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The Basil Papantoniou Foundation (BPF) -ex Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation (PFF)- is a nonprofit institution based in Nafplion and aims at the research, documentation, study, preservation and dissemination of modern Greek and global culture in general, in all of its forms and expressions. It was founded in 1974 by Ioanna Papantoniou in memory of her father Basil. It is housed in the residence of B. Papantoniou, which was converted into a museum in 1981 and its first exhibition, was entitled: "Local costumes of the Peloponnese".
The foundation’s collections now number 50,000 artifacts, covering all the branches of study relating to modern Greek culture.
In order to improve the management of the collections, the “Aristeides” programme for electronic documentation was created.
In 1976 Stelios Papadopoulos was appointed curator and introduced the necessary scientific infrastructure.
In 1977 the new museum wing, as well as the renovation of the old building were inaugurated, designed by Vivi Mylopoulou - architect and Demetris Criticos - civil engineer. In the same year the BPF became member of ICOM.
In 1981 was designed by the architect Costis Adamopoulos the ground floor space of the museum. This same year won the Museum of the Year main Award (EMYA) for its exhibition ”The Production, Elaboration and Use of Natural Fibres in Greece”.
In 1970-1980 a research project was run over the whole of Greece. Its aim was the documentation and study of folk culture, music and dance, preindustrial technology and children games.
The results of the research became the main body of the publishing activities of the Foundation, that include the special scientific journal “Ethnografika”, which numbers today 15 volumes, and the journal “Endymatologika”, published in 5 volumes.
In 1983 the “Essai sur la chanson populaire grecque” by the distinguished Swiss Ethnomusicologist Samuel Baud-Bovy was published with an introduction by Fivos Anoyanakis, while in the very same year a double LP was released with music from South Italy and Sicily as the result of a research project carried out by Lambros Liavas and Nicos Dionysopoulos.
In 1985 a 10year ethnomusical research project in Cyprus was fulfilled and the results were presented in a box of 7 LPs and a textbook which represent a selection of six hours recordings. Music supervision was made by the ethnomusicologist Fivos Anoyanakis. The whole research project was prepared by Alecos Kleitou Iakovides, collaborator of the BPF.
On October 1989, the BPF founded “Stathmos”, the first Greek childhood museum, housed in the engine-shed of the Nafplion railway station. The BPF made a significant contribution to the experimental programme titled MELINA - Education and Culture, by mounting educational programmes in a total of eight schools throughout Greece.
In 1989 Melina Mercouri as Minister of Culture assigned to the BPF the National Costume Archives. In 2003 Ioanna Papantoniou founded the Greek Costume Society as an extension of the Archives, aiming to a Costume Culture Museum in Greece.
In 1997 Kanellos Kanellopoulos was appointed director of the Foundation.
The Museum, renovated 1999, housed the exhibition “The best of the PFF”.
This same year the BPF celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary with the following exhibitions:
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Vestments, the Eastern Orthodox Church |
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“Krossia, Chitones, Doulamades, Velades. 4000 Years of Hellenic Costume" “Hellenic Cosmos” Cultural Centre, Athens |
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Yannis Tseklenis: A Greek Fashion Designer |
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Jean Dessès: A Greek Fashion Designer |
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The Greek costumes of Lykeion ton Hellinidon in the work of Tsarouchis,
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Since 1999 a lot of exhibitions took place at the new space of multiple activities of the BPF, with the most significant the "Dark Rooms" of Maria Loizidou in 2003. The artist embraced with this exhibition not only the multiple activities space, but also all the other spaces in which were displayed the precious pieces of the Museum, which was for the first time in Greece.
In 2005 the ehibition "The white clothes of the PFF" presented to the public wedding and christening dresses from the BPF's collection.
In 2006, to celebrate its 32 years a new reshuffling led to a larger museum shop, an exhibition with the emphasis on “The Greek town: Nafplion 1822-1922” and an introductory show-case presenting heteroclite museum items in a daring free installation in order to emphasize the flexibility of its collecting philosophy. This museological proposal was sporadically presented in the Nafplion Museum from 1999 up to January 2006 and in “The Ptychoseis” exhibition of the 2004 Cultural Olympiad at the new Benaki Museum.
In 2013 BPF was honoured by the Academy of Athens for its long term contribution to the promotion of the Hellenic culture.
In 2014, to celebrate its 40 years, a number of exhibitions were planned of which the most important one was the “Patterns of Magnificence”. The exhibition was initially scheduled for the Hellenic Centre in London but was later redesigned for the “Hellenic Cosmos” Cultural Centre in Athens, before finally travelling to the Leventis Municipal Museum in Cyprus. The exhibition featured more than forty original Greek costumes from the BPF collection, representing the range of styles from the 18th to the early 20th century. The event was dedicated to the memory of Koula Lemos.
Another exhibition titled “Brides. Tradition and fashion in Greece” was set up at the new Benaki Museum (Pireos 138) in Athens to present a broad range of bridal dresses from the collection of the Foundation. They included elegant dresses from the late nineteenth century to the innovative designs of contemporary designers. The exhibition, enriched with thirty-eight new donations, was also presented at the Fougaro Artcenter in Nafplion.
In 2015, the new permanent exhibition “The collections: A journey through space and time” is dedicated to the Foundation collections which now number over 50,000 artifacts from 22 different categories, relating to the contemporary culture. The continuous enrichment of the collections presented through a daring free installation, number selected items from the natural and social environment, developing in Greek historical space and time.
The BPF has also organised many exhibitions in Greece and abroad, the most important of which are the following:
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Europalia. Three Cycles of Life |
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Greek Costumes and Jewellery, Past and Present Athens 1985 – Athens Cultural Capital οf Europe |
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Salute to Greece (Year devoted to Greece) |
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Salute to Greece (Year devoted to Greece) |
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Ptychoseis = Folds and Pleats |
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32 years of the PFF Athens 2006 - Benaki Museum (Pireos annex) and Nicosia 2006 - Leventis Municipal Museum |
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6 'Universal' Greek Fashion Designers Athens 2006 - 4th Greek Fashion Week For this exhibition the PFF was awarded by the Hellenic Fashion Designers. |
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Endyesthai (To dress). Towards a Costume Culture Museum |
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Alice and Nestor Teloglion |
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Eponymous |
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Endyesthai (To dress). Towards a Costume Culture Museum Athens 2010 - Benaki Museum (Pireos annex) |
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“6 'Universal' and 3 Contemporary Greek Fashion Designers" |
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As a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the Foundation has organised numerous international conferences and meetings:
1. The Costume Committee Working Group meeting (1981).
2. The Costume Committee (1984) annual meeting, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the PFF. The proceedings were published in “Ethnografika” (1983-85, vols. 4-5).
3. The ICOM International Committee for Education and Cultural Action (1988), in cooperation with the Hellenic National Committee. The proceedings were published in a volume by the Hellenic National Committee.
4. The International Committee for Documentation (CIDOC) of ICOM (annual meeting) in October 1990, in cooperation with the Hellenic National Committee.
5. The 17th Symposium of the Ethnochoreology Working Group (July 1992), co-hosted with The International Council for Traditions of Music (ICTM). The BPF published a volume with the symposium proceedings.
6. The 53rd Annual Meeting of the Costume Committee (1999).
7. The 68th Annual Meeting of the Costume Committee (September 2014). The proceedings were published in the fifth volume of “Endymatologika”.
The BPF is collaborating with many other Museums and organizations of Greece and abroad, such as the Benaki Museum, the Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, the Lyceum Club of Greek Women, the Teloglion Foundation in Thessaloniki, the Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis Foundation in Limassol, the Foundation of the Hellenic World, the Hellenic Centre in London, the Fougaro Artcenter in Nafplion, The Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece (CHS Greece) – Harvard University, the National Gallery - Nafplion Annex, the Alpha Bank Cultural Centre in Nafplion, etc.
There was a special collaboration between the BPF and the Municipality of Nicosia, the Leventis Foundation in Nicosia, and the Educational Academy of Cyprus. Of outmost importance was the ten year documentation on the field of Cypriot folk music.
One of the main aims of the BPF was postgraduate study grants. From 1981 to 2003 members of the BPF Lambros Liavas, Rena Loutzaki, Vasiliki Menaiou, Giannis Kaltsas, Cleo Gougouli and Vasilis Zidianakis graduated abroad in the fields of ethnomusicology, dance anthropology, textile restoration, library science, social anthropology, ethnology.
The 51 years of the BPF are characterisizing by the research projects of his collaborators in the whole of Greece, Cyprus and South Italy.
