CHICAGO (October 20, 2022)—The National Hellenic Museum in Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood celebrates its grand reopening with two major photography exhibitions: HRH Prince Nikolaos’ North American exhibition debut, Resilience, now through December 30, 2022; and Gather Together: Chicago Street Photography by Diane Alexander White, now through April 30, 2023
The National Hellenic Museum (333 S. Halsted Street, Chicago) is open Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tickets are $10 and include admission to all exhibits. Discounts are available for seniors, students and children. Group tours are available upon request. For more information, visit nationalhellenicmuseum.org or call 312-655-1234.
Exhibition views of Resilience by HRH Prince Nikolaos and Gather Together: Chicago Street Photography by Diane Alexander White
An accomplished photographer who has exhibited work internationally since 2015, HRH Prince Nikolaos presents the premiere of his Resilience exhibition, a striking collection of 19 new works exploring Greece’s enduring relationship with nature and the importance of environmental preservation. The exhibition is curated by Marilena Koutsoukou.
Among the featured works is a photographic mosaic titled Sea Cred, created in collaboration with nonprofit environmental organization Parley for the Oceans to raise awareness of the plastic pollution of our oceans and bodies. The artwork is divided and printed onto 272 credit cards made of Parley Ocean Plastic® upcycled ocean plastic debris, inspired by the fact that humans could be consuming an average of 5 grams of plastic every week (the equivalent weight of a credit card) according to a 2019 study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund. The Resilience exhibition also features the North American premiere of Together, an immersive scene of life-size illuminated, embracing olive trees accompanied by sounds of Greek nature, which first premiered at the London Design Biennale in 2021.
Resilience is generously sponsored by the John S. Koudounis Family.
In Gather Together: Chicago Street Photography by Diane Alexander White, the Chicago-based Greek American photographer presents dozens of historic images of Chicago’s Greek American celebrations alongside other ethnic and cultural festivals and parades, primarily from the 1970s and 1980s. Depicted events include the Greek Independence Day Parade, Bud Billiken Day Parade, Japanese Festival, Chinese New Year Parade, Puerto Rican Festival, Mexican Civic Society Parade, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Jewish Festival, Polish Festival and the Indo-Pak Parade.
Gather Together is generously sponsored by the Christ N. Dalmares Family.
Bio for HRH Prince Nikolaos
HRH Prince Nikolaos was born in October 1969, in Rome, Italy, to parents TM King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie. In 1975, the family settled in London, where Prince Nikolaos was home educated for six years. He then attended the Hellenic College of London. In 1988, he began his studies in international relations at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, focusing on Diplomacy and National Security. During his sophomore year, he took a sabbatical to join the British Army on a Short Service Limited Commission, serving as 2nd Lieutenant with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Upon his college graduation, Prince Nikolaos moved into TV production for Fox News in New York. He returned to London in 1995 to work in the foreign exchange options department of NatWest Markets. From 1997 to 2003 he worked in King Constantine’s Family Office. Since then, he has been active in business consulting.
An avid photographer for all his life, Prince Nikolaos has passionately dedicated himself to photography since 2013. In November 2015, he exhibited his work for the first time at Christie’s in London. In March 2016, his photography was featured at The New York Times’ Art for Tomorrow conference in Doha, Qatar. A selection of his photographs were also published in the book A Taste of Greece, published by teNeues. In June 2018, Prince Nikolaos had his first solo museum exhibition, titled “Phos: A Journey of Light,” at the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne, Australia. The artist was then commissioned by LA Organic to produce a work, after the recommendation of Philippe Starck studio, which is currently exhibited at La Almazara, Spain. In November 2018, the artist was invited by Sotheby’s Jewelry to show 10 photographs from his series “Phos” to a select audience. Sotheby’s experts have dubbed prince Nikolaos’ photographs “Jewels from Greece.” In March of 2019, his collection titled “Celestial Choreography” was exhibited in Rundetaarn, one of the most iconic buildings of Copenhagen, to great critical acclaim. In October and November of the same year, his dual exhibition “Aegean Desert” opened up in Athens, Greece and Doha, Qatar, respectively. The exhibition, pairing images from the sea with images of the desert presented within site-specific art installations, was the first institutional collaboration between Benaki Museum of Islamic Art in Athens and Katara - Cultural Village Foundation in Doha. In June 2021, Prince Nikolaos exhibited his work “Together” at the London Design Biennale. There, he presented an enchanted, immersive scene of illuminated, life-sized olive trees reflected in mirrors and surrounded by sounds of Greek nature.
HRH Prince Nikolaos sits on the Board of Knightsbridge Schools International, established in 2008 to develop and operate a network of international schools around the world. He is an active member and Advisor to the Board of Axion Hellas, a Greek nonprofit volunteer organization supporting local communities in remote parts of the country. Prince Nikolaos and his wife Princess Tatiana (née Tatiana Blatnik) married in 2010. Three years later, they moved to Athens, Greece, where they currently reside.
Bio for Diane Alexander White
Photographs from film begin as negative images which are developed in the darkroom where a positive print is created. As a lifelong Chicago photographer, Diane Alexander White has explored the negative and positive effects of photography since 1972. Her father Angelo D. Alexander, who emigrated from Greece in 1920, became an avid photographer and shared his knowledge of the camera with his daughter, Diane. While attending the University of Illinois Chicago she took her knowledge of photography one step further by learning the ways of the darkroom. Photography instructor Robert Steigler opened her eyes to the art of capturing the street image as he was influenced by Harry Callahan, Arthur Siegel, Aaron Siskind and others at the Institute of Design (IIT). Upon graduating in 1976, she began working in studios and darkrooms and continued with her street photography. In 1983 Diane was hired by Field Museum head photographer Ron Testa to photograph natural history collections and she continues to work there to this day. For more information, visit dawhitephotography.com.
About the National Hellenic Museum
The National Hellenic Museum (NHM) is a premier museum dedicated to sharing Greek history, art and culture, from ancient times to the present day, including the modern Greek American experience. NHM preserves the Hellenic legacy and makes this rich heritage relevant today through its collection of thousands of physical artifacts, oral histories, exhibits, educational programs and special events. Originally founded in 1983 and located in Chicago’s historic Greektown neighborhood since 2011, the NHM provides lifelong learning for the community and sparks inquiry and discussion about the broader issues in our lives and society. Museum hours are Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information, visit nationalhellenicmuseum.org or call 312-655-1234.