A fairy tale for Alki

A historical and psychobiographical gaze upon the rich world of the beloved author, Alki Zei, on the occasion of 100 years since her birth

The Hellenic American Union, in cooperation with Metaichmio Publications, is proud to present the exhibition A Fairy Tale for Alki in the context of the Literary Year of Alki Zei. The exhibition, specially designed by Iris Kritikou and Nikos Vatopoulos for the two exhibition spaces of the Hellenic American Union, will be presented as a three-dimensional original and unified narrative, featuring archival and photographic material, original objects, and integrated affectionate tributes by visual artists who grew up reading her work.

As the two curators characteristically note: “The exhibition A Fairy Tale for Alki is a way to approach Alki Zei’s personality through the nooks and crannies of her work, through the shadows cast by her heroes, through the paths of pleasure her books for children and adults generously offered us. The exhibition gives rise to atmospheres of Alki Zei’s personal universe, and converses with the gaze of visual artists who are inspired by pages of her books. Apart from the author herself, the exhibition also highlights people she met and loved, her memories of Samos, her delightful Athenian wanderings and markings, as well as the places she passed through, from Paris to Moscow and Tashkent. A long river unfolds here, uniquely combining in its bed reality and fiction. The real life of Alki Zei, a life like a fairy tale, and the fairy tale it became.”