Kykladitisses: Untold Stories of Women in the Cyclades, Exhibition at the Renovated Archaeological Museum of Thira

This summer, Santorini will become home to one of the most significant cultural exhibitions ever presented in the Cyclades. The landmark exhibition “Kykladitisses: Untold Stories of Women in the Cyclades” will inaugurate the newly renovated Archaeological Museum of Thira on June 13, 2025, and open to the public the following day, June 14. The exhibition will run through October 31, 2025.

Organized by the Museum of Cycladic Art in collaboration with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, this exhibition is making its way to Santorini after a successful presentation in Athens. It is co-organized with the Municipality of Thira and marks the first joint action under the Memorandum of Cooperation signed in May 2024 between the Ministry and the Museum of Cycladic Art, aiming to promote Cycladic culture in Greece and internationally.

Through 180 rare and remarkable artifacts, “Kykladitisses” or Cycladic Women, tells the story of the Cyclades through the eyes of its women – from ancient times through the 19th century. The exhibition brings together treasures from 17 Cycladic islands, including Amorgos, Andros, Delos, Thira, Ios, Kea, Kythnos, Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Serifos, Sikinos, Sifnos, Syros, Tinos, and Folegandros.

Most of the exhibits have never left their home islands or the Museum of Cycladic Art, while some are being shown to the public for the first time. Visitors will have the opportunity to admire Cycladic marble figurines, large-scale sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, coins, funerary stelae, inscriptions, frescoes, mosaics, engravings, manuscripts, and icons – spanning from prehistoric to post-Byzantine times.

Three extraordinary pieces stand out for their uniqueness and scale:

• The Colossal Kori of Thira: Standing at 2.48 meters, this almost intact archaic statue is among the rarest of its kind.

• The “Women in the Inner Sanctuary” Fresco: A monumental wall painting from the prehistoric site of Akrotiri in Santorini, measuring nearly 4 meters in length.

• The Statue of Artemis Elaphivolos from Delos: A Hellenistic masterpiece presented outside of Delos for the first time.

The curatorial team includes Dr. Dimitris Athanasoulis, Head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, and Scientific Directors of the Museum of Cycladic Art, Dr. Panagiotis Iossif, Professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands, and Dr. Ioannis Fappas, Assistant Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

More than a collection of artifacts, “Kykladitisses” invites visitors to reflect on the often-overlooked stories of women in Cycladic societies – goddesses, priestesses, mothers, companions, intellectuals, traders, migrants, and more – revealing how their roles shaped and were shaped by island life through the centuries.

The reopening of the Archaeological Museum of Thira with this powerful exhibition promises to be a cultural milestone for Santorini and the Cyclades as a whole.