Mannheim
3 October 2009
bis 21 February 2010
At the foot of the Acropolis - the light of Hellas
Affiliated exhibition in engelhorn Mode im Quadrat
adress: Kunstkubus engelhorn Mode im Quadrat / O5, 1 - 8 / 68161 Mannheim
October 2 - 23, 2009
As a complement to the international special exhibition in the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums ?Alexander the Great and the opening of the world? (October 10, 2009 - February 21, 2010), the Modehaus Engelhorn presents travel photographs of the 19th century, now in the holdings of the Forum of International Photography, from October 2 - 23, 2009. They are an expressive reflection of the image of historic Greece.
Ancient Greece is considered the ?cradle of Europe?. The cultural achievements in philosophy, natural sciences, historiography, art, architecture and literature exerted great influence upon European culture. In the 19th century a great yearning arose for Greece to the extent that streams of tourists travelled to that country. It was tradition that the well-to-do European undertook a ?grand tour?, the educational journey, which now led to Greece as well. Prominent landscape photographers established studios there and business flourished.
On exhibit are circa forty selected photographs of places of interest, including a two-meter long panorama of the Acropolis and vicinity, temple complexes, monuments and portraits of people in their typical regional costume. Among the famous travel photographers of that time were Dimitrios Konstantinou and James Robertson. The photographs capture the light of Hellas, and ? like a look into the long-lost past ? the images seem enigmatic and mythical to the modern-day observer.
