BSA e-Bulletin | July 2024

BSA e-Bulletin

A roundup of current and upcoming activities at the BSA

for our Supporters

July 2024

Professor Sir Roderick Beaton

Thanks to Nick and Denise

A screening in the garden

The King's Birthday Party 2024

A special night in London: Finding Buried Stories

Professor Sir John Boardman 1927-2024

British Academy Summer Showcase

July Events

Professor Sir Roderick Beaton

The King’s Birthday Honours 2024 – BSA Chair Professor Roderick Beaton to be knighted

The BSA is extremely proud that Professor Roderick Beaton, Chair of the BSA Council, has been appointed Knight Bachelor in His Majesty King Charles III’s Birthday Honours. This honour recognises his long and distinguished academic career, which has forged strong links between the people of the United Kingdom and Greece. News of the appointment was first announced by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the 14th June 2024. We have always been incredibly proud to have Professor Beaton as BSA Chair. This new honour is hugely deserved and we offer Sir Roddy our heartfelt congratulations! Professor Beaton said...

photo: Professor Beaton speaking at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in May 2024. Credit: Danai Syreggela

Thanks to your support

Dr Nicholas Foggo and Denise Rudd

Thanks to a generous donation from Nick Foggo (who first visited the BSA for research in the 70s) and Denise Rudd, we have been able to support the delivery of the BSA School Teachers Courses (for UK teachers and for Greek teachers) as well as a series of outreach classes with unaccompanied minors from the Home Project. Our participants have been learning about ancient pottery through handling sessions, drawing and pot making, and we look forward to more sessions next year!

A screening in the garden

Pottery of Sifnos: Living Traditions, Evolving Crafts

On the 11 June 2024, the BSA hosted Archipelago Network for a beautiful screening in the Upper House garden, joined by a wide audience from Sifnos, Athens and beyond. Screened in Athens for the first time, three films in the docu-series the Pottery of Sifnos transported us to the potteries of Nikos & Giannis Lembesis, Antonis & Giannis Atsonios, and Antonis K. Kalogirou. Jacob Moe, the director of Archipelago Network as well as the director of the films, was joined by BSA Director Rebecca Sweetman, Fitch Lab Director Evangelia Kiriatzi and Director of the Craft Potters Association Toby Brundin. Together they reflected on Archipelago Network's project to document the modern potting communities of Sifnos, alongside tradition, mobility, resilience in the Cyclades and the island's unique place in the history and contemporary world of pottery.

Photos: Andreas Schoinas

UK culture in Greece

The King's Birthday Party 2024

The BSA is honoured to have been involved in the British Embassy's event for the King's Birthday Party on the 17 June 2024 at the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens. The event, organised by the Embassy with the BSA and the British Council Greece as partners this year, gave us the opportunity to display an important part of our work in Greece - the collaboration with University of the Arts London for the BSA Arts Bursary and some of the resulting artworks that have been donated to our art collection over the last few years.

Photos: courtesy of Catriona Gallagher (above) and the British Embassy in Athens (below)

A special night in London: Finding Buried Stories

Victoria Hislop in conversation with Prof Paul Cartledge

It was wonderful to see so many BSA Supporters last week in London for the special evening with Victoria Hislop in conversation with Prof Paul Cartledge. We heard some intriguing insights on Victoria's writing process, as her and Paul took us on a journey through the islands of Spinalonga, Keros and Makronissos, which feature in her books. Our deepest thanks go to Victoria and Paul for this special evening. We would also like to thank the Hellenic Centre in London for hosting us, to Council member & former UK Ambassador Kate Smith and Development Committee member Mahi Georgakopoulou for helping us plan this special night, and to you our Supporters for joining us.

Photos: Katerina Kalogeraki

Professor Sir John Boardman

1927-2024

The British School at Athens mourns the passing of classical archaeologist and Greek art specialist John Boardman, who passed away in May 2024. To his students, colleagues and admirers, John Boardman was a heroic figure. Arguably the most prolific Greek art scholar of his generation, his name came to define the subject for several decades. His introductory handbooks have been translated into many languages, ensuring their exposure to students, museum goers, antiquarians and enthusiasts across the globe...

British Academy Summer Showcase

A Time-Traveller’s Odyssey: Exploring sacred journeys through archaeology and science

The BSA's A.G. Leventis Fellow Dr Tulsi Parikh and Fitch Research and Outreach Officer Dr Carlotta Gardner are running an exhibit at the British Academy's Summer Showcase on the 12-13 July. Listed as a 'don't miss' feature at the BA's annual event this year, be sure to join Tulsi and Carlotta for this exciting interactrive exhibition.

Commutes, pilgrimages, holidays and migrations are journeys that shape our lives. But what about people’s journeys in the past? Step back in time to the ancient world of mobility and religious practice...