Lead soldiers and porcelain dolls, old reading books and pre-war editions of Jules Verne novels, photographs and vinyl records.

Imprints of the childhood of other times, away from screens and digital reality, are the raw material of the new exhibition of Michalis Manousakis: “Once upon a time – Heroes being in the trash”, which is being held at the Municipal Art Gallery of Chania.

More than 150 toys from the personal collection of the professor emeritus of the School of Fine Arts covering a time span from 1821 to 1960 have replaced the act of painting in this new exhibition. These are extremely rare toys, which Michalis Manousakis has been collecting for the last 25 years, originating from different corners of the planet and in a very large percentage being presented to the public for the first time.

The peculiarity of this particular exhibition is that the painter from Chania does not present the toys in a simple line-up, but uses them as raw material and creates small or larger installations, each of which tells a different story. And in the end it takes us on a journey to a distant past – like the years of the Greek Revolution – but also to a more recent one: that which our parents and grandparents have described to us, that we found by chance in dusty trunks, that we saw in old photographs and in frames of black and white Greek cinema.

Through three sections, as many levels as the Municipal Art Gallery of Chania, the exhibition promises to unfold the story of children through the material of which their dreams are made.

The first chapter, on the ground floor, highlights aspects of childhood through toys, old reading and extracurricular books, photographs and a representation of a boy’s and a girl’s nursery.

The second, on the first floor of the building, emphasizes photographic material and the third is a tribute to the era of the Greek Revolution and the 19th century. as, among other things, it includes an 1821 edition with poems by Lord Byron, but also the pencil Napoleon with his officers (produced 1900-1910).

The exhibition “Once upon a time-Heroes being in the trash”, is the fourth in a series that includes toys from the personal collection of Michalis Manousakis.

It is accompanied by a bilingual (Greek-English) richly illustrated catalog with texts by the child psychiatrist Thanasis Hatzopoulos, the journalist and museologist Dimitris Trikas and the artist, who also signs the curation of the exhibition.

Opening of the Exhibition: Saturday, March 11.

Time: 20.00.

Municipal Art Gallery of Chania (98-102 Halidon).

Exhibition duration: March 11 – June 30, 2023.

Municipal Art Gallery of Chania.

Tel: +30 28210 92294 and +30 28210 92419

Website: www.pinakothiki-chania.gr

Facebook & Instagram: @MunicipalArtGalleryChania

Opening hours:

Until April 31, 2023

Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00 – 14:00 & 18:00 – 21:00

Sunday: 10:00-14:00

From May 1, 2023 onwards.

Monday to Saturday: 10:00-14:00 & 19:00-22:00

Closed on Sundays