An imposing and at the same time ethereal long narrow table is already ready and waiting for 150 journalists from all over the world, invited here, to the Forre Museum, in Paillant, for the world premiere of the new fragrance of the French House of Hermès called Un Jardin à Cythère (Garden of Cythère) and completely inspired by Greece.

The table itself is a sophisticated metaphor for the Mediterranean garden, as it is adorned with dried herbs brought straight from the Greek island, discovered years ago by Christine Nagel, the house’s in-house perfumer, and now out of sight. to the whole world through the almighty power of international luxury brands at the scale of Hermès.

Between works of modern Greek art (Tsarouchis, Pavlos, Lappas, etc.) as well as works of our popular tradition, journalists and dignitaries of the House receive a condensed (and aesthetically exciting) dose of Greek life, perusing a unique market of carefully selected sweets, spices and soaps from all over Greece, enjoying gourmet dishes from the hands of chef Christophoros Peschia and listening intently as Christine Nagel talks about her first Greek journey of “discovery”, about the scents she left behind for the first time after visiting Kythera, a place that somehow has inspired many foreign artists as “the island of Venus” and is fairly well known among a special class of French who love Greece.

“When creating the fragrance, I imagined olive trees, the blond crown that dry herbs form on the ground, the fresh and tender flesh of pink pistachio,” Nagel told reporters, and a few days later her colleague Vasiliki Papageorgiou, the beautiful editor of Vogue Greece and one of the four Greek journalists invited to the world premiere of Un Jardin à Cythère. “This is not the first time Greece has been at the center of the French house’s creativity, as Hermès’ artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dimas is known to be half-Greek – son of Jean-Louis Dimas and architect Rena Grigoriadis “Dima,” Vasiliki tells me. “On March 15, we were at the Vorre Museum with 150 journalists from all over the world, where we really experienced a special experience worthy of the Hermès name, which, in an ever-changing fashion scene, managed to keep a family of characters, intelligently combining a modern spirit with eclecticism and timelessness “.

On the same day, fortunately sunny and spring (as soon as the last foreign journalist flew to the Eleftherios Venizelos airport, the sky opened up), Nektarios Vorres, Chairman of the Board of Directors. Museum Vorre and the grandson of its founder, Ion Vorre, led the guests through the museum’s gardens, overgrown with Mediterranean plants, which exuded the aromas of Greek nature, which also gave Un Jardin à Cythère a special character. Vassiliki Papageorgiou tells me all the tantalizing details: the bottle design, designed by Fred Royler, is inspired by the lanterns of old horse-drawn carriages, the bright yellow glass reflects the sunlight, and the packaging is a piece of art hand-crafted by artist Ilias. Kafuru, a colorful Greek landscape with a blue sea in the background. As you know, Kafouros designed many of the famous Hermès scarves, as did Niki Goulandris in the past, including this one dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution.

Un Jardin à Cythère (Garden on Kythera) is a fragrance launched by Hermès in Athens on March 15th.

Although the launch of the perfume went unnoticed by the Greek lifestyle media (probably because the strict protocol of the French house excluded their representatives), it took place alongside the launch of the Dior Cruise 2022 collection in June 2021 in Kallimarmaros, two events apart, which achieved the country’s most notoriety. abroad, several times more efficient than, for example, the corresponding EOT channels; they have transformed into tens of millions of likes, Instagram stories and reproductions of the content of the two houses that “sold” Greece without costing us a single euro. On the contrary, they filled five-star hotels, worked in luxury restaurants, visited small museums and galleries, and, above all, traveled to the four corners of the globe – an image of Greece that has become increasingly sought after in recent years.

“You know, there are not many countries in Europe that can “sell” authenticity in the way that Greece can,” an experienced travel and marketing person (non-Greek) who was involved in organizing both major events admits to me, but does not want to speak by name. “Big brands want to be associated with values ​​like authenticity and simplicity, and at the same time they don’t want to cannibalize the local culture, so Greece fits perfectly into the narrative with these characteristics. That’s why you see the demand also increasing.” That’s right: according to verified information, another major Louis Vuitton project is being prepared for implementation in Greece at this time.

With a push

But how easy is it to realize such grandiose plans and international campaigns in Greece? It’s easier than before, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t obstacles. The big difference is that today there is a strong political will. “Bring great events to Greece,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself heard such an exhortation from his entourage on the eve of reading his policy statements in Parliament, in July 2019. Not only “foreigners” come to us; many times we had to go to them and convince them that Greece was worth it to get their attention. This, of course, happened in the case of Dior, where the current initiative of the prime minister’s entourage was confirmed not only to hold a presentation of the collection in Athens, but also to relax the bureaucracy, open the doors, and speed things up. A similar push from above was given in at least two other cases of attracting international events to Greece.

Things get more complicated when these events involve donating archaeological sites, as happened with Dior’s summer 2021 cruise campaign, as well as the great international Pritzker Prize for Architecture on May 24 at the Ancient Agora. . But that’s a completely different story.

“Oscar” of architecture at the Attalus Gallery

In March 2014, at the height of the commemorative storm, a request was made to the Central Archaeological Council for the provision of the Panathenaic Stadium, as well as the Stoa of Attalos, for the organization of events by private individuals. Prior to this, the Stoa of Attala (which is part of the archaeological site of the Ancient Agora) was opened only once, on an event of no archaeological interest: on April 16, 2003, for the signing ceremony of the Accession Treaty of the ten new member states of the European Union, in fact to the sound of ” Greek Dances” by Nikos Skalkotas, arranged for string quartet. Although the request was eventually accepted by a majority, the atmosphere at this KAS meeting was tense, as traditionally the Greek archaeological community has been highly suspicious of this kind of “discovery”. “The moral status of the monument has been damaged. Another thing is when events are held by the Greek state, and not by foreign private investors. It will also set a precedent for other similar requests that have not been accepted in the past,” said (prophetically) the then Director of the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage and former (under the SYRIZA government) General Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Maria Vlazaki. . “These are high-level proposals, the organizers have already held similar ones in the monuments of major capitals. At some point, we will have to deal with the issue of concessions for monuments by various agencies differently than in the past,” Nicoletta Divari-Valakou, then Director of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, and now President of the Organization for the Management and Use of Resources. objected.

The first serious split was recorded in archaeological circles, foreshadowing the “liberalization” of their highest deliberative body. Few knew of the CAS’s unanimous decision to award the Pritzker Prize to the Attalus Lodge for British architect David Chipperfield, who, by a diabolical coincidence, recently won an architectural competition to expand and modernize the National Archaeological Museum. The Pritzker Prize is the highest honor a living architect can receive, and as Ms. Eunice Kim, Communications Manager for the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, explains to us, the city and location of the award ceremony are almost always decided in advance. face of a distinguished architect.

“Therefore, it is not possible to make a connection between the fact that Mr. Chipperfield won an architectural competition in Athens a few weeks ago and the choice of the capital of Greece as the city for the awards ceremony.” As for searching the site, Ms. Kim points out to me that they are always interested in “sites or monuments dedicated to the architectural achievements of different historical periods or the works of architects who have been awarded the Pritzker Prize in the past.”

Bidding to host the Pritzker Prize ceremony began last summer, with Rome being the main contender. “There was mediation at a high political level to convince the organizers that we are serious about this and we are serious about this,” a government official involved in the case tells me. “It is known that the passage of such initiatives is fraught with great difficulties due to the constant and intense reaction of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, close to the extra-parliamentary left. Every request for an archaeological site is always seen as an attempt to sell off our cultural heritage,” says an archaeologist from the Ministry of Culture, who assures me that there were significant “internal objections” in the case of the architectural award. to the provision of the Stoa of Attalus, as outside ceremonies and dinners are planned. And how the Association of Non-Intervention usually did not react until today, I ask my interlocutor. “Wait a few days. They haven’t been informed yet.”