The flagship exhibition “Kykladitisses: Untold Stories of Women in the Cyclades” will open at the newly renovated Thera Archaeological Museum on June 13, 2025, following the conclusion of its run in Athens on May 4, Greece’s culture ministry said.
Organised by the Museum of Cycladic Art in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, the exhibition will open to the public in Santorini on June 14 and remain on display until October 31. It marks the first joint project between the Museum and the Ephorate, under a memorandum of cooperation signed in May 2024, aimed at promoting Cycladic heritage both in Greece and internationally.
The exhibition offers a rare lens into Cycladic history through the experiences of women from the islands, spanning from prehistory to the 19th century. More than 180 objects—including sculptures, frescoes, jewelry, coins, and inscriptions—will be on display, many for the first time outside their home islands or the Museum of Cycladic Art.
Items are drawn from across the Cycladic archipelago, including Amorgos, Delos, Naxos, Paros, and Santorini, as well as national museums and private collections. Notable contributions come from the Kanellopoulos Museum, the Epigraphic Museum of Athens, and the Ephorate of Paleoanthropology and Speleology.
Among the standout exhibits are the 2.48-metre Kore from Thera, one of the few nearly intact archaic statues of its kind; the monumental fresco “Women in the Sanctuary” from Akrotiri, measuring nearly four metres; and the Hellenistic-era statue Artemis Elaphebolos from Delos, being exhibited off the island for the first time.
The Thera Archaeological Museum, located in the heart of Santorini, has undergone significant renovations ahead of the exhibition’s arrival. Officials say the event is expected to draw both local and international visitors, reinforcing the island’s position as a cultural as well as touristic destination.
