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Ancient Olympia Exhibition hosted at Berlin and Doha Museums

More than 500 Ancient Greek artifacts will be boarded on an airplane travelling to Berlin and Doha within the following two years to be included in the international oncoming exhibition “Olympia: Myth, Worship, and Games”.


The exhibition is planned to be hosted at the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin from August 30th 2012 to January 7th 2013 and then move on to Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum in Doha from the end of March 2013 until the 6th of July. The exhibition revolves around 3 thematic pillars: the holy place of the Ancient Olympia, the overall research conducted on ancient Olympia and the Olympic Games.

As far as the first thematic pillar is concerned, the natural environment of Olympia will be presented and explained, as well as the important social role the Ancient Greek holy grounds played to the political organization of modern day Helia region. Exhibits will include works and artifacts from the museums of Olympia, Athens, Berlin and Münster, as well as findings from the late geometric period, an armor dedicated to Zeus, coins, architectural elements, clay works, plaster moulds of the sculptures and triangular pediments of the Temple of Zeus and the Nike of Paionios statue.

The second thematic pillar will elaborate on the excavations from 1828 until today and will include maps, designs, and tools from the archives of the German Institute and the archaeological collections of several Berlin museums. Moreover, the reconstruction projects and recent excavation researches conducted by the German Archaeological Institute.

Last but not least, the final thematic pillar will focus on the presentation of ancient objects revealing the icon of human beings during antiquity (exhibits from the museums of Vatican and Dresden will be also included). Furthermore, the modern Olympic Games of Athens 1896 and 1906, Paris 1999, Saint Louis 1904 and London 1908, will be examined in terms of being the most expensive events throughout the Games history. The Olympic Games of Athens 2004 will additionally be presented in light of the Games’ return back to their home country after 108 years.

The exhibition is organized by the Ministry for Culture and Tourism in cooperation with the National Archaeological Museum and the Monetary Museum, the Hellenic Foundation for Culture in Berlin, the Martin Gropius Bau Expo and the German Archaeological Institute. The exhibition will be enriched by three modern copies, four scale models and eight modern times commemorative medals.

Author: Stella Tsolakidou | Source: Greek Reporter [October 27, 2011]