, choreographers – collaborated with the 11 composers, creating a multi-layered web of creative relationships.
Integrated into this climate, but also a little separate, the periodical exhibition room on the ground floor of the Art Gallery hosts an “exhibition within an exhibition”, dedicated to Stavros Xarhakos. For the first time, documents from his life and rich work find their place in the showcases of a museum. It is essentially a museum installation with an experimental character, and this is because the creator himself, who is absolutely active today, at the age of 85, documents his thoughts and memories in a 48-minute filmed interview with his personal objects and documents.
