With an atmospheric exhibition at the Hadjikyriakos-Ghika Gallery, the Benaki Museum brings to life the historic announcement and the atmosphere of the days that followed until the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Giorgos Seferis on December 10, 1963.
The exhibition will be inaugurated by the Swedish Ambassador to Greece, Johan Borgstam.
The small yet extremely popular exhibition revolves around the core exhibits of the gold medal and diploma of the Nobel Prize, which belong to the Ghika Gallery collection and were donated by Maro Seferis to the Benaki Museum's Board of Directors in 1971.
Simultaneously with the exhibition in Athens, a corresponding dedicatory exhibition on the sixty years since the Nobel Prize was awarded will be inaugurated at the Greek embassy residence in London, in the very place where Giorgos Seferis' office was located.
"At this moment, I feel that I myself am a contradiction. Truly, the Swedish Academy judged that my effort in a language that has been spoken for centuries but in its current limited form deserved this high distinction." The typewritten texts of Giorgos Seferis' speech at the dinner of the Swedish Academy, held after the award ceremony in Stockholm, as well as his speech at Stockholm City Hall, are presented as evidence in the exhibition, many of which are from the Seferis archive.
Additionally, for the first time, the correspondence between Maro Seferis and the Benaki Museum regarding the donation of the poet's Nobel Prize is presented. And for the first time, the leather-bound edition of the poetry collection "Turning Point" (1931) that Giorgos Seferis had offered to Maro in 1936, with a handwritten dedication in pencil without mentioning her name, and rewritten with ink on the last page to last forever, is displayed. "It was given to me in Aegina. He did not put a name because I was still married to A.L. It was bound in England," writes Maro in a note.
Many of the exhibits from the exhibition come from the Seferis archive, which is deposited in the American School of Classical Studies Archives in Athens.
And some, like the congratulatory letters and telegrams to Giorgos Seferis, bear the stamp that pervades the collections of the Ghika Gallery and the era that systematically highlighted the Generation of the '30s. Notable items include a letter from Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika to Seferis in red ink and an envelope adorned with the Greek flag, the letter from Henry Miller who learns of the award earlier than through the announcement, letters from Andreas Embirikos, Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis, Sophia Vembo, Alekos Alexandrakis, among others. The accompanying photographs are from the Kostas Megalokonomos archive, which is deposited in the Benaki Museum. The eminent photojournalist was the first to arrive outside the legendary home of Seferis and Maro on 20 Agras Street and captured the visit by members of the Swedish community in Athens for choral congratulations, Swedish Hellenist Sture Linér, permanent representative of the UN Development Programme in Greece, etc. Photographs from the press conference given by Giorgos Seferis inside his home to journalists are also featured.
Newspapers and magazines from Greece and abroad, excerpts from contemporary publications with the announcement of the award, complete the exhibition. The news of the award is published on the front pages of newspapers, and extensive features are included in their cultural sections, but interest quickly wanes. The day after the Nobel Prize award (December 11), the relevant news is either buried in the internal pages of most newspapers or is a single-column headline.
The Benaki Museum exhibition is held in collaboration with the Swedish embassy in Athens and curated by Konstantinos Papachristou.
On December 18, 2023, Icarus Editions will present the trilingual (Greek, English, French) edition "Giorgos Seferis, I myself am a contradiction…" which includes the poet's two iconic speeches upon receiving the Nobel Prize. The event will take place at the Ghika Gallery, next to the exhibition.
https://www.benaki.org/index.php?option=com_buildings&view=building&id=17&lang=en