Accessible visits to the Chatzimichali Museum

The Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Angeliki Chatzimichali” of the Municipality of Athens in Plaka, which has been operating since 1980, in cooperation with liminal, launches a series of guided tours with interpretation in Greek Sign Language, to welcome deaf and hard of hearing people in its premises.

On Wednesday the 2nd of October 2024 at 17:00 we are waiting for you to take a guided tour of the wondrous world of Angeliki Chatzimichali at her residence in Plaka.

Exterior view of the Museum "Angeliki Chatzimichali" in a paved street of Plaka. The building, created by the architect Aristotle Zachos, is a two-storey building in yellowish colour and is distinguished by its special architecture that combines traditional elements found in Macedonian architecture and in the neo-Byzantine tradition, such as the wooden door frames, the carved frames around the windows or doors and the tiled roof.

The Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Angeliki Chatzimichali”

The Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Angeliki Chatzimichali” has been operating since 1980 and is housed in the old mansion of the first Greek folklorist Angeliki Chatzimichali (1895-1965) in Plaka. The building is a monument of the modern Greek urban architecture of the interwar period and is the work of the Macedonian architect Aristotle Zachos (1871-1939), who combined traditional elements with neo-Byzantine and Macedonian elements, while the interior wood-carved decoration was created by the folk craftsman N. Thomopoulos.

Panoramic view of a room with a wooden floor inside the Chatzimihali Museum. At the spacious entrance of the museum, we find an old fireplace decorated with coloured tiles and a large sofa consisting of wooden carved divan chairs with beige cushions. Plenty of light comes in through the tall windows at the bottom and smaller windows adorned with stained glass near the high ceiling.

In the halls of the Museum there are collections of folk art objects with works of woodcarving, metalwork, pottery, traditional costumes, embroidery and carpets made on looms. Some of them belong to the Hellenic Folklore Society, while others come from private donations. However, furniture, books, letters and personal belongings of Angeliki Chatzimichali can be found in the room, offering the visitor the opportunity to approach her course and her work in the social and intellectual life of Greece.

Angeliki Chatzimichali

Angeliki Hadjimichali dedicated her life to the research, study and preservation of folk heritage. A pioneer in the study of folklore, she made a breakthrough in this field with her visions and struggles. A talented painter, a tireless researcher, she contributed her strength and her fortune to the great task of rescuing and promoting popular culture. Bold and combative, she travelled for years throughout Greece, both mainland and island, under difficult conditions and with primitive means of transport, in order to systematically record the state of popular art and craftsmanship.

Angeliki Chatzimichali observes, records, talks to locals, sleeps in their houses, follows them in their work, photographs and paints the interiors of folk houses, huts, churches, costumes, embroideries, woodcarvings, workshops and anything else that has to do with the folklore material she studies and wants to preserve, even as an image!

The aim of the Museum is the preservation, study and promotion of elements of Greek Folk Culture, but mainly the preservation of the memory of the folklorist Angeliki Chatzimichali, as she belongs to the few known women of her generation who dedicated their lives to the promotion of Greek folk art. For this reason, moreover, great personalities of the Greek spirit, such as Penelope Delta, George Papandreou, Yannis Tsarouchis and others who passed by this mansion, called her the “Great Lady of the Nation”.

At the same time, it is a nucleus of cultural and historical value in the centre of the City of Athens, organizing periodic exhibitions, which are in line with the space, events related to the annual cycle of festivals, lectures and workshops on topics of popular culture, guided tours and educational programmes of museum education.

View from the interior of the museum with a carved wooden shelf on which ceramic carved vases of various sizes are placed. In the background is a large double door with an arch made of wood and glass.
A room inside the Chatzimihali Museum that resembles a salon of the early 19th century. In the centre there is a table covered with a white tablecloth, on the left a chest that also serves as a divan and next to it a fireplace with blue tiles. In the background, around a large wooden piece of furniture hanging on the walls like a display case, are a number of colourful traditional plates.

Accessible guided tours of the Museum

The Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Angeliki Chatzimichali” starts from this autumn a series of guided tours with interpretation in Greek Sign Language for deaf and hard of hearing people that will continue throughout the year.

During our guided tours, we will learn about the life and work of the first female Greek folklorist Angeliki Chatzimichali, who, in the 1920s, began her field research in Greece, both on the islands and on the mainland, studying the Greek Folk Culture.

We will get to know the collections of folk art objects and we will recognize a whole world full of symbols, through shapes, colors and patterns, which reveal the relations of the people of popular culture with beliefs and superstitions.

Find more information about the Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Angeliki Chatzimichali” here.

Information

First accessible guided tour with interpretation in GSL: Wednesday, October the 2nd at 17:00.

Following the Museum’s periodic exhibitions, as well as changes in objects and exhibits related to the seasons and customs of the rural world, guided tours with interpretation in GSL will be repeated throughout the year on dates to be announced soon.

Address: Ag. Chatzimichali 6 Plaka, 10558 (MAP)

👉 The guided tours will take place in Greek and in Greek Sign Language.

Opening hours of the Museum: Tuesday to Friday 11:00-16:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-15:00, closed on Mondays. Contact numbers for information, guided tours and educational programmes: 210-3243987, 210-3243972.