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Experience

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About us

Imagining Greece: How Tourism Shaped a Nation
Imagining Greece is a digital exhibition that explores the evolution of tourism in Greece from the end of World War II to the closing chapters of the Cold War. The exhibition examines multiple aspects of the phenomenon by showcasing a wealth of textual and visual material curated from a wide range of state and private archival repositories and sources, including the Greek National Tourism Organisation, architectural firms, advertising agencies and both domestic and foreign press and periodicals. It is further enriched by an ongoing oral history project that captures firsthand experiences from specialists and the general public. We hope this exhibition will bring the history of tourism in Greece to life while deepening understanding of its profound impact—both on Greek society itself and on the millions of international visitors whose journeys have helped transform Greece into one of the world's most beloved destinations.

Our Team
We are an interdisciplinary team with expertise spanning history, visual culture, design studies, architectural history, cultural heritage, and digital humanities. Led by Professor Eirini Karamouzi (Principal Investigator) and Dr Mary Ikoniadou (Co-Investigator), our team includes:

Dr Stavros Alifragkis and Dr Emilia Athanasiou (Scientific and Artistic Curators, Lead Researchers), Dr Christos Christidis (Special Advisor), Despina Tsilimagkou (Digital Humanities Director), Dr Marina Emmanouil, Dr Metaxia Papageorgiou and Dr Aphrodite Kamara (Researchers). Our work has been generously supported by the Onassis Foundation, the National Bank of Greece and Research England. We are honoured to have the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and the Greek Ministry of Tourism as our patrons, and we work closely with Greece’s National Historical Museum.

Our Goal
Our goal is to make Imagining Greece a widely accessible digital exhibition that serves as a valuable resource for schools, universities, tourism professionals, and the public in Greece and beyond. We aim to promote a deeper understanding of tourism as a crucial element of Greek culture, economy, politics, and society. The exhibition is organised around four thematic experiences: Picture, Travel, Discover, and Remember. Each theme presents carefully chosen artefacts in an intuitive, easy-to-explore journey. Visitors will explore a rich collection of promotional materials, including advertising, audio-visual culture, periodicals, commercial and government sources, tourist guides, tourism infrastructure and architecture, cultural artefacts from folklore, feasts and festivals, leisure activities, books about Greece, souvenirs, vacation photographs, and postcards. The entire spectrum of Greece as a tourism destination is accessible through the thematic experiences, the interactive map, or the chronological timeline.

The Future of Imagining Greece
Imagining Greece will continue to grow with new artefacts, and we welcome your contributions. If you have relevant materials to share, please contact us at: info@imagininggreece.com

Legal Notice / Disclaimer
Every reasonable effort has been made to trace and contact the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this digital exhibition, ‘Imagining Greece: How Tourism Shaped a Nation, 1945-1989’, and to obtain their permission for the use of copyrighted material. We apologise for any omissions in acknowledging copyright. If you own the copyright for any material used on our website and believe it infringes upon your rights, please contact us directly at info@imagininggreece.com. Please note that all images and materials remain the property of their respective copyright holders, and may not be reproduced, distributed, or otherwise used without their prior permission.

Acknowledgements
We thank the numerous institutions and private individuals who have contributed their valuable archival materials to this project:

Benaki Museum’s Photographic Archives Department, Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Greek Film Archive, Greek National Tourism Organisation, Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive, Hellenic National AudioVisual Archive - Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, Hellenic Touring Club, Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece – National Historical Museum, Historical Archive of the National Bank of Greece, Constantinos A. Doxiadis Archives, ‘Konstantinos G. Karamanlis’ Foundation, The Library of the Hellenic Parliament, Modern Greek Architecture Archives of the Benaki Museum, National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, Neraida Floating Museum - John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, Olympic Airways Workers Cultural Center, Philatelic Postal Museum, Spyros Vassiliou Archive - Dominum Artifex NPO, The Alpha Bank Art Collection, The Ghika Gallery - Benaki Museum.

Dimitris Antonakakis – Atelier 66, Archimidis & Eleni Athanassiou, Tasos Biris – Tassos Biris Architectural Firm, Vassilis Bogakos, Vassilis Giannakis, Panos Haratzopoulos, Erifyli Hontolidou, Maro Kardamitsi-Adami, Yannis Karlopoulos, Kostas Katsigiannis, Konstantinos Lyssaridis – ETETH SA, Eirini Philippides, Marina Philippides – AMK Architecture + Design, Jenny Perivolari, Christos Rallis & Georgia Sovatzoglou, Vassia Stylianidi – WOBI Architects, Vaggelis Stylianidis - Stylianidis Vaggelis Architects, Nicos Valsamakis – N. Valsamakis Architectural Firm, Ioannis Vikelas – Vikelas Architects.

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Picture
Travel
Discover
Remember

Discover / Culture /Folklore

Festivals Heritage Folklore Local Feasts

Displaying 19/19 artefacts

Greek Popular Art artifact
Greek Popular Art
Brochure
Stringing and drying tobacco leaves in the late 50s artifact
Stringing and drying tobacco leaves in the la...
Postcard
Harvesting and stomping wine grapes in the 50s artifact
Harvesting and stomping wine grapes in the 50...
Postcard
House interior in Skyros artifact
House interior in Skyros
Postcard
Mastic Harvesting in Chios artifact
Mastic Harvesting in Chios
Postcard
A clay potter from Sifnos artifact
A clay potter from Sifnos
Postcard
Harvesting and threshing in the 1950s artifact
Harvesting and threshing in the 1950s
Postcard
2500 Years of Greek Music artifact
2500 Years of Greek Music
Documentary
Traditional dance performance in Corfu artifact
Traditional dance performance in Corfu
Postcard
Traditional dance performance in Rethymno, Crete artifact
Traditional dance performance in Rethymno, Cr...
Postcard
Young women on Thessaloniki's old quay, dressed in the traditional Amalia costume artifact
Young women on Thessaloniki's old quay, dress...
Postcard
Young girl from Crete spinning wool in the traditional way artifact
Young girl from Crete spinning wool in the tr...
Postcard
Spreading trahanas out to dry in Milies, Pelion artifact
Spreading trahanas out to dry in Milies, Peli...
Postcard
A saddler's workshop in Milies Pelion artifact
A saddler's workshop in Milies Pelion
Postcard
Young woman from Rhodes wearing the traditional women's costume of Emponas, 1950 artifact
Young woman from Rhodes wearing the tradition...
Photograph
Young woman from Symi wearing the local costume, 1950 artifact
Young woman from Symi wearing the local costu...
Photograph
Young women from Leros wearing local costumes, 1950 artifact
Young women from Leros wearing local costumes...
Photograph
Women from Nisyros wearing local costumes, 1950 artifact
Women from Nisyros wearing local costumes, 19...
Photograph
Woman from Karpathos with a little boy wearing local costumes, 1950 artifact
Woman from Karpathos with a little boy wearin...
Photograph