Keywords

1 Introduction

In the 80s, university museums began to recognize the importance of their collections, and in the 90 s more emphasis was placed on the collections and their organization [1]. In the 2000s, numerous studies highlighted the university collections and recognized that universities possess objects of great value, not only national but also international [1]. Universities preserve and enhance their cultural heritage by promoting a sustainable management of their collections and by engaging local community [2]. University museums are a special category of museums as they exist and operate within a university educational unit and are an integral part of the educational process. A University Museum concerned with the history of education, as it is oriented towards many underground or postgraduate university students [3]. The collections of the University Museums testify the historical development of scientific researches in different disciplines: the several collections are archives of knowledge [4]. Characteristic of the great interest in university museums is the establishment of national, European, and international organizations dedicated to the upgrading and promotion of university museums, such as the European network UNIVERSEUM and the international committee ICOM-UMAC, with extremely increased activity. Many Greek university museums have joined the International Council of Museums (ICOM) as well as its University Museums and Collections Committee (UMAC).

There are three basic dimensions of modern museums, that is, research, educational dimensions and entertainment, while extroversion must be developed in the desired direction [5].

2 The Athens University History Museum and the Role of University Heritage in the Present Era

The Athens University History Museum is the main cultural organization of NKUA that promotes and highlights the history of the University of Athens [6]. The museum was inaugurated in 1987 and is housed in the historic building of the historic center of Athens known to the public as “Cleanthis House” or “Old University”. The Athens University History Museum on the ground floor has a free space for cultural events and temporary exhibitions. The mission and main purpose of the museum based on strategic planning (2016–2020) are as follows [7]:

  • Protection, maintenance, management, and development of the permanent collection of the museum.

  • Promotion of the history of the institution and work of the founders of science and research of modern Greece.

  • Collaboration and coordination with other museums of the NKUA.

The vision of the museum is summarized as follows [7]:

  1. 1.

    To be the starting point for knowledge and critical thinking in a friendly environment for different types of audiences.

  2. 2.

    To strengthen ties between society and the NKUA enhancing temporary exhibitions in visual arts.

  3. 3.

    To enhance collaborations between museums of the NKUA and other museums in Greece and abroad to highlight the collections through an interdisciplinary approach.

Within the framework of an exhibition of modern art, how paintings could inspire a wider audience and curators with new techniques? The university museum combines academic theory and practice, especially for students who are the first audience to approach various educational topics through museum’s collections [8]. In the last decade (2010–2020), the exhibitions “Sanatorio Project,” “The banner of the Athens University, contemporary visual approaches,” and the “Emotions” are dynamic cultural actions of the Athens University History Museum that create new perspectives. The cultural event “Opy Zouni: in first person” gives an added value and encourages the connection of art, education, and entertainment with contemporary art.

2.1 Opy Zouni: The Artist

Opy Zouni (1941–2008) was a Greek international artist. Opy Zouni, used in her work an abstract geometric game with a pronounced mysticism, while the rendering of her themes is eminently minimalist and quite often of an experimental disposition contact with two classical cultures, first in Cairo and then in Athens, which can be distinguished in her works [9]. Opy Zouni uses geometrical motifs in her designs in order to express the concept of depth, space, and perspective [10].

The temporary painting exhibition of Opy Zouni (1941–2008) entitled “Opy Zouni: in first person” is a tribute to the contemporary painter Opy Zouni on the tenth anniversary of her loss; it was held for the first time (8 May–8 July 2019) in a university museum at the Athens University History Museum located in the historic center of Athens. The exhibition was curated by Evangelos Papoulias, director of the Department of Museums and Historical Archive of NKUA who wanted with the article to enhance and introduce the meaning of an exhibition to a new audience like students and modern artists. In order to understand the meaning and significance of the exhibition, we have to analyze the new role played by university museums and the potential that a curatorial proposal in contemporary art could inspire a wider audience. In the varied course of her life, the artist Opy Zouni distinguished herself in geometric abstraction, filling with her color palette the concepts of perspective, deepening of symmetry, and geometry of space. Acclaimed in the international community, she dared to speak, analyze, and explain her multifaceted work, liberated in her geometric patterns and in the perspective of her compositions. On the occasion of the exhibition, the Athens University History Museum hopes to expand its cultural impact in the broader context of developing the museum’s difficult work in multidisciplinary cultural activities of interdisciplinary nature aiming at the extroversion and promotion of the university heritage. The exhibition was a challenge for the modern audience, students, and visitors to listen again to the ideals and messages of Opy Zouni’s painting with her starring in a different role and the presentation of her work in her own words, offering a new pedagogical tool to understand her perspective on contemporary painting.

2.2 Unknown Works of the Artist in the Exhibition

The idea of the exhibition and the positive response from the management of the NKUA and the family of the artist gave rise to the next stage of implementation. The main issue of the design was the selection of works that would frame the exhibition. In the varied course of her life, Opy Zouni starred with her works in sixty-seven exhibitions around the world with many artists and scholars who have referred to her art. Therefore, the search for unknown material was of particular importance for the style of this exhibition. The family provided a digital archive of all Opy Zouni’s works in order to find works that have not been presented in an exhibition. Nine objects, exhibits of unknown material from the personal space of Opy Zouni in her house, at the urging of her family, gave rise to the completion of the final list of thirty-seven works of the exhibition. From the creator’s workshop, we found her work clothes, a robe, which from everyday use was filled with touches and colors. Opy Zouni’s idea of ​​turning a garment into a work of art (1990) in the specific style of the creator was our source of inspiration for her first unpublished work.

3 Methodological Considerations: The Performance of Opy Zouni’s Works Through Three Dimensions

This paper is organized into five sections, each of which refers to the Athens University History Museum, the personality of Opy Zouni (the artist), the unknown works of the artist, the performance of the artist’s works through three dimensions and the development of the exhibition “Opy Zouni: in first person” in six dimensions.

Even if the distance that separates us from the chronological and school presentation of the exhibits (as established by Eastlake) is great, the educational and aesthetic dimension of the museum always remains important. Solo exhibitions and rooms with works by a single artist play an important role, especially in terms of the spectator’s self-concentration. In Serota’s opinion [11] “we still need the curator to inspire us with the way we approach an exhibition, to create those ‘climate zones’ that can help us appreciate and to better understand the art of the twentieth century.“ Our goal should be to create the necessary conditions for the spectators/visitors of the exhibitions and museums to have the feeling of discovery when they look at specific works in a specific place and time and not to feel as if they are in a kind of conveyor of the museum’s history [11]. The success of this exhibition was of additional artistic interest as many exhibitions were held internationally for the creator Opy Zouni that engaged the public in the art and style of the artist. For the History Museum, the case of the painter Opy Zouni created additional expectations based on the fact that she as a creator had mentioned and analyzed her works in various ways with a very thoughtful and spiritual approach. With full awareness of the intellectual entity of the authors, the following question was raised from the beginning: What will be the style of the exhibition that is realized for the first time in a university space. At the museological level, the exhibition space is dominated, most of the time, by the work of art as an exhibit as well as the title (name) given to it by the author with the appropriate details. In our case, based on the research carried out on the painter in publications, scientific articles, interviews, lectures, and anecdotal testimonies, bringing to light unknown aspects (at multiple levels) of analysis of her work, the idea of rendering the third dimension was formed. The third dimension concerns the presentation and interpretation of the work in the very words of the creator, placing the audience in the first person with her.

4 The Development of the Exhibition in Six Dimensions

The exhibition, Opy Zouni, in first person, took place on the ground floor of Athens University History Museum where temporary cultural events and actions are hosted. The exhibition presents selected works of Opy Zouni with the main purpose of attributing the artistic dimension of the creator through the interpretation and analysis of her works by her in the first person. The exhibition is divided into six sections dedicated to the subject matter of her work. The first section “Artist’s Studio” invites the visitor to the artist’s creation space. This section occupies the first space on the route of the visit to the ground floor of the Athens University History Museum and represents a small corner of a deeply personal space, such as the artist’s studio. The second section entitled “Geometry-Cubes” is dedicated to the Opy Zouni’s geometry and one of the main topics of her work, the cube. A typical exhibit of the section is the book-object that she created for the 15th Biennale in Sao Paolo in 1979, and it has not been exhibited again since then. In the third section entitled “Space-Perspective,” it is evident that Opy Zouni is obsessed with researching space in her work and, in particular, perspective. Special mention should be made of the project “Cube-Sea,” a wooden construction in the shape of a cube inside which there is a mirror. The fourth section “Symbolism” presents the effect of symbolism in the work of Opy Zouni and with the use of symbols as the cross. The fifth section “Light” is dedicated to the persistent observation of light that was decisive for the transition of Zouni to the three dimensions and is presented with five works of different styles (wooden constructions). In the sixth and last section “Epilogue,” there are selected works from her latest work in which the artist, always serving the geometric abstraction, gives a dynamic presence of open environment with bright and vibrant colors. The exhibition is completed by a screen where the video “Wandering in Forms” (“Ramble in Form”), lasting 6.5 min (inspired by the total works of Opy Zouni in 2006), runs through its themes, structuring and deconstructing the compositions of her works with movement and sound. Finally, a particularly recognizable construction project (“Sculpture in Reflection”) was placed in the space of the permanent exhibition of Athens University History Museum on the first floor of the museum in order to inform the visitors about the periodic exhibition that takes place to the ground floor and to achieve a connection (dialogue) between the work of Opy Zouni and the exhibits of the Athens University History Museum. Five pictures follow to present the museum and the exhibition (Pictures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5).

Picture 1
A photograph presents an exterior view of the Athens University History Museum.

The museum of the history of the national and Kapodistrian university of Athens

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Picture 2
A photograph presents the main work of the exhibition. The main work exhibits a square, surrounded by multiple tiles of different shades.

The main work of the exhibition “square—sky reflection”

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Picture 3
A photograph displays one of the sections of the museum, known as the artist's studio. It includes portraits, paintings, and other components.

The section “artist’s studio” in the exhibition

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Picture 4
A photograph displays the symbolism section of the exhibition. It has several paintings hanging on the wall.

The fourth section (“symbolism”) of the exhibition

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Picture 5
A photograph presents the exterior view of the museum during the opening of the exhibition.

The opening of the exhibition on 5th May 2019

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5 Discussion and Conclusion

The exhibition of Opy Zouni that was presented at the Athens University History Museum of the NKUA aimed at the integration of the academic heritage in the new era with a contemporary perspective that touches on contemporary art. Many a time we wonder about the possibilities of art in its potential development environment. The university space in the new environment gives the public the opportunity to learn the principles and values ​​of contemporary art. Opy Zouni’s exhibition was the starting point for the university community and the public to get to know geometric abstraction, geometry of the designs, and the concepts of depth, space, and perspective. The exhibition presented key fundamental issues in the art of Opy Zouni. The linearity and symmetry of her shapes and works highlight the value of her work with a mysterious character and a multitude of accumulating obsessions. The final result is translated first into a line drawing, then into colors creating specific optical illusions. Creating cultural activities in university organizations with internationally recognized artists is one of the challenges of university extroversion in modern times. The future of museums is changing radically, and as cultural actors they are called to adapt to a changing environment, dominated by new technologies, digital applications, evolving cultural activities, and new educational practices. The spirit of the new era proposes the opening of museums to the public with actions that respond to the new data and can lead to entertainment and the spiritual empowerment of society. University museums are invited to look for the new narrative with cultural activities that highlight and promote all of their exhibits and wealth.