It was 8/13/2004. That magical night began with Olympic Games in Athens with one amazing opening ceremony which remains in history. A groundbreaking ceremony for Olympic standards, a genius synthesis of high art, historical retrospection and an approach to modern life, seen through a “cocktail” that, deifying the unnecessary, the simple , for many incomparable. The ceremony promotes Greece to the ends of the earth as a self-confident nation that looks to the future with a smile.
Twenty years later, from 22/7-4/8, performers’ costumes and props from the Permanent Collection of Olympic Museum “Athens 2004” was presented for the first time outside the museum – and the second time in public, after June 17 this year, the Olympic Day – in a revival route on the night of the Opening Ceremony of the “Athens 2004” Games . Where can we find them all? On the ground floor of the Golden Hall shopping center. ,
Olympic Games: The iconic boat
Pictures of the iconic boat and their flaming olympic circles of water, from the Cycladic figurines and the scenery of our islands, from the Hourglass pictures, which through art depict the life of the place from antiquity to the present. The clepsydra, an ancient clock that uses a continuous flow of water or sand to measure units of time, is a fairytale colorful parade depicting stylized images that seem to have come to life from Greek frescoes, mosaics, sculptures, paintings: a chronological procession of images. from prehistoric to modern times.
So the anniversary exhibition contains compositions of many costumes and stage objects from Hourglass: The procession with figures inspired by frescoes, mosaics, sculptures and Greek paintings, all creations of the artistic director . Dimitris Papaioannouwill bring visitors unforgettable moments of Greek culture.
The director, choreographer and visual artist gave his best in this ‘elliptical’, minimalistic and at the same time moving opening ceremony, and the result amply justified him: the scene was commented on worldwide as grand , imaginative, inventive, without exaggeration. , with medium and high aesthetics.
The inspiration
Papaioannou’s inspiration entered the Klepsydra – the chariot procession – in just 21 minutes, 10 “scenes” of Greek culture: From the Minoan Goddess of Fertility, we went to the Prince with the Lilies, the Wrestlers of Thera and the Bulls. We reached the rebetiko. It was a scene that combined the grand and majestic with the humble and modest, which made a difference. “With its modern face, our country looks back at the centuries that passed it and gave birth to the ideas that now belong to the whole world. Art is the vehicle for this journey. Images that express the course of civilization. The sea now. A plane that mirrors everything and reflects the light of the marble.
A rhythm of zeibeki and the olive tree. These are our materials. All older than us, they ask for respect, modesty and love, to compose new images”, Papaioannou naturally said at the time, shedding light on the secrets of his success. About this fascinating look back in time, it ends -20 years later- in the Permanent Exhibition of the Olympic Museum in Athens, where the Games “Athens 2004” occupies a special place and the memories are enriched by real ones objects, personal testimonies, accounts of the creators, of the Greeks Olympic and with the highlights of the Games.