Pioneering researcher of traditional applied arts
It is thanks to Angeliki Hadzimichali that the history of Greek traditional applied arts has been documented and that rare artifacts – in this case embroideries – have survived. A pioneering figure, she was the first researcher to focus on the actual traditional artifacts and not on the customs or oral tradition that ensconced most of her fellow-researchers in the 1920s. Hadzimichali was committed to traveling all over Greece, collecting as many traditional artifacts as she could. But she also combined her research with projects and charity work that were intended to revive traditional craftsmanship and support Greek craftsmen. Born in 1895 into a cultured, haute-bourgeois environment, Hadzimichali wanted to become a painter but was discouraged by her family. She took lessons from the well-known painter Giorgos Roilos and developed drawing skills that helped her document the traditional decorative motifs that she discovered during her journeys in Greece. She first became interested in Greek folk tradition when, back in her student years, she joined the Hellenic Lyceum Club and saw its rich collection of traditional costumes. In 1919 she began traveling to the Greek islands in one of her first research projects and a few years later published her first study on the folk art of Skyros. In the early 1920s Hadzimichali organized exhibitions both in Greece and abroad that helped create a trend for folklore aesthetics, thus making Greek artisanship enter production and become more viable. She also organized workshops for refugees and found ways to make tradition a vital part of modern living. She also became involved in philanthropic work and was very sensitized toward feminist issues. Hadzimichali, who died at age 75, left behind a rare collection of Greek artifacts (most were donated to the Benaki) and important studies that are the backbone of the history of Greek folk arts.
