By Eleni Sakellis

NEW YORK – The opening ceremony of the exhibition A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC – 200 AD, took place on Wednesday, March 8 at the Onassis Cultural Center in the Olympic Tower, in the heart of Manhattan.

Among those in attendance at the event were Minister of Culture and Sports Lydia Koniordou, the President of the Onassis Foundation Dr. Anthony Papadimitriou, Hi Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, Deputy Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN Ambassador Dionysios Kalavrezos, the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the UN Ambassador Kornelios Korneliou, the Consuls General of Greece and Cyprus, Konstantinos Koutras and Vasilios Philippou, respectively, the co-curators of the exhibition Angelos Chaniotis- Professor of Ancient History and Classics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University; Nikolaos Kaltsas- Director Emeritus of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens; and Ioannis Mylonopoulos- Associate Professor of Ancient Greek Art and Archaeology at Columbia University, as well as representatives of the Diaspora and connoisseurs of the arts and culture.

Artist Jannis Varelas, commissioned by the Onassis Foundation to create Black Frames in conjunction with the exhibition, was also in attended at the opening reception.

Executive Director and Cultural Director of the Onassis Foundation USA, Amalia Cosmetatou, welcomed the guests and expressed her appreciation for the new exhibition and its upcoming programs.

The Onassis Foundation President Dr. Anthony Papadimitriou spoke about the role of emotions and noted that the exhibition’s messages are timeless and universal. He said, “A World of Emotions and the programs that accompany it are powerful expressions of the mission of the Onassis Foundation: to support initiatives in education and culture as a means to achieve social cohesion. Although this exhibition is a rare and thoughtful thematic gathering of beautiful and fascinating objects from the ancient world, it is also much more: a contribution toward a better understanding of our present-day reality. We are deeply grateful to our distinguished guest curators for this important exhibition and its revelatory catalogue.”

Bringing together more than 130 masterpieces from some of the world’s leading museums—including the Acropolis Museum, Athens; the National Archaeological Museum, Athens; the Musee du Louvre (Department of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities), Paris; the British Museum, London; and the Musei Vaticani, Vatican City- the exhibition explores the ideas and attitudes of people in classical antiquity toward emotion and the ways in which the emotions were depicted, revealing how some are strikingly familiar to us, and some shockingly alien.

Open to the public on March 9, the exhibition is free and runs through June 24. A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC – 200 AD is on view Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 6 PM, with extended hours on Thursdays until 9 PM, and will also be open to the public on Family Sundays. Guided tours take place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1 PM and on Thursday evenings at 6 PM. A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC – 200 AD at the Onassis Cultural Center New York, located at the Olympic Tower, 645 Fifth Avenue at 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan. More information is available online at www.onassisusa.org.