Storytelling in Cloth Exhibit by Diane Alexander White at the National Hellenic Museum

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Dimensions3264 x 4928

Original file size13.5 MB

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Date taken11-Sep-25 13:38

Date modified13-Sep-25 10:03

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Camera makeNIKON CORPORATION

Camera modelNIKON D7000

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Storytelling in Cloth Exhibit by Diane Alexander White at the National Hellenic Museum

The exhibit called, Storytelling in Cloth and Light by Diane Alexander White Photography began its open run in 2022 at the National Hellenic Museum. The exhibition displays textiles from the Museums expansive collection of more than 10,000 Greek American artifacts that were meticulously woven in Greece, largely by women, and brought across the ocean to the United States. Accompanying this brilliant needle work are photographs taken by Chicago-based Greek American Diane Alexander White during her 1977 backpacking trip to Greece. See a complete archive of her travel photographs here.
Storytelling is a fundamental human activity, so much so that some have suggested that our species might properly be called Homo narrans: Human, the Storyteller. Stories are how we preserve the past and connect to one another. We come to know people fundamentally by hearing their stories.
Greek culture is storytelling culture. From the ancient bards who sang of the exploits of gods and heroes in the courts of Bronze Age kings to the dinner tables of modern Greek American families today, when Greeks gather, they tell stories. The binding power of stories has long had a special significance to Greeks, who so often exist between two places. Between the past and present. Between Greece and America. This exhibition is a tribute to this rich and abiding tradition, to the stories we tell and the ones we leave untold. This is about how we remember who we are now and where we came from.

Backpacking was an adventure that could only be experienced by two Greek-American women in their early 20s right out of college in 1977. Travel with us as we take the ferry from Brindisi, Italy to Corfu, overland to Meteora, down to Volos where we boarded a ferry to Skopelos, onto Athens to visit my Aunt Dorothy (my Mom's sister), down to my father's villages in the Peloponnese, down to Crete and finally to Egypt. My diary is filled with detailed descriptions of what we saw and experienced but overall the word that exemplifies the trip is how the Greeks shared their Philotimo. What is a Philotimo personality? “Filotimo describes an attitude toward fellow humans and humanity at large. It means showing empathy, compassion, and generosity without expecting anything in return, taking pride in doing what is right and honorable and being humble at the same time”.

Growing up Greek in Chicago means that you attend Greek School, Greek Orthodox services and Sunday School. Greek was spoken at home especially if your yiayia and papou lived with your family and most grandparents were on site. We were fortunate that in Chicago our aunts, uncles and cousins all lived within walking distance. Traveling to Greece was an extension of that Greek life that was instilled in us from birth. It was a privilege to photograph the sites and people of Greece during this beautiful summer of sleeping on steel hulls of ferries, beaches, caves, pensiones and family homes. Stay tuned for the diary that you will read in my very own handwriting! A collection of these photographs are on permanent exhibit at the National Hellenic Museum and the Greek Consulate in Chicago.
Ευχαριστώ πολύ!

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