White Tower back in business
Thessaloniki’s White Tower has once more opened its heavy doors to the public as an exhibition space. The tower’s new permanent display, which Minister of Culture Michalis Liapis inaugurated on Friday, is a charming journey through the history of the northern city, even for its own residents. Visitors to the display will gain a clear understanding of Thessaloniki, from its founding in 316/5 BC to the recent past, as well as its important geographical position which has made it a key junction throughout the centuries and its particular urban character. New technology helps unravel the history of 23 centuries on six separate floors. Audiovisual means, screenings, videos, sound documents and touchscreens present the city’s multicultural character, from Byzantine times to the Ottoman period and then through to the 20th century, with all its inhabitants of different religions and cultures. It took four years to set up the exhibition. The scientific team of the Museum of Byzantine Culture, which worked day and night, faced many problems. The venue was initially unsuitable for hosting a display and there was an enormous volume of information as well as 20,000 photographs. The temperature and humidity had to be regulated and special provisions had to be made so that the disabled could have a visual guided tour on the ground floor. The main concern was to design an exhibition that would respect the building’s architectural identity and highlight it, instead of competing with it. The exhibition unfolds on two levels. On each floor, the central hall presents a summarized version of each theme, while the surrounding rooms are equipped with various applications that enable visitors to probe deeper. As an extension of the display, the circular walkway around the top of the tower has screens where one can compare today’s view with past views of the city. The organizers didn’t want to create an «academic» exhibition, but one that would intrigue people, redefine their relationship with the city and make them love it. «We could have set it up in a way that would present a different historical era on every floor, but that would be tiring. We sought literature, poetry and the city’s people, so as to convey not only information but also emotion. A city is not just its buildings, but mostly its people,» said the Museum of Byzantine Culture’s director, Anastassia Tourta. There have been significant contributions from private collectors, cultural institutions as well as French collector and ardent admirer of Thessaloniki Jean-Pierre Grelois, who asked only that his name be mentioned.
