Museums & Galleries

The Vases & Frescoes of Santorini

One of the museum's greatest treasures is its vast collection -- not surprisingly, the finest in the world -- of Greek vases and a wonderful group of frescoes from the Akrotiri site on the island of Santorini (Thira).

Around 1450 B.C., the volcanic island exploded, destroying not only most of the island but also, some say, the Minoan civilization on nearby Crete. Could Santorini's abrupt disappearance have created the myth of Atlantis? Perhaps. Fortunately, these beautiful frescoes survived and were brought to Athens for safekeeping and display.

Just as Athens wants the Elgin Marbles back, the present-day inhabitants of Santorini want their frescoes back, hoping that the crowds who come to see them in Athens will come instead to Santorini. There are as many theories on what these frescoes show as there are tourists in the museum on any given day. Who were the boxing boys? Were there monkeys on Santorini, or does the scene show another land? Are the ships sailing off to war, or returning home? No one knows, but it's impossible to see these lilting frescoes and not envy the people of Akrotiri who looked at such beauty every day.

Athens's New Museums

In the last few years, a number of new and quite wonderful museums have opened in Athens. The most impressive is Benaki Museum of Islamic Art. The stunning collection, housed in a 19th-century town house, displays Islamic art (ceramics, carpets, woodcarvings, and other objects, plus two excellent reconstructed living rooms from the Ottoman times) that date from the 14th century to the present. Labels are in Greek and English. (At Agio Asomaton and Dipylou, Psirri; tel. 210/367-1000; www.benaki.gr; admission 6€/$7.80; Mon, Wed, and Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-midnight, Thurs and Sun 9am-3pm; Metro: Monastiraki.) A block away, The Museum of Traditional Pottery has a wide-ranging display of traditional and contemporary Greek pottery, labeled in Greek and English. (At 4-6 Melidoni, Kerameikos; tel. 210/331-8491; Mon, Thurs, and Fri 9am-3pm, Wed 9am-8pm, Sat 10am-3pm, Sun 10am-4pm, Tues 9am-3pm; small cafe.) In nearby Plaka, Frissiras Museum has innovative and excellent special exhibits as well as a permanent collection of 20th-century and later European art, with labels in English. (At 3-7 Moni Asteriou; tel. 210/323-4678; admission 6€/$7.80; Wed-Thurs 11am-7pm, Fri-Sun 11am-5pm; small cafe; Metro: Akropolis.) Pierides Museum of Ancient Cypriot Art does just what it says: it records the art -- and politics -- of Cyprus. (At 34-35 Kastorias, Votanikos; tel. 210/348-0000; www.athinais.com.gr; free admission; daily 10am-9pm.)

Galleries

One of the great pleasures of visiting Athens is browsing in its small art galleries, getting a sense of the contemporary Greek art scene, and possibly buying something to take home. Stop in at an opening, if you see a notice -- most are free to the public. For listings, pick up complimentary copies of the quarterlies Art and the City and The Athens Contemporary Art Map (both in Greek and English); both are available in hotels and galleries. Here are some galleries to keep an eye out for.

In trendy Psirri, AD Gallery, 3 Pallados (tel. 210/322-8785), focuses on modern and conceptual Greek art. a.antonopoulou.art, 20 Aristofanous (tel. 210/321-4994), is one of the most stunning art spaces in the city concentrating on Greek contemporary artists. The Breeder, 6 Eumorfopoulou (tel. 210/331-7527 www.thebreedersystem.com), showcases some of the more interesting up-and-coming artists in solo shows, group shows, and gallery swaps. Els Hanappe Underground, 2 Melanthiou (tel. 210/325-0364; http://els.hanappe.com) showcases young artists from Glasgow, London, and Los Angeles. Epistrofi Gallery, 6-8 Taki (tel. 210/321-8640; www.epistrofi.gr), has occasional concerts as well as shows. Epikentro Gallery, 10 Armodiou (tel. 210/331-2187), stages frequent exhibits in its improbable location in the Athens Central Market. Not far away is one of the city's best-known galleries, Rebecca Kamhi Gallery, 23 Sofokleus (tel. 210/321-0448). Bernier/Eliades Gallery, 11 Eptachalkou, Theseion (tel. 210/341-3935), stages group exhibitions, as does Kappatos, 6 Agias Irenes (tel. 210/321-7931). Frequent shows are held at Melina Mercouri Cultural Center, Iraklidon and 66 Thessalonikis (tel. 210/345-2150), near the Theseion; and at Melina Mercouri Foundation, 9-11 Polygnotou (tel. 210/331-5601), in Plaka.

The National Museum of Contemporary Art is set to open in its new Syngrou-Fix location in 2008 in what appears to be yet another brilliant industrial-to-art conversion. The highway formerly known as the "industrial wasteland highway" (Pireos Ave.) is gaining momentum as one of the city's main culture zones. The stunning Benaki Museum-Pireos Street Annexe, 138 Pireos and Andronikou (tel. 210/345-3111; www.benaki.gr), stages exhibitions as does the huge multipurpose Technopolis, 100 Pireos (tel. 210/346-0981; www.culture.gr), while the School of Fine Arts (256 Pireos; tel. 210/480-1315) stages exhibitions by new artists as well as retrospectives by top contemporary Greek artists. Athinais, 34-36 Kastorias (tel. 210/348-0000; www.athinais.com.gr), the former silk factory brilliantly restored into a multipurpose arts center, also stages exhibitions and shows.

The fashionable Kolonaki district is chockablock with galleries: Athens Art Center, 4 Glyconos, Dexameni (tel. 210/721-3938); Photohoros, 44 Tsakalof (tel. 210/321-0448); and Medussa, 7 Xenokratous (tel. 210/724-4552), are three to look for. Athens Arts and Technology School (tel. 210/381-3700) usually stages shows around town in July and August, when many galleries close or move out of town. The Medusa Art Gallery, 7 Xenokratous (tel. 210/724-4552; www.medusaartgallery.com) features the work of tomorrow's stars today and showcases everything from video to photography, painting, and sculpture. Another gallery open year-round and well worth a visit (in part for its great cafe and shop) is Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art [ST], 8 Omirou, Neo Psychico (tel. 210/672-9460; www.deste.gr), a 20-minute cab ride from Syntagma. Deste, owned by collector Dakis Joannou, showcases cutting-edge works from the international scene.