Museum Stores Get a Touch of Style

Sakis Ioannidis | January 26th, 2016

The ancient Greek symbol of wisdom, the owl, appears in a contemporary guise as part of a new line of modern souvenirs showcasing ideas by Greek designers.

Greece IsIn The NewsCULTURE & LIFESTYLEMuseums

The best of modern Greek design comes together with ancient monuments and artifacts for a new line of contemporary souvenirs.

The Archaeological Receipts Fund (ARF) has summoned designers to create contemporary copies of historical artifacts using modern design techniques and formats. The new products are expected to go on sale by next May.

The winning designers chosen by the ARF will work together with the production fund over the next two years, creating a single visual identity for the products. The aim is for high design that matches and surpasses similar concepts found outside Greece.

“For the first time, we have separated the planning process from the production process. The aim is to have a continuous supply of products at the points of sale,” said Yiannis Karlopoulos, graphic and visual communications designer and a member of the ARF Board.

Participants in the competition were invited to create three designs – one of which was inspired by the Roman or Byzantine periods – based on three themes drawn from the Parthenon, the White Tower, the Ring of Minos and the Antikythera Mechanism. The competition also tasked designers to capture architectural details from the monuments.

The souvenirs are intended to capture the best of modern Greek design and match international standards in quality.

The winners will also undertake the drafting of seven designs approved by the ARF, resulting in a total of 100 new designs for various products. The designs go beyond the usual fare of mugs and key chains and extend to espresso cups, cell phone and tablet cases, lamps and even rattles.

Stimulating the market

The budget for the scheme amounts to about €200,000 for a duration of two years.

“In this way we seek to stimulate the Greek graphic design market and the producers that will create the final products,” says Karlopoulos.

According to the plans of the ARF, the new products will be available first at the archaeological site of the Acropolis, the Byzantine and Christian Museum, the National Archaeological Museum, the Archaeological and Byzantine Museum of Thessaloniki, and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. They will also be on sale at the archaeological sites of Vergina, Delphi, Olympia and Knossos.