Elektra Angelopoulou /Photo by Thalia Galanopoulou

HERITΛGE in collaboration with the Archaeological Museum of Messara is very pleased to announce that artist Elektra Angelopoulou has been selected as the artist to create a participatory work of art as part of the AHEAD (Accessible Heritage Experience for Audience Development) project.

AHEAD is co-funded by the EU’s Creative Europe program and aims to transform how the public interacts with cultural heritage by providing heritage managers with the tools to create new participatory and inclusive experiences. The project brings together three cultural heritage sites in Greece, Italy and Spain, where selected artists will collaborate with local communities to create experiential works of art. 

Elektra Angelopoulou has a rich background in archaeology and the performing arts and was chosen among dozens of artists, originating from or residing in Crete, to work with the project’s Greek hub to create an innovative and participatory art project at the Archaeological Museum of Messara. Through this work, Electra will explore new ways of experiencing and connecting with cultural heritage.

The artist will collaborate with two key target groups: primary school students and the local community. Through a series of co-creation workshops, structured using the ACED (Audience-Centered Experience Design) methodology, she will develop a participatory work of art that strengthens the public’s connection to the museum and its heritage.

The goal is to create an open and participatory experience, which will highlight the archaeological site as a living, creative space where history meets the present.

“My intention, every time I come into contact with an archaeological site, is to show what some of us ‘see’ in our imagination when we look at stones, vases, soil, sculptures – that is, an entire world – to those who have not been able to see it that way until now,” the artist says. “Museums and archaeological sites are changing, turning towards local communities and taking steps to become an integral, living part of them. In this context, my goal is to connect people with the object.”