The Greek Museum in Chicago, opened in 2011, wants to preserve the history of our compatriots who sought their fortune in America. He aims to trace their Odyssey, as well as their acceptance—for two generations—in all walks of American society, from business and the arts to science and sports. For two years now, the museum has been closed for quarantine and on Friday, September 16, it opens its doors again with a new exhibition. Its opening took place on September 9 and is called “Sustainability”. It includes 19 new photographs by Prince Nikolaos. This is the first time he has shown his work in the US since Athens, London, Copenhagen, Doha and Melbourne.

The central theme of the exhibition is psychological resilience, an inspiration that came to him from the first days of his imprisonment. All the products of the division were created at that time. “The Greek people are intertwined with psychological resilience: 400 years of Ottoman occupation, civil war, international conflicts, epidemics, major economic crises and the recent pandemic,” Prince Nicholas says in his column. “The structure of the exhibition is based on the Odyssey Elytis: “If you destroy Greece, in the end you will see that you are left with an olive tree, a vine and a ship. Which means: with so many other things, you’re rebuilding it.” The offering consists of three parts: water, olive and oil, and finally vine and wine.”

The central element of the exhibition “Sustainability” is a photo mosaic called “Marine Credit”. Prince Nicholas created it in partnership with the non-profit environmental organization Parley for the Oceans, which aims to raise awareness of plastic pollution in our oceans and bodies. The project depicts the seabed as part of 272 credit cards created by Parley Ocean Plastic from recycled plastic from the oceans, remote beaches and coastal communities. According to a 2019 Newcastle University study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund, Westerners can burden their bodies with five grams of microplastic a week, the weight of a credit card.

On the occasion of the opening of the museum in Chicago, a gala dinner was organized, at which the death of Queen Elizabeth II was observed with a minute of silence: “The Queen served selflessly and with a deep sense of duty until the last moment. We have a lot for which we should be grateful to her and be an example for them,” Prince Nikolaos stressed.