27.6.2023

“from Asia Minor” - Temporary exhibition in the Rooftile and Brickworks Museum N. & S. Tsalapatas

“from Asia Minor” - Temporary exhibition in the Rooftile and Brickworks Museum N. and S. Tsalapatas

The Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation (PIOP), in the framework of the commemoration of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, presents the temporary exhibition “from Asia Minor” in the Rooftile and Brickworks Museum N. & S. Tsalapatas in Volos. The exhibition takes place under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Federation of Refugee Associations of Greece.

Modern Greek literature plays a leading role in the exhibition narrative, with extracts from the works of important authors such as Kosmas Politis, Stratis Myrivilis and Dido Sotiriou, which, combined with testimonies of people who lived through the events, vividly convey the atmosphere before and after the Catastrophe. The exhibition units describe everyday life in Asia Minor, scenes from the Asia Minor Campaign, the end and the uprooting, the arrival and the relief of refugees in Volos, their integration into the city, the establishment of the Nea Ionia Settlement and the preservation of the memories. In parallel, the exhibition highlights the strong imprint left by refugees from Asia Minor on the history and development of the region, as well as the general impact their presence had on sectors of Greek society.

Refugee associations from Volos, national and local authorities as well as private collectors lent PIOP authentic objects from their collections for this exhibition. The poignant stories of the people who survived and subsequently settled in Volos are presented through archival material, photographs, heirlooms and personal items they brought with them. Among those, the embroidered dowry items of the Minoglou family, which were returned by Turks to descendants of the Minoglou family in Volos 75 years after the Catastrophe.

Visitors will have the opportunity to see, among other things, clothing, accessories for clothing and personal care items, icons and church utensils, rare publications, letters from the front, diaries and memoirs of POWs, certificates and documents on the integration of refugees in their new homeland.

Duration: 29 June 2023 to 8 January 2024
Opening hours: Daily, except Tuesday, 10:00-18:00 (until 15/10), 10:00-17:00 (from 16/10)
Closed: 6 December (local feast day), 25-26 December, 1 January
See the creative team here