{"id":246902,"date":"2026-04-06T12:33:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nationalgallery.gr\/?post_type=anakoinwseis&p=246902"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:35:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:35:00","slug":"april-at-the-national-gallery-alexandros-soutsos-museum","status":"publish","type":"anakoinwseis","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalgallery.gr\/en\/announcements\/april-at-the-national-gallery-alexandros-soutsos-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"April at the National Gallery\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Alexandros Soutsos Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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April welcomes visitors to the National Gallery\u2019s Central Building and Annexes with new exhibitions, guided tours, educational programmes, and musical events.<\/p>\n

On April 15, the commemorative exhibition\u00a0The World of the Avant-Garde: City, Nature, Universe, Human<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0opens at the Central Building, in collaboration with\u00a0MOMus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection.<\/strong>\u00a0This new exhibition at the National Gallery revisits the Costakis Collection through the lens of the\u00a0relationship between humans and the environment, a theme that was a crucial field of artistic inquiry in Russia during the early 20th century.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0catalogue<\/strong>\u00a0accompanying\u00a0Natasa Biza\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0ongoing exhibition,\u00a0Changing Grounds \u2013 Stories Beyond the Record: The National Gallery Archive<\/em><\/strong>, which is part of the\u00a0Space in Between programme<\/strong>, will be officially presented on\u00a0April 1<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As this month brings us into the heart of\u00a0spring<\/strong>\u00a0and the great religious holiday of\u00a0Easter<\/strong>, our museum educators have designed a series of spring- and Easter-themed\u00a0educational programmes<\/strong>\u00a0tailored to adults and children.<\/p>\n

The exhibition\u00a0Painting in the Ionian Islands: 18th\u201319th century<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is extended at the\u00a0Corfu Annex<\/strong>\u00a0until\u00a0April 22<\/strong>. On the final day of the exhibition, composer\u00a0Nikos Xydakis<\/strong>\u00a0will present the musical performance\u00a0DIONYSIOS SOLOMOS \u201cTO MR. GEORGIOS DE ROSSI\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0at the exhibition venue. The performance is the final event of the public programme accompanying the exhibition and is presented in collaboration with the Ionian University.<\/p>\n

Finally, the National Gallery is taking part in the commemorations celebrating the\u00a0200th anniversary of the Exodus from\u00a0Missolonghi\u00a0<\/strong>by lending Theodoros Vryzakis’s two masterworks,\u00a0The Exodus from\u00a0Missolonghi\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Kapsali\u2019s Sacrifice<\/em>\u00a0from its Permanent Collection.<\/p>\n

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National Gallery<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Central Building<\/p>\n

<\/u><\/strong>Catalogue Presentation: Changing Grounds \u2013 Stories Beyond the Record: The National Gallery Archive<\/em>
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\nThe catalogue for Natasa Biza\u2019s exhibition Changing Grounds \u2013 Stories Beyond the Record: The National Gallery Archive<\/em>, produced in collaboration with the publishing house VOID, will be officially presented on Saturday, April 18, at 12:30.<\/p>\n

The catalogue will be presented jointly by the Director of the National Gallery, Syrago Tsiara, the exhibition\u2019s curator, Elpiniki Meintani, and the artist, Natasa Biza.<\/p>\n

The exhibition is on view in the National Gallery\u2019s Space in Between<\/em> until September 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2026<\/p>\n

Time: 12:30<\/p>\n

Venue: Central Building<\/p>\n

Photo: View of the exhibition Changing Grounds \u2013 Stories Beyond the Record: The National Gallery Archive<\/em>. Photo: Christina Kalligianni<\/p>\n

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National Gallery \u2013 Corfu Annex<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Musical Event<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a0Wednesday, 22 April<\/strong>, at\u00a019:30<\/strong>, the National Gallery \u2013 Alexandros Soutsos Museum will host composer\u00a0Nikos Xydakis<\/strong>\u00a0at its Corfu Annex, where he will present the musical performance\u00a0DIONYSIOS SOLOMOS “TO MR. GEORGIOS DE ROSSI”<\/em><\/strong>. This musical-poetic work is composed and performed by the artist himself. He will be accompanied by Alexandros Kapsokavadis (guitar, lafta, vocals), Efi Zaitidou (kanun), Despoina Spanou (cello, vocals), Fotis Mylonas (flute, vocals), and Yannis Koutagiar (double bass).<\/p>\n

The performance will take place on\u00a0Wednesday, 22 April, 2026, at 19:30<\/strong>\u00a0in the exhibition space of the National Gallery\u2019s Corfu Annex, serving as the capstone event of the public programme held as part of the exhibition\u00a0Painting in the Ionian Islands: 18th\u201319th century<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0that was organized in collaboration with the Ionian University.<\/p>\n

From his earliest Arcadian explorations to the fiery verses of revolutionary romanticism, the poetry of\u00a0Dionysios Solomos<\/strong>\u00a0has inspired\u00a0Nikos Xydakis<\/strong>, giving rise to a unique melodic interpretation rich in aesthetic insight, rhythmic tension, and inner resonance.<\/p>\n

The exhibition presents significant works, ranging from Panagiotis Doxaras to Pavlos Prosalentis, so one might say that Solomos\u2019s presence is palpable among the displayed exhibits. He is introduced to us through a portrait of him as an infant, painted by Nikolaos Koutouzis. Nearby, visitors can see the portrait of his fellow Zakynthian and contemporary, Elizabeth Moutzan-Martinegou, a champion of women\u2019s rights to education and freedom of expression. We think of him, too, as we encounter the portrait of Eugenios Voulgaris, a scholar predating Solomos, who as early as 1772 defended the ideals of the European Enlightenment and wrote passionately about homeland, liberty, and language \u2013 all concepts inseparable from Solomos\u2019s own work. We find ourselves murmuring verses from\u00a0The Free Besieged<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0Hymn to Liberty<\/em>\u00a0as we stand before works devoted to the Greek War of Independence.<\/p>\n

In the manuscript titled\u00a0Thoughts on Count Solomos<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(Zakynthos, 1848), penned by Greece\u2019s national composer Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros, the musician writes of his poet friend:\u00a0\u201cHe owed the quality of his voice to the strength of his vocal powers: it was harmonious, supple, and expressive, capable of stirring inspiration in him and of conveying the resonance of his verse. As a result, he instinctively composed much of his poetry in song, improvising melodies that gave full voice to the poetic vision of a deeply musical spirit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The performance at the National Gallery \u2013 Corfu Annex sheds light on this profound relationship between music and Solomos. As Nikos Xydakis notes:<\/p>\n

\u201cThese sketches and songs were written many years ago. Though initially intended for private use, they were eventually recorded in 1990 under the title\u00a0To Mr. Georgios De Rossi<\/em>. They became a kind of journal: a personal, solitary, melodic reading of Dionysios Solomos\u2019s poetry, from his early poems to excerpts from the\u00a0Hymn to Liberty<\/em>\u00a0and fragments of\u00a0The Free<\/em> Besieged<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis journal,\u201d he notes, \u201cwas a first impression born of this musical reading \u2014 perhaps somewhat arbitrarily, yet unmistakably from the musician\u2019s point of view. Whether Dionysios Solomos writes of the death of a child in\u00a0Psychoula<\/em>, of Lord Byron, of\u00a0Eurykomi<\/em>, of\u00a0To a Dying Friend<\/em>, of\u00a0The Free Besieged<\/em>,\u00a0The Cretan<\/em>, or the\u00a0Hymn to Liberty<\/em>, he is always deeply moved \u2014 neither mournful nor heroic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver time, new fragments and excerpts were added to the work, drawn mainly from the\u00a0Sketches for The Free Besieged<\/em>,\u00a0The Cretan<\/em>, and the\u00a0Hymn to Liberty<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd as a litany begins to take shape, an endless psalmody, a procession for absent loved ones \u2014 almost a sacred love song \u2014 another song rises, erotic and filled with death\u2026 Like a brass band at the end of a procession, its musicians gradually dispersing, it ends in the same way \u2014 like Solomos\u2019s fragments. Amid the ruins of the text and its poetic fragments, traces of psalmody and new instrumental interludes form a musical vigil.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe this profound song survives in Solomos, this breaking voice\u2026 and in the end his poetry itself scatters into fragments. This is a musical reading made of notes, sounds, and dreams \u2013 dreams so frequent in Solomos\u2019s work, suspended between sleep and waking. And with them comes, almost always, the evocative presence of Solomos himself, in the image we know from painted portraits: black-clad, almost clerical, high-browed, flame-haired, his gaze half sorrowful, half contemplative\u2026 \u2018A faint and distant light in a vast and desolate darkness\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Credits<\/u><\/p>\n

NIKOS XYDAKIS\u00a0| composition, performance<\/p>\n

ALEXANDROS KAPSOKAVADIS\u00a0| guitars, lute, lafta, vocals<\/p>\n

DESPOINA SPANOU\u00a0| cello, vocals<\/p>\n

FOTIS MYLONAS\u00a0| flute, vocals<\/p>\n

EFI ZAITIDOU\u00a0| kanun<\/p>\n

YANNIS KOUTAGIAR\u00a0| double bass<\/p>\n

Musical Direction:\u00a0ALEXANDROS KAPSOKAVADIS
\nProduction Management:\u00a0Artway\u00a0\u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Technotropon Cultural Productions
\nPhotography:\u00a0George Spanos<\/p>\n

Date:\u00a0Wednesday 22 April
\nTime:\u00a019:30
\nVenue:\u00a0National Gallery, Corfu Annex, Castellino Building, Kato Korakiana
\nContact numbers:\u00a026610 93333 \/ 26610 80233
\nInformation:\u00a0Marina Papassotiriou<\/p>\n

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