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 through the pop-up exhibition ArTies: 8 Contemporary Sculptures – ∞ Infinite Diachronic Ties, organized by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania.

This pop-up exhibition is part of a new initiative by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania titled ArTies, which unfolds within the Permanent Exhibition halls of the Archaeological Museum of Chania. The initiative hosts objects from the collections of museums, foundations, and cultural institutions of national and international significance.

The aim of this project is to foster a dynamic dialogue between ancient artifacts and contemporary artworks, highlighting the timeless nature of artistic inspiration and renewing the way we engage with the treasures of our cultural heritage.

The first guest of ArTies is the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum, which contributes eight notable sculptures by acclaimed modern Greek artists (Yannoulis Chalepas, Bella Raftopoulou, Christos Kapralos, Frosso Efthymiadi-Menegaki). These works, not currently on display in the Gallery’s permanent collections, become the narrative threads woven through the Permanent Exhibition of the Archaeological Museum of Chania, forming seven thematic dialogues that reveal the infinite ties of our cultural tradition: winged Nikes, unruly hybrid beings, vain and aged Aphrodites, figures that dance, mourn silently or with intense emotion, proud and wounded warriors, and funerary markers as dual symbols of love’s transience and death’s inevitability.

A captivating coexistence that invites visitors to personalize the silent conversation between ancient and contemporary works—threads of human experience interwoven and expressed in striking and meaningful ways.

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

A bilingual leaflet-poster and a scholarly catalogue (in Greek and English) accompany the exhibition.

The exhibition is 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.