ANNUAL CAMPAIGN 2024
Dear Friends, dear Supporters of the Benaki Museum,
Twenty-twenty four was a good year for the Benaki Museum. We hosted remarkable exhibitions, organised events that filled the Museum buildings with visitors, participated in exhibitions beyond the Benaki by lending more than 800 items from our collections, and exhibited over 1,000 artifacts from other museums and collections.
Above all, as we promised this time last year, thanks to your support, in March 2024 we opened the renewed and enriched exhibition on the third floor of the Museum of Greek Culture. This section of the Museum’s permanent exhibition narrates the story of modern Greece from the Greek War of Independence to World War II. On its very first day of operation, this exhibition welcomed 4,200 visitors.
Indeed, 2024 was a good year for the Benaki Museum.
As this year draws to a close, it is once again the time to gather, reflect and envision projects beyond the arranged programme of the coming year. It is the time we ask ourselves what more we would like to achieve, improve, and make perfect. What will be our additional, special goal beyond the programme?
Every year, at around this time—when we can reassure you that we’ve kept our promises and are moving forward to achieve even more—we share with you these special goals. These are the goals that resonate most deeply with you, our friends, our Members, and all those who know the Benaki Museum well and love it as much as we do.
We’ve deliberated extensively on this year’s goal, all together, as a team, as we always do. And we have dedicated this year’s campaign to the Museum’s exceptional collection of costume and textiles. It is not only one of the most important in Greece and internationally, but it is also rich, dazzling, and invaluable. It is filled with information, educational potential, and fascinating insights, offering countless opportunities for research and engagement.
Preserving this collection requires specialised care, controlled storage conditions, and of course, financial resources. Our primary goal is to re-organise the collection items, upgrade the existing equipment, and replace the old cabinets with new ones, of appropriate museum standards. In the future, we aim to make these spaces accessible not only to researchers but also to the public, allowing insights into the Museum's behind-the-scenes operations and practices.
Your support and generosity towards these annual campaigns over the years have inspired and energised us, so that we could bring to fruition significant transformations.
We are deeply grateful for any form of support you can offer and invite you to actively participate in this year’s annual campaign. Together, we can make a difference. Together, we will succeed.
With heartfelt thanks and warmest wishes for the new year,
Irini Geroulanou Chairman of the Board of Trustees Benaki Museum