The Folklife and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia-Thrace and the Museum of Byzantine Culture, in the frame of the program of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism: “Thessaloniki: Cultural Crossroads”, co-organize the exhibition “Light on light: an illuminating story”. The exhibition is presented in the Folklife and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia-Thrace and will last from 31/10/2011 until 11/6/2012. It refers to the history of lighting instruments from Byzantium until today. During these 17 centuries, from the 4th century A.D. until today, electric light was invented, which radically changed our perception of the artificial lighting. This story is part of the big story of the conquest of fire, namely it is the story of the Human Culture itself. This shocking conquest was followed by the development of techniques for the touch and the maintenance of the flame. In other words, our history is also the history of the instruments for touch and keeping the fire as the light source; the torches, the fireplaces and the lamps, the candles and the oil lamps as a means of lighting are essentially the means for maintaining the fire. And this is even true for the electric lamp because it also shines “through the fire”. The exhibited lighting objects come from the collections of the two Museums, the Folklife and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia-Thrace and the Museum of Byzantine Culture, and from the collections of 13 other institutions and individuals.

Folklife and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia-Thrace, Program “Thessaloniki: Cultural Crossroads” of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Museum of Byzantine Culture, participation with lending of artefacts