Greece’s National Museum of Contemporary Art Opens to the Public

In an interior space there is a carpet on which there are works of art in the form of headless people with suitcases next to them.

Blasis Kaniaris / Photo Credit: Katerina Paraskeva

The moment we’ve all been waiting for is finally here: The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) in Athens is now open!

Today was a day of celebration for the museum’s supporters, for the artists whose work is on display, for art lovers, and for the public as a whole, both from Greece and abroad. It was also a day of celebration for the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), which supported EMST with a grant that enabled the completion of the museum and ensured that it would serve the public to its fullest potential.

Specifically, SNF supported renovations to outfit exhibition spaces, as well as the preparation and transportation of the Museum’s permanent collection. The Foundation also supported the purchase of essential equipment and contributed to the establishment and upgrade of various Museum spaces, including the Media Lounge, the Conservation Laboratory, the Library, the Artistic Archive, and the Screening Room.

The opening will offer visitors the chance to enjoy more than 172 works of art by 78 Greek and international artists, including Vlassis Kaniaris, Giannis Kounellis, and Shirin Neshat.

Read the remarks given by SNF Board of Directors Member Giorgos Agouridis at the press conference held about the opening on Monday, February 2020.