Guest post by Thomas Ferro

During my five weeks at the Museum of Cycladic Art, I was able to interact closely with the curators, experience what it is to work in a museum, and learn about one of the most prominent collections of Cycladic –⁠ and Greek and Cypriot –⁠ art in the world.

The Museum is divided into four sections: Cycladic Art, Ancient Greek Art: A History in Images, Cypriot Art, and Scenes from Daily Life in Antiquity. This structure provides a comprehensive guide through Greek art and challenges visitors to view art without contemporary society’s restrictions. As an example, many Cycladic pieces were once painted in color, and the Museum displays the pigments used in antiquity to convey this. The Museum also displays some of its figurines lying down, as they did not stand upright in antiquity, in a further attempt to alter the way people contextualize Cycladic figurines. The intricacies of the collections are expansive, and it is up to the displays and the labels to demonstrate this to the visitors.

My first week of the internship was spent studying the Museum’s catalogues and galleries, which provided me with a solid foundation in Cycladic art and culture. Cycladic history –⁠ at least at the time of the creation of the famous Cycladic figurines –⁠ was pre-historic, meaning there was no written evidence to suggest what life was like on these islands. It is the art –⁠ just the art –⁠ that gives historians any clue as to the ritualistic, symbolic, and cultural aspects of the ancient Cycladic societies. It is through art that we can trace trade routes, examine cross-cultural interactions, and even formulate an image of religion and ritual –⁠ especially through the burial sites and sanctuaries found on the islands. This study also revealed to me how much we do not and cannot know. For example, while the figurines generally look similar, their painted decoration could have once suggested different meanings –⁠ knowledge that is lost to us forever.

Not only did studying the art help me perform my duties at the Museum, but it also helped me understand how the pieces in the collection work together to create a symphony of ancient expression. One item on its own can only teach so much; a collection can provide a comprehensive image of an ancient society.

After learning about Cycladic culture through the Museum’s catalogues and exploring the Museum’s galleries, I was given my first task –⁠ editing roughly two-hundred pages of a manuscript. As this was a collection of different unpublished essays written in English by non-native speakers, it was my job to edit the language for clarity and conciseness, while also ensuring that the formatting was consistent with the style required for the book itself.

The next and primary project of the internship was to review the Museum’s website and gallery texts, in English, for grammatical errors and inconsistencies, with the help of another English-speaking intern. When altering each text, we reduced the formality of the language, corrected grammatical errors, and improved the ease of reading. The website texts include general essays on Cycladic art and culture, permanent and temporary exhibition texts, and donor information pages and biographies. Through this project, I learned much about the different aspects of the Museum. The most challenging task was editing the museum labels, which have to be informative and accessible while not so long that they deter people from reading them, yet long enough to ensure each visitor’s experience in the galleries is educational while self-driven.

The Museum of Cycladic Art is run by a small team of curators, and projects differ depending on what is needed at the time. For future interns, I would say that working closely with these curators with immediate proximity to incredible works of art is an immensely rewarding opportunity. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Museum of Cycladic Art –⁠ learning about Cycladic antiquity, meeting interesting people, and exploring the endlessly interesting and ancient city of Athens. As someone interested in antiquity, art, and museum work, I am so happy I was able to spend time working in the amazing Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens this summer.

Thomas Ferro

Thomas Ferro is a rising sophomore at Harvard College studying the History of Art and Architecture and the Classics. In his first year, he took six classes in the Department of the Classics, from Modern Greek to reception studies of classical art and architecture. He is a staff writer and columnist for the Arts Board of The Harvard Crimson and served on the Student Board of the Harvard Art Museums (HAM). He was the co-chair and co-moderator of the HAM panel event, Contextualizing Controversy: Displaying Truth in Museums Today –⁠ the first installment in the Museums in Focus series.

Museum of Cycladic Art Summer Internship

This 5-week program for Harvard students is meant to familiarize interns with the activities performed in a museum environment and to provide high-quality professional training. The interns work in collaboration with curators, museum educators, and communication experts. Learn more about the Museum of Cycladic Art Summer Internship.