Benaki

I know we have all heard almost everything there is to hear about Greek culture… We know very well about the achievements, the triumphs, the legacy. And yes, it’s pretty amazing. But perhaps we haven’t seen all there is to see. Sometimes ‘seeing’ impacts us in a way that ‘hearing’ cannot. The other day, the gremlins in my Facebook feed thought I should see a new video – and I’m glad I did.

This video is about the Benaki Museum - but it’s about much more. It’s a new marketing piece developed as a story told by Antonis Benakis about his culture, his own history, his museum.

It is a beautiful film, with incredible imagery and haunting music – done in a very subtle way. It’s directed by Athena Rachel Tsangari and narrated by Willem Dafoe.

Watching this video – yes, a promotional video – brought out a strong emotional response in me: pride. I was proud of being Greek, and I felt the video represented much of what being Greek means for me. Beauty, simplicity, energy, life. And it's so fitting: the Benaki museum is about the visuals - the 'objets' - but it's about so much more - and (I assume) this is what the piece is trying communicate. If this is the case, then it's a brilliant piece of film-making and a brilliant piece of marketing.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but you can judge for yourself…

It’s worth the 7 minutes to watch it – check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaPfkWSPHgE

Credit goes to Peter Economides for sharing the link, and to the Benaki team who produced this thing of beauty.

“Our land is full of treasure. Let’s not forget this.”

And yes, the video worked.  I will definitely make a visit to the Benaki museum!

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…