Treasures from the Benaki Museum at the Gulbenkian

Source: ekathimerini

A selection from the permanent collection of the Benaki Museum is presented in “The Greeks: Art Treasures from the Benaki Museum, Athens” a survey exhibition on Greek history and civilization which has been organized by the Benaki and is hosted at Lisbon’s reputable Calouste Gulbenkian Museum.

The exhibition, which opened recently, includes 157 objects and follows the course of Greek civilization and history from prehistoric times to the country’s independence in the early 19th century.

It reflects the museum’s extroverted policy of loaning its collections internationally and its effort toward encouraging cultural exchanges with museums worldwide. After Lisbon, the exhibition will travel to Canada and, in 2009, to Chile.

A similar exhibition was organized by the Benaki in Sydney two years ago.

Works from the Benaki Museum collection have traveled to Lisbon before. In 1999, the Velimezis collection was presented at the Mosteiro des Jeronimos. The Benaki has collaborated with the Gulbenkian Museum in the recent past: The “Glass of the Sultans” exhibition that was hosted at the Islamic art branch of the Benaki Museum included holdings from the rare collection of Islamic art owned by the Portuguese museum. A large exhibition on this well-known collection is scheduled for 2009 at the Benaki Museum.