Ancient Greece, colonial Britain and Māori culture at Melbourne's Hellenic Museum

'History and myth come to us intertwined. All our ancestors shared stories, memories, histories, and explanations by way of our earliest tradition – oral storytelling.' SBS Greek met with Marian Maguire whose work is now showing at Melbourne's Hellenic Museum until Sunday 21 May 2023

Hellenic Museum: Who Are You?: Athens, Aotearoa & the Art of Marian Maguire / Hellenic Museum / Harper St Clair

'Ancient Greece straddles both history and myth.

'History in that it existed and we have the material culture to prove it, but simultaneously it has been mythologised by successive Western societies as the foundation of their own origin stories.'

Marian Maguire’s works at the Hellenic Museum of Melbourne exhibition titled 'Who Are You?: Athens, Aotearoa & the Art of Marian Maguire' create their own mythos – one where ancient Greece, colonial Britain and Māori culture collide.

Hellenic Museum in Melbourne: Exhibition 'Who Are You?' / Hellenic Museum / Harper St Clair

Ms Maguire is a practising artist from New Zealand, best known for her lithographs and etchings.

Marian's detailed works create a visual conversation that touches on colonialism, memory, cultural interaction, history, and myth.

Featuring works from several of Marian's series, including The Odyssey of Captain Cook, The Labours of Herakles, Titokowaru’s Dilemma, and A Taranaki Dialogue.