May is a landmark month for museums worldwide, with International Museum Day celebrated on 18 May. To mark the occasion, the National Gallery invites visitors to its Central Building and Annexes for a wide-ranging programme of new exhibitions, educational activities, and encounters with its permanent collection.
The Gallery’s major new exhibition, The Avant-Garde World. City, Nature, Universe, Human, revisits the Costakis Collection under the lens of the relationship between humans and the environment. The exhibition has already drawn an enthusiastic response and, within just a few weeks of opening, has attracted the attention of both Greek and international media. Guided tours for the public begin in May, while four new educational programmes introduce younger audiences to the world of the Avant-Garde.
In celebration of International Museum Day 2026 on 18 May, held under the theme “Museums Uniting a Divided World,” the National Gallery is presenting four events showing in practice how museums can serve as bridges for communication and exchange. The programme includes two tactile guided tours for visitors with visual impairments, a thematic tour of the permanent display at the National Glyptotheque, and a book presentation accompanied by an art workshop at the Nafplion Annex. Together, these initiatives encourage dialogue and inclusion, fostering understanding and respect for diversity.
The exhibition Francisco Goya – Los Caprichos, presenting the artist’s widely celebrated, groundbreaking series of 80 prints, has been extended until the end of September.
At the Space in Between in the National Gallery’s Central Building, Natasa Biza’s exhibition Changing Grounds – Stories Beyond the Record: The National Gallery Archive continues with a thematic guided tour titled “The Archive and the Rupture” on 27 May.
At the Contemporary Greek Art Institute, the exhibition Irene Aperghis: archive – furniture & decoration – painting draws to a close on 15 May. Shortly before it ends, a final guided tour will take place on 13 May. This is a rare opportunity to encounter works that uniquely illuminate the social history of furniture and the transformations of interior domestic spaces in Greece during the country’s rapid post-war urbanization.
International Museum Day
Touching Painting: A tactile guided tour at the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum
For visitors with visual impairments only
Date: Monday, 18 May 2026
Time: 16:00
Venue: National Gallery – Central Building
Touching Sculpture: A tactile guided tour at the National Glyptotheque
For visitors with visual impairments only
Date: Monday, 18 May 2026
Time: 13:00
Venue: National Glyptotheque
Different Materials, Shared Care, and Harmonious Coexistence, at the National Glyptotheque
Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Time: 18:30
Venue: National Glyptotheque
Book presentation and art workshop
Dates: Saturday, 16 May, 19:00; Sunday, 17 May, 12:00
Venue: National Gallery – Nafplion Annex
Educational programmes
National Gallery – Central Building
A Cloud in Trousers
Date: 24 May 2026
Time: 12:00
Model for the City of the Future
Date: 17 May 2026
Time: 12:00
Mamma Mia!
Date: 9 May 2026
Time: 15:00
From Representation to Abstraction: The World of the Russian Avant-Garde
Dates: 9 and 31 May 2026
Time: 11:30
Travelling with Popova’s Woman
Date: Saturday, 23 May 2026
Time: 15:00
Guided Tours
Paper Icons – The Beginnings of Greek Printmaking
Guided tours by the exhibition curator
Dates: Sunday, 10 May; Sunday, 17 May; Sunday, 24 May
Time: 16:00
Venue: National Gallery – Central Building
Flowers in Modern Greek Art: Use and Symbolism
Dates: 2 and 9 May 2026
Time: 12:00
Venue: National Gallery – Central Building
National Glyptotheque – Permanent Exhibition
Date: Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Time: 18:00
Venue: National Glyptotheque
The Avant-Garde World. City, Nature, Universe, Human
Guided tours by Syrago Tsiara, Director of the National Gallery
Sunday, 10 May at 12:30
Sunday, 24 May at 12:30
Venue: National Gallery – Central Building
The Avant-Garde World. City, Nature, Universe, Human
Date: 27 May 2026
Time: 17:00
Venue: National Gallery – Central Building
From Earth to Space: The Prophetic Vision of the Russian Avant-Garde
Земли к космосу: пророческое видение русского авангарда
Guided tour in Russian by Maria Costaki
Date: Saturday, 30 May 2026
Time: 12:00
Venue: National Gallery – Central Building
Revolution, Utopia and Repression: The 20th Century through the Costakis Collection
Révolution, utopie et répression: le XXe siècle à travers la collection Costakis
Guided tour in French by Maria Costaki
Date: Saturday, 16 May 2026
Time: 12:00
Venue: National Gallery – Central Building
