Archontia Polyzoudi (University of Cambridge) and Eustathia Anesti (Ministry of Culture of Greece)

Archaeological places and objects within a museum present both themselves as well as the ideological motive behind preserving and collecting them, this being especially significant when museums and places of maritime history are considered part of the cultural preservation effort, which is part of the formation and establishment of cultural identity.

The Greek maritime tradition from the past to the modern times is expressed through a considerable number of collections of maritime antiquities and underwater archaeological sites. The knowledge of the Greek maritime ‘pasts’ and identities produced through exhibitions and archaeological management policies is the result of complex decision-making processes and narrative representations encouraging interactivity among multivocal layers of publics.

How is the Greek maritime identity reflected in maritime museums and how does this affect the interpretation process and the making of meanings? To what extend maritime places and objects could be considered as points of reference and symbols of power for local communities and visitors? What kind of attitudes, official or private, can be discerned towards the maritime past and its material remains in Greece?

In our paper we will first attempt to investigate how the discursive nature of maritime history and archaeology are expressed and reflected in museums writings and readings of the past and to what extend these two fields are interacted in the reconstruction of the past. We will then focus on discussing the management practices as produced in the decision-making process by trying to reveal the meanings and the narratives of the Greek maritime ‘pasts’.

We will use case-studies from Greece such as the Hellenic maritime museum and institutions and museums of maritime history and archaeology.