From the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum to the Archaeological Museum of Chania

The Archaeological Museum of Chania welcomes the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum within the framework of the pop-up exhibition entitled Desmoi Technis / ArTies: 8 contemporary sculptures – ∞ timeless bonds, organized by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania.

This pop-up exhibition is part of the new initiative of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania, Desmoi Technis (ArTies), which unfolds within the galleries of the Museum’s Permanent Exhibition. The initiative showcases selected objects from the collections of museums, foundations, and cultural institutions of national and international scope.

The aim of this initiative is to create a dialogue between ancient artefacts and contemporary artworks, highlighting the timelessness of artistic inspiration and renewing the way we engage with the treasures of our cultural heritage.

The first guest institution in the Desmoi Technis series is the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum, presenting eight important sculptures by distinguished modern Greek artists — Giannoulis Chalepas, Bella Raftopoulou, Christos Kapralos, and Frosso Efthymiadi-Menegaki.

These works, not included in the National Gallery’s permanent display, form a narrative thread that unravels through the Permanent Exhibition of the Archaeological Museum of Chania, weaving together seven thematic dialogues that reveal the infinite bonds of our cultural tradition: winged Nikes, untamed hybrid beings, coquettish and aged Aphrodites, figures that dance, mourn silently or with intensity, proud yet wounded hoplites, and funerary stelae as dual symbols of love’s finitude and death’s inevitability. A captivating coexistence that invites visitors to personalize their experience of the silent conversation between ancient and modern works, as these intertwine the threads of human experience and render them in striking ways.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by the Minister of Culture, Ms. Lina Mendoni.

A bilingual brochure–poster and scholarly exhibition catalogue (in Greek and English) accompany the exhibition.

Organized by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania, in collaboration with the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum, with the support of the Region of Crete and the Chania Port Authority.

Venue: Archaeological Museum of Chania | Permanent Exhibition Galleries
Exhibition Opening: Saturday, 8 March, 12:00
Duration: 8 March – 13 October 2025
Free admission