[Paris Tavitian/ Museum of Cycladic Art]
“The statues of Athena and Tyche, overseeing the grand entrance of the Stathatos Mansion from its rooftop, will no longer feel so lonely,” I thought on Wednesday evening while heading to the opening of the exhibition “Kykladitisses: Untold Stories of Women in the Cyclades.”
The exhibits will be accompanied until May by a series of prominent goddesses, demi-goddesses, queens, aristocrats, and ordinary mortals in the halls of the Museum of Cycladic Art. All these women share one common characteristic: They originate from the Cyclades island cluster in the Aegean. They have traveled from antiquity to our time to reveal what life was like for women in those islands.
This year’s most captivating archaeological tribute has opened its doors, drawing a large crowd eager to admire unique artifacts, some of which are being showcased outside their permanent collections for the very first time. Organized into thematic sections and complemented by a catalogue featuring scholarly texts and detailed entries, the exhibition explores the lives of women beyond the cycle of birth, adulthood and death. It delves into aspects of public and private life, addressing themes such as eroticism, identity, gender-based violence and other thought-provoking topics.
It offers a modern, thoroughly researched approach on how we, as people of the 21st century, view the past. Let’s not forget that Sandra Marinopoulou, president and CEO of the Museum of Cycladic Art, envisioned a fresh perspective on archaeology when she took the reins in 2008, introducing engaging themes and fostering a dialogue between ancient artifacts and contemporary art.
The exhibition, co-organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades and the Museum of Cycladic Art, showcases 180 exceptional masterpieces from nearly all the museums of the Cycladic islands. These artifacts span from early prehistory to the 19th century, when the modern Greek state was born.
During a guided press tour ahead of the opening, there were many emotional moments. For instance, encountering the skeleton of Neiko, a woman buried in a mausoleum on Sikinos in the 3rd century AD, who was believed at the time to be possessed. Spells, a piece of sulfur and lime, were placed on her chest and her body was nearly walled in. The monument built in her memory was later converted into a church during the early Christian period and remained in use for centuries. In 2018, her unlooted tomb and skeleton were discovered, bearing severe wounds, the cause of which remains unknown. Equally astonishing is “The Lady of Thera,” a massive 2.5-meter-tall archaic statue carved from Naxian marble, with one hand placed over her chest. She was unexpectedly unearthed in November 2000 during an excavation at the cemetery of ancient Thera (Santorini) in southeast Sellada, conducted by Thera archaeologist Charalambos Sigalas.
I left the exhibition mesmerized by the countless depictions of women, on vases, figurines, religious icons, funerary stelae, statues, clay and mosaics. At last, these women have found a voice, because during their lives, they rarely had the opportunity to express or present themselves as they wished.
A great deal of credit goes to the three curators of the exhibition: the director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, Dimitris Athanasoulis; the scientific director of Museum of Cycladic Art, Professor Panagiotis Iosif; and assistant professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Ioannis Fappas. But there is even more good news: “With our gaze always fixed on the Cyclades, we, along with the Ministry of Culture, decided that this emblematic exhibition must continue its journey by inaugurating the renovated Archaeological Museum of Thera in early summer. This is also a way to contribute tangibly to promoting Cycladic culture and to give back to the Cyclades, as they are the very reason for our museum’s existence,” Sandra Marinopoulou said.cy