“Asia Minor Hellenism: Heyday- Catastrophe- Displacement- Rebirth”

The year 2022 marked the centennial anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the pivotal and most challenging event of modern Greek history. To commemorate this event, the Benaki Museum and the Centre for Asia Minor Studies co-organized the ‘ASIA MINOR HELLENISM: Heyday-Catastrophe-Displacement-Rebirth’ exhibition, curated by Evita Arapoglou, which brought together more than 1,600 objects and photographs sourced from more than 190 institutional and private collections. Works of art, ecclesiastical, war and personal heirlooms, costume, jewellery, handicrafts, maps, photographs, archival and cinematographic material and personal testimonies brought to life the heyday of Hellenism in Ottoman Asia Minor before the early 20th-century persecutions, the dramatic period between 1919 and 1923, as well as the settlement and integration of Asia Minor refugees in Greece. In this virtual tour, George Manginis, Academic Director of the Benaki Museum, will guide us through the exhibition galleries as they were recorded in 360-degree panoramic photography.