Jani Christou — thaliamelissa

thalia melissa

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EXHIBITION CREDITS

Artistic Direction: Katerina Gregos
Administrative–Financial Direction: Athina Ioannou

Curator: Costis Zouliatis

Exhibition Design: Thalia Melissa
Coordination: Stamatis Schizakis
Artistic Production: Anastasia Tsopelakis
Light Design: Sakis Birbilis
Signage Design: Eleni Spyridaki
Sound Engineering: Phantom Power
“Mysterion” Mix–Editing: Ianos Eliades
Conservator: Fotini Alexopoulou
Insurance: Karavias Underwriting Agency
Deputy Director of Technical Services: Iro Nikolaea
Technical Support: Grigoris Sampanis, Vangelis Filippas, Aimilios Petrikis, Vangelis Kiousis
Construction: A.M. Architecture & Management
Carpentry: Andreas Moutsinas
Art Handling & Transport: consTRUCKtivist EE Fine Art Packing & Transport
AV Installation: M-Spirit
Light Technical Support: Gregory Kourelis
Plexiglass Fabrication & Digital Archival Prints: Kinomo Signs
Signage: Next A.E.
Text Corrections and Editing: Maria Skamaga
Translation: Apostolos Vasilopoulos, Daphne Kapsalis
Communication Consultant: Maria Tsolaki
Communication: Marigo Siakka
Social media: Sergio Zalmas
Administrative–Financial Direction Office: Sophia Papageorgiou, Vicky Triantafylloudi

Special thanks:
EMΣT would like to express its special thanks to the Athens Conservatoire and its President, Mr. Nikos Tsouchlos; Stella Kourbana, Director of Athens Conservatoire Research and Documentation Centre; Sandra Christou, Theresia Christou, Evi Christou, and Mitsy Akogiounoglou from the Christou family; Ms. Valia Vraka, Head of the Greek Music Department at the “Lilian Voudouri” Music Library; as well as Mr. Vasilis Alexopoulos, Director of the ERT Archive.

Photos: Paris Tavitian

ΕΜΣΤ link

Enantiodromia, an exhibition dedicated to the life and work of composer Jani Christou, hosted by the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST), presents to the public, for the first time, a large part of Christou's archive. The main core of the archive consists of musical scores, photographs, letters, diary entries, dream logs, notes and sketches that constituted the exhibition's contents, while also integrating an acoustic environment of the composer's work.

Taking inspiration from Christou's distinctive visual language on paper, the exhibition unfolds through the space like an open score, translating the bold black lines on Christou's scores into spatial elements. The core of this gesture is rooted in the act of directing the gaze through the boldness of the lines, while the "unfolded score" system allows the majority of the archive to be perceived at a single glance.

Hall Division & Organisation

One of the first requirements of the exhibition design was the need for a separate listening space that would accommodate both the music and the printed material framing Jani Christou's work, Mysterion, one of the composer's key pieces.

existing

adition

scale model

An existing L shaped wall was continued and extended to create a new, semi-closed space. This gesture integrates the existing wall maximizing its spatial potential: the new configuration hosts the listening area while two corners are formed on either side, functioning as transitional zones with additional exhibition surfaces and display shelves.

Hall layout plan & isometric

This spatial organisation divides the hall into two distinct areas through which the narration of the exhibition unfolds: the main body of the archive occupies the first, larger area, while the second is divided into three segments, each dedicated to a different aspect of Jani Christou work: material from his laboratory, the Mysterion listening area, and the aftermath: publications and tributes following his sudden death.

A long bench is introduced at the centre of the space, providing a place to rest and observe the exhibition as a whole, while also functioning as a surface where visitors can browse through printed copies of some of his most popular scores. The bench becomes a meeting point and a space of encounter, reinforcing the public character of the first area while keeping the second more private due to its dimensions, enclosed geometries, reduced light and intimate atmosphere.

isometric preview

working model 1:50

An apparatus for the gaze- The unfolding score

Inspired by the visual language of Jani Christou's scores, the exhibition's identity emerged from the bold black lines that guide the gaze: the horizontal lines of the scores became shelves, and the vertical lines became the dividers of each section. A vertical, unfolded score began to evolve, translating the graphic language of Christou's scores into spatial expression.

This exhibition apparatus, which hosted the main body of exhibits, unveils the archive across a vertical surface, making it accessible to the visitor's gaze both from a distance, where the entire composition can be perceived simultaneously, and up close, where each document can be examined in detail.

While the shelves are conceived as continuous horizontal lines where the documents rest, the vertical elements are introduced as section dividers, partitioning the long exhibition wall into distinct thematic zones.
Taking inspiration from the way Jani Christou used to indicate measures on his scores, each vertical divider ends in a black square, giving the overall composition a much-needed visual tension and punctuation.

The Mysterion

Mysterion, a work strongly related to death, occupies its own dedicated space within the exhibition. Having strong reference to ancient Egyptian sacred funerary texts, the work contemplates the underworld, the realm of the dead.

In deliberate contrast to the rest of the exhibition, the Mysterion area is conceived as a dark, black, semi-enclosed, underlit chamber. Accessible from both sides, this area functions as a passage where visitors experience the work by listening to the composition, surrounded by archival scores and documents.

Two skewed walls intensify the sense of enclosure, which, combined with the narrowness of the space, fosters a deeply intimate experience.

Mysterion chamber section

Mysterion chamber construction diagramm

scale model 1:25

The Corners

On either side of the Mysterion listening space, two corners, designed as niches, serve as transitional areas between the archive display and the Mysterion space.Each presents a different aspect of Christou's work and legacy.

The first draws on his recording and composing process, displaying the iconic photograph of the composer with his Farfisa organ alongside the original organ, reel-to-reel tape recorders, and other equipment, in an attempt to showcase fragments of his laboratory and working process. A shelf is dedicated to the extensive collection of loop recordings he produced, giving visitors the opportunity to listen to selected excerpts and gain a more direct understanding of his experimental approach to composition.

The second corner is focused on the aftermath of his death and the legacy of his work: a newspaper article published the day after the fatal accident, vinyl records, recordings, CDs, honourable editions, documentaries and other related material, indicative of the great inheritance he left behind.

Corner area top and front view

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