The American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the Excavations of the Athenian Agora invite you to the opening of the exhibition: “Vrysaki: The Revival of a Neighborhood”, curated by Sylvie Dumont, on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at 7:00pm, in Cotsen Hall (9 Anapiron Polemou St.).
Welcome and Introduction: Bonna D. Wescoat, Director of the School
The Exhibition: Sylvie Dumont, Curator of the Exhibition
Lecture: “The Incidental Archaeology of Greek Modernity in the Athenian Agora,” Kostis Kourelis, Franklin and Marshall College.
A large part of this neighborhood, where the archaeological site of the ancient Agora now stands, was expropriated to conduct excavations aimed at uncovering the civic center of the world’s first democracy and the commercial marketplace of the ancient city.
The exhibition, designed by the team of Mikri Arktos (Vivi Gerolymatou and Andreas Georgiadis), highlights the important role of archival collections in our understanding of “Old Athens” in general, and the neighborhood known as Vrysaki more specifically.
Vrysaki and its history is revived through six thematic sections before and after the excavations of the American School in 1931, from Ottoman times to the period after the Second World War. The form and architecture of its buildings, streets, squares, bridges, churches, scenes of daily life, refugee facilities and archaeological excavations are presented. The exhibits will include architectural elements of the houses that were demolished, archaeological finds from the excavations, objects from the daily life of the inhabitants, some of which were also used to store the antiquities (such as shoe and cigarette boxes, and tins) and will be accompanied by audiovisual material.
