«Asia Minor: splendour - Destruction - Uprooting - Creation» a journey to the Benaki Museum

On Wednesday evening, 14/09, the exhibition «Asia Minor: glamour - disaster - uprooting - creation» was inaugurated at the Benaki Museum on Pireos Street and from today, Thursday, 15/09, it opens to the public.

The exhibition is co-organised with the Centre for Asia Minor Studies, one of the most important scientific institutions for research on the history and culture of Asia Minor, which hosts the unique Oral History Archive, based on the testimonies of more than 5,000 first generation expatriates from Asia Minor.

This ambitious exhibition on the centenary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, encompasses the before and after of the Catastrophe and the drama, attempting to synthesize the life of the Asia Minor Hellenes before the end of their glory and splendour, as well as their arrival in Greece after the uprooting, and the struggle of their gradual integration into their new homeland.

The journey through the chronicle of Hellenism in Asia Minor is divided into three sections: It starts from the western coast of Ionia, focusing on cosmopolitan Smyrna, but also on Aivali, Vourla and so many other famous Greek communities, urban and rural. The transition to this first section is made with a symbolic bridge, including the names of the donors of the exhibition and an animation of postcards of the period, to begin to unfold the wealth of exhibits and documents.

A bourgeois house of Ionia, with portraits of the residents and their personal belongings, works of art - the Aivaliotis captain of Kontoglou - manuscripts and testimonies of Seferis and Venezis, paintings by Sikeliotis and so many other great Asia Minor artists, indicate their presence. The atmospheric exhibition is enriched with views of cities, streets and houses, documents from famous schools, photographs of graduating classes.

Next comes Cappadocia with its stunning relief landscape and churches, the southern provinces with their elaborate formal costumes, the Karamanlid icons, the unique relics, the famous carpets from the Sparta of Pisidia. We cross the Pontus, through Trebizond, monasteries and churches, pass through Kutahia and the pottery workshops in Bithynia and many other famous communities. Then we travel to Constantinople, the cradle city of Hellenism, through the Patriarchate and education. The journey of the first section ends at the great crossroads, Eastern Thrace.

The second section focuses on the events of the period between 1908 and 1922. Military uniforms, weapons, the flag of the Smyrna port authority, war documents, photographic and film material, maps, pictorial documents, bring to life the period at the beginning of the 20th century, with the change of regime and the Greek deputies in the Ottoman Parliament as the main events, the first persecutions, the end of the First World War and the conditions that followed, the landing in Smyrna and the period of Greek administration, the Greek Thrace and the period of the Asia Minor Campaign until its tragic end. And then, the settlement in Greece, the struggle for survival and integration, the great contribution of the Asia Minor people to the development of Greece.

The third section encompasses the chronicle of the settlement of the expatriated Asia Minor refugees and presents the exhibits in specially designed tents of the refugees: Photographs of the reception, scenes of everyday life, the difficulties, state welfare, help from the West, the management of the population exchange, the work of the Refugee Restitution Committee, refugee settlements and refugee slums from all over Greece, refugee associations and clubs, the role of sport, arts and letters, rebetiko. The presence of Asia Minor Hellenism in all aspects of Greek society.

The journey through the chronicle of Hellenism in Asia Minor is brought to life through 1,100 exhibits and over 500 photographs. And indeed, as the curator of the exhibition, art historian Evita Arapoglou said, «every part of the exhibition, every showcase, could be the subject of a separate exhibition.».

The exhibits come from the collections of the Benaki Museum - one of the three museums that received relics of the communities during their relocation to Greece. The museum's historical archives preserve important testimonies from the course of the Asia Minor Campaign and the settlement of refugees, while exhibits from the Gika Gallery document the contribution of the Asia Minor people to 20th century culture.

The exhibition is loaned by 88 holy cathedrals, museums, archives, institutions, foundations, companies and sports clubs, custodians of the history and culture of Asia Minor Hellenism, as well as 93 private individuals, who contribute treasures from their personal collections and archives.

The preparation and research of the exhibition started in autumn 2018 and the curator is Evita Arapoglou (vice-president of the Centre for Asia Minor Studies, member of the Board of Directors). of the Benaki Museum) in close collaboration with the director of the Centre for Asia Minor Studies, academic Paschalis Kitromilidis, and the Centre's researchers, the scientific director of the Benaki Museum, George Manginis, and the curators of the museum, as well as many other scientific collaborators.