CHICAGO (Sept. 8, 2022)The National Hellenic Museum (NHM)a Greektown museum dedicated to sharing Greek history, art, culture and the Greek American storyannounced two additional exhibitions as part of its grand reopening celebration this September. These exhibitions join the previously announced world-premiere photography exhibition Resilience, by HRH Prince Nikolaos.
In Gather Together: Chicago Street Photography by Diane Alexander White (Sept. 16, 2022—April 30, 2023), the Chicago-based Greek American photographer presents 80 historic works showcasing Chicago's Greek American celebrations alongside other ethnic and cultural festivals and parades, primarily from the 1970s and 1980s. Depicted events include the Greek Independence Day Parade, Greek Festival, Bud Billiken Day Parade, Japanese Festival, Chinese New Year Parade, Puerto Rican Festival, Mexican Civic Society Parade, Mexican Festival, St. Patrick's Day Parade, Jewish Festival, German Von Steuben Day Parade, Polish Festival, Festa Italiana and the Indo-Pak Parade.
"Our mission at the National Hellenic Museum is to share Greek history, art and culture, and the Greek American experience. Diane's works vividly capture how Chicago's Greek American community gathers in the public space to show pride in its identity and share its culture. Through her images of other ethnic and cultural celebrations, Diane also explores the universality of how Chicagoans gather together to show pride in their diverse communities," says NHM Executive Director Marianne Kountoures.
Storytelling in Cloth and Light (open run beginning Sept. 16) presents a series of textiles and photographs side by side. The textiles, part of NHM's expansive collection of more than 10,000 Greek American artifacts, were meticulously woven in Greece, largely by women, and brought across the ocean to the United States. The photographs are additional images from Diane Alexander White, which capture the people and landscapes of Greece in 1977, including her father's village of Poulithra. Together, these artifacts tell stories connecting audiences with the people, places and events of the pastand encouraging viewers to remember their own stories.
These new exhibitions join the previously announced world premiere photography exhibition Resilience by HRH Prince Nikolaos (Sept. 16—Dec. 30, 2022). Prince Nikolaos' North American debut includes 19 new works exploring Greece's strong relationship with nature and environmental preservation. The exhibition also features the North American premiere of Together, an immersive scene of life-size illuminated, embracing olive trees accompanied by sounds of Greek nature, which first premiered at the London Design Biennale in 2021.
For more information, visit nationalhellenicmuseum.org or call 312-655-1234.
The Resilience exhibition is sponsored by NHM Trustee John S. Koudounis.