As part of the second phase of the Greek National Opera’s visual arts programme marking the centennial of Maria Callas’ birth, the Greek National Opera presents the exhibition titled UNBOXING CALLAS: An Archival Exploration of the Pyromallis Collection and the GNO Archive curated by Vassilis Zidianakis, to be presented on the second floor of the National Library of Greece and inside the GNO Foyer at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. The exhibition opens to the public on Sunday, 26 November 2023 at 17.00, and will run from 27 November through until 10 January, 10.00-21.00 daily. The GNO Year of Callas tribute programme is sponsored by the PPC (Public Power Corporation). This programme is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.

Taking the donation of the Dimitris Pyromallis Collection to the Greek National Opera Archive as his point of departure, ATOPOS cvc Artistic Director Vassilis Zidianakis invites us to discover the legendary La Divina anew by means of an artistic act of unboxing. The collection of Dimitris Pyromallis, which he recently donated to the Greek National Opera Archive, includes some 4,000 vinyl records, 6,000 CDs, hundreds of books, newspaper clippings, periodicals, thousands of photographs, autographs, handwritten notes, postage stamps featuring Callas’ likeness from various countries, medals minted in her honour, and some of her personal effects. At the age of four, Dimitris Pyromallis met Maria Callas by chance on the island of Zakynthos – this encounter left such an impression on him that, from the age of 20, he devoted his life to this collection on the art of Maria Callas.

Inspired by the act of unboxing made popular by online communities, this exhibition proposes an artistic and inter-disciplinary means of approaching, exploring, and understanding both the Greek National Opera Archive and the legend that surrounds the greatest opera singer of all time: Maria Callas. This Greek National Opera UNBOXING CALLAS exhibition is being held in partnership with ATOPOS cvc and the Atopos Unbound programme, and with the National Library of Greece and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. The exhibition fosters the feel of an open archive within which the curatorial team invite artists, conservators, archivists, and researchers to work, opening up its archival boxes to discover stories, memories, and objects relating to Callas but also the famous artist herself, as well as the ways in which she is still an inspiration in the fields of contemporary research, academic study, and artistic creation. The creation of an open archive is squarely aimed at giving the public direct access to these archival materials, but also to the approaches and narratives that frame them. Specifically, the exhibition brings to the fore the archival, conservation, and documentation practices that have played such a formative role in the design and structure of UNBOXING CALLAS.

Exhibited on the second floor of the National Library of Greece will be the Dimitris Pyromallis Collection in its entirety – discography, bibliography, rich photographic materials, and objects. Presented alongside it will be additional items drawn from the GNO’s historical archive that now also includes the photographic output of Kleisthenis Daskalakos relating to the GNO performances Maria Callas gave at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus (Norma in 1960 and Medea in 1961), items from the archives of Leonidas Zoras and Achilleas Mamakis, and costume-related materials connected to Maria Callas’ performances in Greece that have been sourced from the GNO Costume Department.

Exhibited alongside these archival materials will be original artworks inspired by the Dimitris Pyromallis Collection – works created by the contemporary artists Angeliki Bozou, Petros Efstathiadis, Panayotis Evangelidis, Eleftheria Kotzaki, Chrysanthi Koumianaki, Lykourgos Porfyris, Panos Profitis, Marios Stamatis, and Maria Varela, who were invited to explore, adapt, and re-delineate these archival materials in an attempt to offer up a freer, more subjective form of knowledge. On 26 November, the first day of the exhibition, the artist Angeliki Bozou will be presenting a performance at 19.00.

Presented in parallel inside the ground-floor Foyer of the Greek National Opera will be an original artwork by Alexis Fidetzis and Malvina Panagiotidi.

As part of the exhibition, on Monday through Thursday mornings from 10.00 to 13.00, preservation practices relating to the archive will be undertaken in real time. Specifically:

Α. In the Costume Conservation Workshop, two historic Maria Callas costumes will undergo invasive conservation treatments that include their cleaning, re-shaping, and stabilising, and the sensitive restoration of damaged areas.

Β. In the Paper Conservation Workshop, conservators will perform initial repair work on historic printed programmes created for Greek National Opera performances in which Maria Callas appeared.

C. At the Archiving Station, the documentation, archiving, and organisation of the photographic collection recently donated to the Greek National Opera by Dimitris Pyromallis will continue before the eyes of visitors.

Running alongside the UNBOXING CALLAS: An Archival Exploration of the Pyromallis Collection and the GNO Archive exhibition for its duration will be a parallel event programme featuring tours, talks, and presentations, as well as educational activities for younger visitors. In the events designed for adults, both the exhibition team and the participating artists will enter into dialogue with the public, dialogue sparked by the archival materials, by contemporary art practice, and by Maria Callas herself, while also offering up an experiential narrative through sharing stories from their explorations of the archive.

As part of the educational activities for children, the GNO Learning & Participation Department will be offering young exhibition visitors an innovative experiential tour titled Unlocking the Legend: The Grey Box Bursting With Colour. Children aged 8-12 will be given the chance to imaginatively explore the exhibition, unravelling the legend that surrounds Maria Callas and learning about practices for classifying, archiving, and conserving archival materials as a way of connecting them with the magic of opera.

1. On Tuesdays 5, 12, 19 December 2023 and 9 January 2024 at 11.00, public tours will be given by Steffi Stouri, the exhibition’s curatorial associate, and by Dr Sophia Kompotiati, the exhibition’s research associate.
2. On Wednesdays 29 November and 6, 13, 20 December 2023 at 18.00, public tours will be given, with the exhibition’s participating artists in attendance.

3. On Fridays 1, 8, 15 December 2023 at 18.00, the following talks and presentations for adults will be given by distinguished guest speakers:

• 1 December: “Maria Callas and Greece” – Dr Sophia Kompotiati, Associate Musicologist at the GNO
• 8 December: “Maria Callas Through Her Recordings” – Panaghis Pagoulatos, Director of Artistic Coordination & Casting at the GNO
• 15 December: “Theatrical Costume Conservation Stories: Conserving Matter, Preserving Memory” – Dr Tatiana Kousoulou, Textile Conservator, Directorate of Conservation of Ancient & Modern Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture

All of the above parallel programme events are free to attend. Places are limited (25 persons per event) and can be booked via ticketservices.gr.

Regarding activities for children, the Unlocking the Legend: The Grey Box Bursting With Colour educational programme will be run for:

– State school groups, on 29 November and 1, 6, 8, 13, 15, 20, 22 December 2023, and 10 January 2024 (10.00-11.00).

– Individual visitors, on 27 December 2023 and 3 January 2024 (17.00-18.00), and on 29 December 2023 and 5 January 2024 (10.00-11.00).