BROOKLINE, MA – The Costas and Mary Maliotis Cultural Center at Hellenic College-Holy Cross in Brookline, MA, and the Benaki Museum in Athens, Greece, announced a groundbreaking collaboration aimed at promoting and celebrating Greek cultural heritage. This partnership marks a significant milestone in both institutions’ efforts to preserve and promote Greek history, language, and art on a global scale.

The Maliotis Cultural Center has been a cornerstone of Greek cultural education and preservation in the United States since its founding in 1974. Since its renovation and revitalization in 2020, the center has become recognized as one of the preeminent Hellenic cultural centers in the United States. Maliotis Cultural Center is dedicated to fostering a deep understanding and appreciation of Greek culture and language, and offers a wide range of educational programs, cultural events, and community initiatives for Greeks and Philhellenes.

The Benaki Museum, one of Greece’s foremost cultural institutions, is renowned for its extensive collection of Greek and global art and artifacts spanning millennia. Founded in 1930 and now extending across nine venues, the Benaki aims to preserve, study and exhibit Greek cultural heritage from antiquity to the contemporary era, offering a unique perspective within the context of art from all over the world.

The exciting partnership will bring several of the Benaki Museum’s exhibitions to Maliotis Cultural Center in Brookline for American audiences to experience for the first time. The collaboration aims to foster a greater appreciation for Greek cultural heritage and explore the richness of Greek and Greek-American shared history. It will feature curated exhibits, public events, exclusive members-only events, and a series of lectures designed to deepen visitors’ understanding of Greek art, history, and culture.

The first exhibition from the Benaki Museum on display at the Center will be a collection of images by photographer Voula Papaioannou (1898-1990) depicting scenes from life in Athens after the Second World War was declared and up to the liberation (1940-1944), the ruined Greek countryside and the reconstruction attempts (1944-1950), and Papaioannou’s contributions to the post-war depiction of Greece (1950-1955). The Benaki Museum says: “Voula Papaioannou’s work represents the trend towards ‘humanitarian photography’ that resulted from the abuse of human rights during the War. Her camera captured her compatriots’ struggle for survival with respect, clarity, and a degree of personal involvement that transcends national boundaries and reinforces one’s faith in the strength of the common man and the intrinsic value of human life.”

The Benaki Museum has also graciously gifted Maliotis Cultural Center with a collection of photographic reproductions of photographer Albert Meyer’s rare album ‘Olympic Games 1896’ which documents the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The negatives in Meyer’s archive were destroyed in the bombing of Dresden during the Second World War, making the original prints remaining in Benaki’s possession priceless. The special collection evokes a spirit of patriotism and hope as witnessed on the athlete’s faces during the Games. In a standout image by Meyer, the 27-year-old American James Brendan Connolly, the first modern Olympic champion, is photographed holding the American flag. A priceless gift graciously shared by the Benaki Museum, Albert Meyer’s ‘Olympic Games 1896’ will be on permanent display at Maliotis Cultural Center beginning in August.

The Maliotis Cultural Center and the Benaki Museum invite members of the press, cultural institutions, and the public to join them in celebrating the opening of Albert Meyer’s ‘Olympic Games 1896’ exhibition in August. Details regarding the Voula Papaioannou exhibition, presentations, and special events will be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information and updates on the Maliotis Cultural Center and the Benaki Museum collaboration, please visit www.maliotis.hchc.edu and www.benaki.org or contact [email protected] or [email protected].