In July 2022, Amalia Samios from Kytherian Genealogy Project by Amalia and Kalie were in Kythera and met with John Stathatos, the curator of the Kytherian Photographic Archives. What a wonderful man with such a passion for Kytherian history!
They spent many hours together, sharing their love of Kytherian history. Amalia asked if there was any way that the Kytherian Genealogy Project could help support the archives and the preservation of Kytherian records.
John advised they were preparing a room at the archives building in Chora, at the Castle, to display and store the photographic archive collections. Still, they desperately needed cabinets, drawers, and shelves to keep the works, particularly the Panagitois Fatseas photographic collection of original glass negatives.
Nothing further could be done until this specialised and bespoke storage equipment was designed, arranged, purchased, and installed.
Over the next few months, John designed and organised all the storage equipment needed and Kytherian Genealogy Project, with the support of Amalia’s father, Peter Vlandis, provided the funds to purchase everything he needed.
It was overwhelming how professionally everything was conducted as the cabinets had to be custom-made to specific dimensions and be archive quality. By then, it was a Kytherian winter, so the cabinets were custom-built and delivered relatively quickly, leading up to what is on display at the archives today.
Fast Forward to July 2023
On Saturday, 8th July, Kalie Zervos from Kytherian Genealogy Project by Amalia and Kalie was honoured to have attended an invitation-only event organised by the KIPA foundation that marked the official opening of the Kytherian photographic archives showcasing a permanent exhibition of the photographic works of the late Kytherian photographer Panayiotis Fatseas.
The event took place on a hot summer’s evening with the guests seated in the courtyard shadowed by the Kytherian archives building, which was once the residence of the British Resident of Cerigo.
The formalities commenced with a blessing conducted by the priest from Hora, followed by a speech by Renata Pantazidou, head of the Kytherian Archives, thanking contributors who made the dream of a Kytherian photographic archive and permanent exhibition a reality, including KIPA, Peter Vlandis and the Kytherian Genealogy Project by Amalia and Kalie.
Her speech was followed by a presentation of plaques made by the president of KIPA, Mr George Kassimatis, to family members of Panayiotis Fatseas, including his grandson.
Kalie had the immense honour of accepting the plaque on behalf of the Kytherian Genealogy Project, presented for the funding contribution of the cabinets that store the photographic archives. A plaque was then presented to Mr Peter Vlandis for contributing to this invaluable archive.
A moving speech was made by the curator of the collection Mr John Stathatos about the photographer Panayiotis Fatseas and his glass negative collection and the decision to place this valuable collection in the Greek State Archives of Kythera, ensuring their future prosperity. He stated that although the exhibition focuses on the Fatseas photographs, the archives aim to be a rich photographic archive of Kythera, also aiming to house photographs (old and new) of interest capturing Kytherian life, both in Kythera and abroad.
He noted that the photographs featured in an exhibition some years ago in Hora relating to life in Australia have also been included in the archives.
The exhibition is located through a small archway under the stairs of the Kytherian Archives building. You enter directly into the room that now houses the permanent exhibition. This room was in a terrible state, including some rotting floorboards, which were replaced thanks to the generosity of contributors such as KIPA.
These photographs will be changed every three months. Also, on the wall, there is an A4 sheet giving a few details about the life of the photographer and the archives.
A doorway leads from this room into the photographic archive, which has been fitted out with bookshelves and steel cabinets housing priceless glass negatives of the collection.
Visitors can view the exhibition from Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 1 pm.
For more information, contact info@kytheriangenealogy.com or follow Kytherian Genealogy Project by Amalia and Kalie on Facebook.
Australian Kytherian Preserving Kytherian History By Amalia Samios and Kalie Zervos
Source: greekcitytimes.com
