Famed temple frieze on display in Kyiv
To take a close look at the Parthenon’s famous sculptures, you no longer have to travel to Greece or Britain where a large part of them is being stored. Ukraine House in downtown Kyiv is hosting an exhibition, The Parthenon and Its Western Frieze: Restoration and Preservation, organized by the Greek Cultural Foundation and the Greek Embassy in Ukraine. The unusual, somewhat technical sounding name of the exhibition fully reveals its content, which helps cast a new look at the famous Ancient Greek monument, a symbol of Western European culture. “Since the Parthenon belongs to us all, the exhibition aims not only to acquaint the spectator with this monument but also to make him/her consider how we all treat our past and what we can do for such monuments,” architect Georgios Panetsos, one of the immediate organizers of the exhibition, said at the opening ceremony.
The main exhibit is the Parthenon’s western frieze, an artificial-marble mold made at the expense of the Greek Cultural Foundation from early nineteenth century matrixes kept at the British Museum. The Greeks have brought a copy of a Parthenon part, the only frieze that has been preserved in the temple, in order to show us the majestic structure of the Athens acropolis as one — architectural, cultural, mythological if you wish — whole. As Panajotis Goumas, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Hellenic Republic in Ukraine, said, the exhibition takes us to ancient Athens whose citizens had reached unprecedented standards of living and thought mainly based on the high vision of existence and the values of freedom and democracy. That the Athenians were indeed democratic and respectful of every person is also clear from the interesting fact that each participant of the Panathenaic festive procession depicted on the western frieze, even a horse, has an inimitable poise and character of its own. Moreover, the famous sculptor Phidias depicted himself on the frieze just on a plate over the temple’s central entrance. What helps us imagine the history of the goddess Athena’s temple are the mockups, molds, photos, and drawings that trace the main stages in the monument’s life. After seeing the exhibition, you understand that the Parthenon is truly a living thing, although it suffers from the vandalism of some people and a disastrous environmental condition. As the exhaust gases mixed with humid air turn marble into gypsum, the Parthenon requires the constant care of restorers in order not to crumble.
Also of great harm for the Parthenon have been hunters of ancient artifacts. At the beginning of the nineteenth century Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, spirited away a part of the temple’s sculptures. His people deliberately removed statues and decorative fragments from the Parthenon for decades, damaging many of them. Those pieces of art found themselves at the British Museum. Greece has long demanded that they be returned on the grounds that the stolen fragments are an integral part of a world-famous architectural monument but the British Museum continues to refuse.
For the time being, the Parthenon itself is being restored in Athens. If completed as planned in twelve years, the restoration will have lasted forty years. In general, this monument will always require the care of restorers and the attention of people all over the world. A special school course has been drawn up to help make the new generation conscious about the Parthenon. A day before the exhibition opened at Ukraine House, Kyiv secondary school teachers and inspectors were presented with a special set of souvenirs for junior pupils. Models, templates, and sets of seals should acquaint the child with Ancient Greek art and broaden his/her creative horizons.
The Parthenon and the Western Frieze exhibition has already visited over ten cities. In Ukraine, after being shown in Odesa, it is to stay in Kyiv for a few weeks. In this country, the unique exhibition was presented by the Odesa branch of the Greek Cultural Foundation. The exhibition also demonstrates the high work standards of the Greek embassy in Ukraine which traditionally pays great attention to ongoing projects and always finishes what it starts, for it is the previous Greek Ambassador Dimitros Kontoumas who suggested that the exhibition be held in Ukraine.
Perhaps some people will find this exhibition too unusual. It really takes a special mood and attention to view it. Although this is exactly what the organizers meant it to be, they managed to explain some technically difficult points in as simple terms as possible. For example, that the world’s best proportioned temple in reality does not have even one straight line. This is the Parthenon’s and the goddess Athena’s challenge to vision and reason, also aimed at glorifying the genius of humanity.
