The Origins of Sculpture

The exhibition “The Origins of Sculpture – Archaeological Finds from the Old World and Lesbos, 2,500,000–50,000 Years Before Present” was co-organized by the University of Crete and the Benaki Museum. It constitutes an expanded adaptation of the exhibition “First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone,” which was presented in 2018 at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas.
The Greek version of the exhibition was enriched with impressive 300,000-year-old finds, brought to light over the past twelve years by the archaeological research of the University of Crete in Lesbos.
Scientific curation was undertaken by Dr. Nena Galanidou, Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Crete, and Tom Wynn, Professor of Cognitive Archaeology at the University of Colorado.

For the first time in Greece, rare Paleolithic tools from Europe, Asia, and Africa, held in major museums around the world, were exhibited. Alongside them, and also presented to the public for the first time, were the unique finds from Lesbos—symmetrically worked handaxes and cleavers—demonstrating that the history of culture in the Greek region begins much earlier than previously known.

The exhibition was hosted at the main building of the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, in Kolonaki, and ran from 27 September 2023 to 7 January 2024, attracting hundreds of visitors.

DONATION OF THE NON-PROFIT CIVIL COMPANY AEGEAS

• Support for the organization of the exhibition (construction of display bases and transportation of exhibits from museums abroad).