Elytis exhibition in the Historical Museum

Between piles of books and hundreds of original writings which have been kept for many years, Dimitris Kalokiris has decided to share the story about his close friendship with the renowned Greek poet Odysseas Elytis, honoring in the Historical Museum of Crete 100 years from the birth of the famous nobelist. In one of his narrations, Mr Kalokairis proudly refers to the first letter he sent to Elytis, asking the poet to evaluate some poems he had written. Odysseas Elytis answered back with guidelines and advices, not exactly the response he expected as a young man. Ever since, for three decades they shared a special friendship and collaboration. Various books were published by the designer and writer Dimitris Kalokiris, always under the guidelines of the perfectionist poet. With these treasures in his hands and other important material to donate to the museum, among them including nine rare aquarelles, the complete manuscript of the Apocalypse of Saint John, photos from Patmos Island, writings and letters of the poet and plenty of magazines from his personal collection, the museum will host a very significant exhibition. A room of the museum painted in blue, like the sea, in which pages are hanged from the ceiling, shows the procedure for an essay of Elytis to turn into a published book. This exhibition will be permanent in the Historical Museum of Crete, the island where Elytis was born in 1911.