The National Hellenic Museum (NHM) in Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood celebrates its grand public reopening in September with the world premiere of a major photography exhibition, Resilience by HRH Prince Nikolaos, September 16 through December 30, 2022.
An accomplished photographer who has exhibited his work internationally since 2015, Prince Nikolaos will present 19 new works as part of the NHM exhibition, exploring Greece’s strong relationship with nature including the olive tree, grapevines and the sea. The exhibition will also feature the North American premiere of Together, an immersive scene of life-size illuminated, embracing olive trees accompanied by sounds of Greek nature, which first premiered at the London Design Biennale in 2021.
“Greece’s past, present and future is intertwined and inextricably linked with nature. The recent pandemic has changed how we view the physical world and our space within it and has forced us to go back to our origins to find inspiration,” says Marilena Koutsoukou, curator of Resilience. “As an artist, Prince Nikolaos is always drawn to open spaces, and nature has been an integral theme and presence in his work. With this exhibition, he turns his lens to the Greek earth. Like an archaeologist meticulously excavating, recording, and drawing conclusions, he attempts to deconstruct and explore our collective experience with a new normal, a shared belief that we must let go of our past ways and find ways to celebrate and protect nature, and eventually, ourselves.”
A central piece of the Resilience exhibition is a photographic mosaic titled Sea Cred, created by Prince Nikolaos in collaboration with nonprofit environmental organization Parley for the Oceans, to raise awareness of the plastic pollution of our oceans and bodies. The artwork is divided and printed onto 272 credit cards made of Parley Ocean Plastic®, upcycled ocean plastic debris from remote beaches, mangroves and coastal communities. Sea Cred is inspired by the fact that humans could be consuming an average of 5 grams of plastic every week, the equivalent weight of a credit card, according to a 2019 University of Newcastle study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund.
The Resilience exhibition is sponsored by NHM Trustee John S. Koudounis.
“We are thrilled and honored that HRH Prince Nikolaos has chosen the National Hellenic Museum for his North American debut. He is a renowned artist whose work has been exhibited in major global cities including Athens, London, Copenhagen, Doha and Melbourne—and now Chicago audiences and visitors from across the country will have the opportunity to experience his striking and impactful images,” says Koudounis.
“We are delighted to welcome the public back to the museum to experience these exquisite images as seen through the lens of an artist who captures the magnificent and timeless beauty of nature,” adds NHM Executive Director Marianne Kountoures. “Prince Nikolaos’ work encourages us to consider how the natural world impacts us and how we can preserve it for generations to come."