Kykladitisses: Untold Stories of Women in the Cyclades

Featuring a remarkable selection of more than 180 artefacts, Kykladitisses: Untold Stories of Women in the Cyclades presents the history of the Cyclades through the eyes of their women, paying tribute to their lives and their evolving roles in the societies of the archipelago.

Famed for their natural beauty and rich cultural heritage, the Cyclades are known for giving rise to a civilization that seems to have revered women as few others in the world have. Kykladitisses: Untold Stories of Women in the Cyclades seeks to honor this unique heritage and celebrate the women of the archipelago and their contribution to the history and culture of these islands.

Organized by the Museum of Cycladic Art in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the exhibition features a diverse selection of over 180 outstanding artefacts spanning an era from the Neolithic period to the 19th century. The unique pieces, many of which have never before traveled beyond the Cyclades or been on public display, are drawn from the collections of the Museum of Cycladic Art as well as museums across the Cyclades, the National Archaeological Museum, the Canellopoulos Museum, the Epigraphic Museum of Athens, and notable private collections.

Kykladitisses reveals the fascinating world of the women of the Cyclades, focusing on their evolving roles throughout time, highlighting their participation in religious rites and their presence in both public and private life, and exploring the boundaries of female roles within the community. The invaluable artefacts portray the Cycladic woman as goddess, priestess, worshipper, mother, wife, merchant, fighter, intellectual, and sometimes as an image of fear, a victim of gender violence, or an object of desire. Pieces that stand out for their uniqueness and size include the larger-than-life Kore of Thera, the Adorants, an extraordinary Bronze Age fresco from Akrotiri, and the 2nd century BCE statue of the goddess Artemis slaying a deer from Delos.

The exhibition is curated by Dr. Dimitris Athanasoulis, Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades and the Dodecanese, and the scientific directors of the Museum of Cycladic Art, Dr. Ioannis Fappas, Assistant Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Dr. Panagiotis Iossif, Professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands.

Kykladitisses: Untold Stories of Women in the Cyclades will run through May 4 at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens before opening again at the Archaeological Museum of Thera in Santorini in June 2025.