Next week, two commercial flights will leave Melbourne Airport for Athens. Passengers won’t know it, but in the storage area beneath their feet will be priceless artefacts from the Benaki Museum on loan for the Hellenic Museum’s exhibition Gods, Myths & Mortals: Greek Treasures Across the Millennia.
The artefacts span over 8,000 years of Greek civilisation, from 5,800 BC to the Greek War of Independence, and their return to Greece is a meticulous process.
In a statement to The Greek Herald, Hellenic Museum Director Sarah Craig said “the Gods, Myths and Mortals exhibition has been an important part of our [the museum’s] story over the last 10 years.”
“While we are sad to see the collection return to the Benaki Museum in Athens, we are committed to the relationship we have built with the Benaki team and look forward to collaborating with them again in the future,” Ms Craig added.
‘Their current condition is exceptional’
Naoum Kokkalas, a Benaki Museum conservator, will leave with the first lot of antiquities at the start of next week. Accompanied by heavy security, he will take off on an undisclosed flight.
Speaking with fellow Benaki Museum conservator Eleftheria Gkoufa at the HACCI Christmas party on Thursday, December 12, she said the artefacts have already been examined and are ready to be sent home.
“Being a conservator comes with a strong responsibility,” Ms Gkoufa said. “We checked their current conditions, and I can tell you, everything was exceptional.”
She emphasises that she has the authority to stop the flight if she notices anything suspicious.
“I can stop everything if I suspect there is risk to the artefacts, but I have flown with precious artefacts below and have never had to stop a flight,” she explained.
Decades-long exhibition returns home
Ms Gkoufa feels sentimental remembering the artefacts’ journey to Australia 10 years ago during a landmark deal valued at over $5 million, which included the refurbishment of the Hellenic Museum’s galleries to host the display.
“It’s amazing what you can achieve when great minds come together,” Ms Gkoufa said, recalling the charisma of museum chairman Harry Stamoulis, who flew to Athens at the peak of Greece’s debt crisis to propose the collaboration.
Even Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis praised the Benaki Museum’s collaboration with the Hellenic Museum, calling it “an example of how we can bring Greek culture to Australia.”
When asked why Melbourne is the only city with such a collaboration, Ms Gkoufa pointed to the city’s unique character.
“You’ve kept Greek values and traditions that are slowly disappearing in Greece. Hellenism beats with such strength, appetite, spirit, values, and vision,” she said. “You’ve shown this vision in a contemporary way. I’m lucky to see how you embrace Greek culture.”
The Hellenic Museum’s next chapter
Ms Gkoufa also hinted at an exciting new display that is currently in the works.
“It’s going to be a huge new display. You’ll be impressed once the announcement is made, but I can’t spoil the surprise,” she teased.
“All I can tell you is that even though the Hellenic Museum’s new venture is not with the Benaki, it’s collaboration with our museum definitely helped secure it.”
Hellenic Museum Director Ms Craig added that whilst she too, can’t share too much about the next chapter, “we are excited about what lies ahead and are working hard to develop a new, compelling international exhibition.”
