The National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum opens its doors at Christmas to the public in Athens and the surrounding area, inviting them to festive tours and events in the spirit of the season.

In the main building of the Gallery and fully integrated in the spirit of Christmas, the educational programme ” Magic Night “ includes the telling of Christmas stories, which are completed with workshops of creative expression. Children aged 3-5 years will swirl in the Christmas sky among the clouds with little Noel in search of their special place in the world, centred on the fairy tale “The Snowflake” by the award-winning British author Benji Davies. The educational activity is scheduled for Wednesday, December 6 and 13 at 17:30 and Saturday, December 9 and 16 at 10:00. Children 6-12 years old will be in the Cave and will meet everything that makes up the re-enactment of Christmas Night: the cave, the shepherds, the magicians with gifts, and even Christ himself through Fotis Kontoglou’s short story, “Christmas in the Cave”. The action is scheduled for Saturday 9 December at 12:00 and 16 December at 12:00 and 15:00. It is a prerequisite that an adult be present to accompany the children. Participation in the thematic guided tours will be made through online booking at: [email protected] and [email protected] (Monday through Friday). The booking will be completed upon receipt of a confirmation email. (Limit of persons: 25, Cost for adults: 5€)

However, the Christmas atmosphere could not be without the presence of grandma and grandpa. The National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum has designed an original intergenerational educational programme, based on modern museum pedagogical concepts and aims, beyond the museum experience, to become an occasion for an experiential approach to art. Grandparents and grandchildren visit the National Gallery together to discover the microcosms of the temporary exhibition “Urbanography. City life in the1950s-1970s“.The educational activity is addressed to children 8-12 years old accompanied by grandparents and takes place at the National Gallery’s Periodical Exhibition Hall on Saturday 9 December from 14.00 to 16.00. Online booking by e-mail [email protected] (Monday to Friday). Booking will be completed upon receipt of a confirmation email.

Actions in the Annexes of the Gallery

At the Nafplion annex on Friday, December 22, the artist Yannis Harikleous will hold a three-hour workshop of Christmas Engraving Creations for adults, who wish to get acquainted with the art of engraving and learn about all its stages, from engraving and melamine to the final printing. As part of the workshop, a guided tour of the Museum’s permanent exhibition will be held, where engravings by Yannis Psychopedis and Zacharias Arvanitis will be presented.

In Corfu, the Annex of the National Gallery and the Museum Collections of the Ionian University invite you on Sunday 17 December at 11.30 a.m., to the Slowart action, which aims to improve the quality of life through a visit to the museum with the method of slow and focused observation of works of art. In this year’s second meeting, which will take place at the National Gallery Annex in Kato Korakiana, works dealing with the theme of trauma are selected, with the aim of making the museum a safe place where an open and fruitful dialogue around this issue can take place. Short narratives that emerge through the artworks will help us to share life experiences and talk about what everyone considers trauma. Come and observe, talk and express yourself.

Two new programmes are being developed at the Sparta Annex: The educational programme for the temporary exhibition “Laconian Artists from the collections of the National Gallery” addressed to primary school children and the Christmas educational programme “Looking for Christmas in the Gallery” in cooperation with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Laconia. Finally, the “Friends and Neighbours” programme will end in December 2023 with an open invitation to all residents of Sparta to participate in free guided tours on the first three Wednesdays of December.

Throughout the festive season, a large bazaar with old and new publications at prices up to 70% lower will be held at the Shop of EPMAS and the Nafplion Annex. Through this bazaar the opportunity is given for a different proposal for Christmas gifts, which will allow the cultural wealth of the Gallery to enter every home.

The National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum is a multidimensional, living organization in substantial interaction with society. That is why its contributors invite those who are in Athens, Nafplio, Corfu or Sparta to celebrate Christmas with them at the Gallery!