CURRENT PROJECTS
NEW TEMPORARY EXHIBITION
@ILIAS LALAOUNIS JEWELRY MUSEUM
ATHENS, GREECE
1st March – 31st October 2024
THE ILIAS LALAOUNIS LEGACY: A RETROSPECTIVE
This exhibition unveils archival material from the professional PR office of Ilias Lalaounis kept in the Museum storage for thirty years. The immense recognition through the media, international organizations and esteemed friends bring to light novelties and artistic genius for which he was renowned as one of the leading figures of fine jewelry in the 20th century.
An introduction to the exhibition:
The enduring influence of Lalaounis distinguishes him as one of the dominating figures of the 20thcentury western fine jewelry industry. During his seventy year-long career he became renowned as the man who revived ancient Greek jewelry designs and techniques, with a modern twist, handling 18 and 22 carat gold for fashionable, chic, and magnificently handcrafted designs. In his workshops new tools were manufactured, bequeathing new technologies with a pioneering approach for the fine jewelry industry. His choice of gems for micro sculptural forms designated him as a follower of Fabergé and Lalique.
Lalaounis was fortunate to be the third generation of goldsmiths. The first generation, his grandfather assembled city clocks. His father, Ioannis Lalaounis, and his uncle, Euthymios Zolotas, established the Zolotas jewelry and watch firm in 1895. When Ilias took over the administration and creative direction of “Zolotas” in 1940, he was still a student at the University of Athens studying economics and law. His studies and career as a jeweler were violently interrupted by World War II. There was no market for fine jewelry for many years to follow. After graduating with an economics degree, he took time to study history, byzantine music, take designs lessons, and whenever possible researched ancient civilizations in available libraries, museums, and archaeological sites. Throughout the 1950s he traveled to commercial centers for jewelry in Europe and learned about new machinery, tools, and contemporary production methods.
Lalaounis enjoyed studying art history, designing at his free time, but mostly creating jewelry for independent women. His theory on two-dimensional jewelry led him to a style unprecedented and recognizable worldwide. His eponymous stores worldwide followed blockbuster exhibitions from the middle east to the far east, north America and northwest Europe and have left an enormous archive that justifies his oeuvre. He was loyal to his colleagues, clients, and admirers, for he supervised the manufacturing of thousands of his designs annually, reaching more than 18.000 original artifacts.
After World War II, Lalaounis interacted with entrepreneurs, as well as, with the artistic and intellectual community of Europe. His influences derived from museum artifacts and endless available art history publications. Spending time and sharing his ideas with renowned individuals, affiliated to his work, such as masters in the fine arts, fashion designers, choreographers, film producers, he was able to acquire a knowhow which served to organize his marketing skills and promote his work in a unique fashion. The Press adored him, since he was bespoken, and publicized his collections with passion. Newspaper columnists from local and international press besought interviews for the new collections, his ideas on contemporary jewelry art and captured the reaction of the public to his astonishing inspirations from archaeology, contemporary social and environmental issues, and technological innovations that inspired his work. Monthly fashion magazines in France, England, and the U.S. covered his work through endless editorials with pictures taken by the best photographers of the time. Special commissions that were produced for royalty, businessman, or world leaders were rarely publicized. However, correspondence with patrons has been released to show the vast circle of his devotees.
The Ilias Lalaounis jewelry Museum today holds 4.500 original artifacts that were designed and supervised by Ilias Lalaounis, but most importantly preserves original tools, designs, a photo archive, the PR archive, and part of his library justifying his academic background, and his pronouncement as one of the most important, fine jewelry makers in the second half of the 20th century.
Open until– 28 OCTOBER 2024
#pearl_jubilee
EXHIBITION CURATOR
Ioanna Lalaouni
CURATORIAL ASSISTANCE / EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
Byron Vafiadis
educational@lalaounis-jewelrymuseum.gr
ADMINISTRATION
Eleni Mastoras
administration@lalaounis-jewelrymuseum.gr
SPEDOS PROGRAMS
https://www.lalaounis-jewelrymuseum.gr/el/spedos/
MUSEUM SHOP
Kyriaki Karahaliou, Isidoros Aggelides
NEW: JEWELRY ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (JaIR) AT THE ILIAS LALAOUNIS JEWELRY MUSEUM, ATHENS
AFILJM promotes the exchange of resident artists in Greece and the US. Young artists are welcomed to the newly established Artist in Residence Program at the ILJM. Artists are based on the new ‘Artists’ Metalsmithing Studio - ZEM’ and ‘Artists’ Traditional Crafts Studio – ZEDET’, while Greek artists are funded for an Artist in Residence Program in a US Museum. The aim of this project is for Greek and international artists to share their experiences and knowledge with this hands-on experience and promote new artistic production in Greece and abroad.
INFORMATION
JEWELRY ARTISTS' METALSMITHING STUDIO/ZEM AT ILJM: OPEN FOR INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS
The Artists’ Studio ZEM is the first interactive metalsmithing workshop
built within a European Museum. ΖEM, is refurbished to replace the model hands-on prototype jewelry museum workshop that was set up when the museum first opened, to honor the space that housed the original Ilias Lalaounis’ jewelry workshops from the early 60’s until 1992.
ZEM focuses on promoting contemporary studio jewelry through the live work of young artists working in public. Traditional ancient and modern metalsmithing techniques are revealed to promote both traditional and modern forms of jewelry. Through a regular Museum visit, spectators may watch the demonstration of multiple techniques, the conservation of jewelry in an inspirational environment motivated by this new jewelers’ hub. Individuals and groups with specialized interests may experience hands on tutorials and exchange knowledge with the artist in residence.
This exciting educational experience is established under the sacred rock of the Acropolis where the mythical workshop of Hephaistos is revived to generate knowledge and grounds for the production of new contemporary jewelry!
For more information please write to administration@lalaounis-jewelrymuseum.gr
INFORMATION
JEWELRY ARTISTS’ TRADITIONAL CRAFTS STUDIO/ ZEDET AT ILJM: OPEN FOR INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS
The Artists’ Traditional Crafts Studio advances artistic productivity and enhances the educational role of the ZEM metalsmithing workshop (in the Museum’s ground level) to promote the use of non-precious materials, traditional crafts and new forms for contemporary studio jewelry.
ZEDET respects the space that hosted the first Ilias Lalaounis workshops for fine jewelry and challenges artists in a process that will enable them to flourish within the international artistic community moving away from Greece’s traditional use of metalsmithing.
Artists experiment with textiles, ceramics and wood; master the use of leather, enamel, clay, recycled materials, and plastics, responding at the same time to current social issues manifested in contemporary cultures. The marriage of traditional and modern techniques, tools, and materials envelop new inspiration for the promotion of new contemporary design by the Greek and international artistic communities.
For more information please write to administration@lalaounis-jewelrymuseum.gr
NEW: HEPHAISTOS SUMMER SCHOOL AT THE ILIAS LALAOUNIS JEWELRY MUSEUM, ATHENS www.jss.gr
AFILJM promotes the educational initiatives examing the history of ancient Greek art through contemporary jewelry, through the development of cultural programs.
The Hephaistos Summer School is an accredited program on the History of Western Jewelry. In this unique program participants attend classes, lectures and study visits on the history of jewelry from classical antiquity to contemporary jewelry, and technologies of jewelry making. Study visits and optional trips are planned to familiarize participants with Greek culture from antiquity to the present, in the heart of western civilization.
The program is organized through the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum Educational Center with esteemed Greek and International academics, archaeologists and jewelry experts. We attract applicants from a wide range of studies, including archaeology, art history, cultural studies, museum studies, arts administration, and fine arts undergraduate and graduate students. The program is offered with accreditation by the Hellenic American University’s General Education program and provides 3 US college credits or 6 ECTS credits for participants who meet the University’s criteria for undergraduate admission http://hauniv.edu/ . Students may gain credit from their own universities. Please advise on whether your Institution would be willing to approve enrollment in this summer school and allow them to receive the academic credits towards their course of studies.
The Hephaistos Summer School runs once year every June. Applications are now open for next session which will run from 9 - 23 June 2019.
For more information please reach:
E-mail: info@jss.gr
Website: www.jss.gr
NEW: CURATORIAL INTERSHIPS
AFILJM funds internship programs that create opportunities for American students and artists to study art history and archaeology, ancient and contemporary jewelry-making in Greece.
Separately or combined with the above programs young professional may experience an Internship at the ILJM all year round. Students and recent graduates interested in art museum careers may join the curatorial department of the ILJMuseum and experience on museum operation practices, handling artifacts, new curatorial projects, and the Marketing department.
LECTURE SERIES FEATURING GREEK AND US ACADEMICS
AFILJM collaborates with Greek and US Academics, Museums and Educational Institutions in order to promote the art of jewelry and new creativity in traditional and decorative arts.
EXCHANGE OF TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS BETWEEN ILJM AND AMERICAN PRIVATE AND MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
One of AFILJM’s principal purposes is to plan international traveling exhibitions of jewelry and decorative arts with organizations/museums in the United States and worldwide that share the same interests.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN MUSEUMS
AFILJM encourages initiatives that promote new technologies in Museums by funding projects that enhance visitor experiences through innovative tools, allowing for increased accessibility and interaction for the visitors.
FREE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR SCHOOL GROUPS AND VISITORS WITH DISABILITIES
The AFILJM aims to communicate with museum professionals, academics and communities, in order to promote educational programs for students, visitors with disabilities, artists and the general public on the history and craft of ancient and contemporary jewelry.
ENRICHING MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
AFILJM promotes the enrichment of American Museum Collections with Ilias Lalaounis’ pieces in order to share with millions of North Americans Ilias Lalaounis’ oeuvre, as the jeweller who changed the course of Greek and international goldsmithery in the 20th century.