News & events

Educational program

for primary school pupils

29 September – 1 October 2021

The Milos Mining Museum, after a long time of “silence” due to the pandemic, organized and successfully implemented an educational program titled “Our own Aphrodite” on 29 and 30 September and 1 October. It was addressed to primary school pupils in the framework of celebrations for the bicentennial anniversary of the discovery of Venus de Milo on the island of Milos on 8 April 1820, and it was organized under the aegis and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

With great joy we welcomed 140 pupils (fourth to sixth grade) from the schools of Adamantas, Triovasalos and Pollonia, who participated in theatrical and educational activities designed for better comprehension of the historical events that make this land unique. The idea of the educational program was based on the literary work by Sofia Gialouraki titled Venus de Milo is Crying, written for the Milos Mining Museum on 2010.

The activity was organized under the aegis and with the financial support by:

The exhibition of works by Mady Lykeridou titled “Dialogue with Aphrodite”, hosted during the summer in the Milos Mining Museum, came to an end on Thursday 30 September 2021 after great success.

“Dialogue with Aphrodite” is a collective art project of photography to celebrate the 200 years (1820-2020) from the discovery of the statue of Venus de Milo, which is one of the most significant sculptures in the history of art.

The collective project was realized with the participation of 132 permanent residents of the island, after an open invitation by the photographer, for their artistic expression on the black and white pictures from the collection “Venuses de Milo”.

The exhibition took place in the framework of the educational activity titled “Our own Aphrodite” on 29 and 30 September and 1 October, organized by the Milos Mining Museum for primary schools under the aegis and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The extroversion that the museum has demonstrated during the years of its activity in the field of educational programs, would allow it nothing less than to travel the celebration of the International Museum Day 2020 throughout Greece in its own special way and this year… digitally! We – Insist on the (Milos Mining) Museum! The theme of this year’s ICOM celebration is: “Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion”.

As part of this theme, MMM will travel its young and old friends (5 – 105 years old) to a competition full of imagination, knowledge and creativity … The exhibits at MMM, no matter how different they are, they belong to a big family and are treated exactly the same! They are exposed, maintained and protected! Each has its own value, which is special and unique! Together they make up the museum family, which belongs to a museum community! Like humans! Each one a special value, a unique human being that must be protected and embraced regardless of its characteristics! Are you ready; Let’s live it…..

* The planning of our activities is part of the policy of a museum friendly to the disabled, guided by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (Objective 4).

16 – 19 May 2019

A four-day celebration within the framework of the International Museum Day and the European Night of Museums took place in the Milos Mining Museum (MMM) on 16–19 May 2019. The only Museum on the Cycladic islands to hold activities inspired by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (2030 Agenda) under the auspices of ICOM (International Council of Museums), the Milos Mining Museum organized the following programs under the general title “ΜΕΤΑΛΛΑμπαδεύοντας” [Imparting knowledge through metals]:

• Educational Program titled “Πλάθω Φως” [Creating Light] with the participation of more than 130 primary school pupils
• Informative sessions for families about the additional educational materials of the Museum with the participation of 50 families and educators
• Creative guessing game for families
• Embracing the Museum with candles
• Sleepover in the Museum for 30 children and adults
• Start of the annual project titled: “Family Camera Focusing on Milos”

The photo competition for families, with the title “Family Camera Focusing on Milos”, has already started. Each family chose a file, and the “adoption” process began! For one year, every three months, every family will receive a letter and a literary text. The project for each family is to photograph the space they have “adopted” in every season of the year. Photographs must have a title and the name of the photographer. In parallel, if they want, families can gather oral testimonies about the space they have chosen and submit them along with their visual material. Production will start after the collection of material from every season of the year is completed. In particular, the best photographs to be selected from every space will be printed as postcards, packaged in batches by each space in each season and sold at the museum shop of the ΜΜΜ for charity. A cause to be selected by vote by the families would be ideal.

If you haven’t signed up yet, you can visit the Museum and get your letter.

10 –13 May 2019

The educational program titled HOMO ORYCTUS for pupils in primary and secondary education, as well as the program Escape Room for high school students and adults, were organized for a second year.

5 April 2019

The program titled Mix-Match & Run for primary school pupils was organized for a second consecutive year in cooperation with the Mineralogy and Petrology Museum of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Miloterranean Geological Walks

School visits to the Botanical Trail and Plant Nursery of Imerys were organized in April and May.

Imerys Greece, Milos Operations, is the sponsor of the educational activities of the Museum.

More than 700 people participated in the programs organized by the Museum this year, pupils from primary and secondary education as well as adults.

We thank all the educators at the schools of Milos and the pupils for their enthusiastic participation, as well as their families for their continued interest in this year’s activities by the Milos Mining Museum.

On Saturday, June 9, 2018, Milos Mining Museum (ΜΜΜ) celebrated its 20 years of operation along with its numerous friends and associates at an event full of historical memories and total account. The event was attended, among others, by the Mayor of Milos, Mr. Gerasimos Damoulakis, the Chairman of the island’s Port Fund, Mr. Nikolaos Xenakis, Mr. Odysseas Kyriakopoulos, Mrs. Fali Voyiatzaki, Vice President of the Goulandris Museum of Natural History, Mrs. Eleftheria Dimou , Prof. Michalis Fitikas, Mr. Loukianos Komis, Mr. and Mrs Marketou, executives of IMERYS on Milos, and others.

The guests were welcomed by Mrs. Anna Vogli, Director of MMM and the Milos Operations Manager of Imerys Industrial Minerals Hellas S.A., Mr. John Sanoudos, who made reference to the Company’s support to the Museum and its work over the years, especially thanking Mr.Manousos Kantsos and Mrs. Vogli for their contribution.

Reverend Nektarios conveyed the greeting of Dorotheus II, the Metropolitan of Syros & Milos. Then, Milos Mayor Mr. Damoulakis addressed the public referring to the educational and cultural work of the Museum and the relationship it has developed with the local community over the years, and highlighted the importance of Miloterranean, a MMM initiative addressing the needs of tourism and education at a local level. Mr. Athanasios Kefalas, Managing Director of IMERYS Industrial Minerals Greece S.A., commented on the contribution of the Kyriacopoulos Family to the creation and development of the Museum as a cultural and educational center as well as to the support IMERYS has been providing to the Museum’s actions over the last 3 years.

Main speaker of the event was Nicole Kyriacopoulos, who made a historical retrospection of the Museum’s founding first idea all the way through to its completion, referring to the working group that she created 22 years ago following the wish of Mrs. Kitty Kyriacopoulos. Then, a brief reference was made to the milestones of the Museum’s 20 years of operation, the creation by Efi Xirou of two short films with the old miners’ narratives in 2002, the Museum’s independent operation as a non-profit organization in 2007, MMM’s 2009 renovation undertaken by the architect Despina Tsafou, and the official opening of the Zaphiris Vaos Obsidian Collection exhibition in 2011, under the supervision of Antikleia Agrafioti, Professor of Prehistoric Archeology. Special thanks was addressed to Dr. Eleftheria Dimou, Mineralogist, for the texts of the re-exhibition and of the Museum Guide, available at the Museum Shop as of this year.

Mrs. Vogli presented the Museum’s educational activities from the very first year of its foundation until today, through photographs taken during the various educational programs, attended each year by more than 800 students of all educational levels of the Milos Schools. A special presentation of all MMM’s educational activities were presented to the teachers of Milos at a special event on May 19, 2018.

Special mention was made to the activities and programs that took place within the framework of the 20^th anniversary celebration and on the occasion of MMM’s participation to the International Museum Day 2018 and the European Year of Cultural Heritage. Six Mix-Match & Run programs were implemented in collaboration with the Mineralogy Museum of the Athens University and 6 Homo Oryctus programs in collaboration with the Cultural Company Peripatos, which organized the very successful Escape Room for adults from 17-20 May. In the framework of its new programs, MMM, reaching out beyond the island’s geographical boudnaries, launched this year a museum kit as well as a self-guided tour set for families and small groups, an original approach to the Museum’s exhibits. Both packs are available in Greek, English and French, making of the Museum a cultural attraction for Greek and foreign visitors.

A brief speech by the representative of the European Museum Forum Mrs. Cristina Vannini followed, analyzing the long term relationship of the two institutions. Prof. Antiklia Agrafioti concluded the Speeches section, with a referrerence to the significance of the Zafiris Vaos Obsidian Collection exhibition and its objectives defining the relationship between space (i.e. Milos) and things, (i.e. the Vaos Collection). Geology and Culture are inextricably intertwined on this island; a further exploitation of the Vaos Obsidian Collection could lead to the development of Practical Training Seminars for the academia, making of Milos a center of research   and education on Obsidian.

The event closed with a tour of the guests at the Museum’s exhibition areas and a treat with MILOTERRA wine from the Trachilas Vineyard of IMERYS.

Milos, 11 of June 2018

Thursday 17 – Monday 21 Μay 2018

FREE ENTRANCE

On the occasion of its 20-years of function celebration, the International Museum Day 2018 titled “Hyperconnected Museums, new approaches, new publics” and the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2019 “Our Heritage, where the past meets the future”, Milos Mining Museum in cooperation with Peripatos Cultural Company organizes special activities and events.

Five-day event full of various activities for young and old:

• Escape Room: 21 Elements

Every second, 21 elements join together to create about 15,000 unique organisms. 21 elements, the perfect biochemical compound. A live game of balance between truth and lie … the only keys to help you find out what the ultimate recipe of creation is, are puzzles and your sharp mind! Will you make it before time runs out? (adult groups of up to 7 people, 60′ duration)

• Educational Program: Homo Oryctus

I am Homo Oryctus! No, I’m not a mineral, but inside me are chemical elements found in many minerals! Come and discover them through puzzles and play! Where are they to be found? what functions of our organisms and which eating habits  these elements are involved in? Are you ready for the discovery of Homo Oryctus? (pupils from the 4th Grade of the Elementary School up to the 3^rd Grade of Highschool – 2 hours duration)

• Presentation of Μuseum kits, of Educational and Self-guiding tour packs 

The Museum kits and the Educational packs are designed to travel around Greece and abroad. The Self-guiding packs on the other hand offer the visiting families a more experiential approach within the Museum. Through games and activities they learn by the Museum itself  how to have fun inside it.

The 21 Elements and Homo Oryctus paraded through the Milos Mining Museum last week (13 – 15 of March).

More specifically, the Museum continuing its tradition of annual educational programs, implemented the Homo Oryctus educational program with the participation of 48 students of the 3rd Grade of Milos High School, and launched an Escape Room for adults, titled “the 21 Elements” on a pilot basis.

A five-day event of activities (17-21 May) for young and old will be organized by the Milos Mining Museum in cooperation with the Peripatos Cultural company on the occasion of the Museum’s 20 years of operation and its participation in the events of International Museum Day 2018 “Museums and (networks). New Approaches, New Audience “.

We will be waiting to see you in May, to be creative together in an atmosphere full of mystery and adventure…

Stay tuned…

23 March, 2018

On May 25th, 2017, the Miloterranean initiative was conferred one of the Bravo Awards 2017 in the category Bravo Society. The distinction represents a major reward for an initiative aiming at the development of the island’s tourism product by utilizing its volcanic origin and rare geological features.

[http://bravo.sustainablegreece2020.com/bravo-etaireies.php].

Also in May, this year’s educational programs of the Milos Mining Museum came to an end. They took place within the Museum’s premises, but also outside with the participation of the school children in the geological and cultural tours of Miloterranean.

Starting early this year, eleven Miloterranean trekkings were organised on the paths Nychia, Volcano, Sarakiniko as well as the Botanical Path. They were attended by more than 570 pupils of all levels and their teachers. On these walking tours the school children encountered rare geological phenomena as well as the island’s flora, learning the various species and the mechanisms the plants have developed in order to survive and propagate under the specific climatic conditions of Milos.

On August 25th thirty-five third grade pupils from Milos Elementary School took a tour through the Museum’s exhibition. Under the guidance of the program “Discover the Treasures of Milos”, they explored the exhibits and experienced the usefulness of the minerals, the “treasures” of the earth of Milos.

The children were accompanied by the Milos Mining Museum Director Mrs. Anna Vogli, and by Mr. George Petrakis, Head Forester of Imerys, the Company that sponsors the Museum’s educational programs.

We would like to thank the headmasters and teachers of the Primary Schools, the High School and the Vocational Senior High School of Milos for partaking in the Museum’s educational programs, hoping that our fruitful cooperation will continue during the upcoming school year with new educational activities and programs.

Milos, May 31st, 2017

On the 5th of April the board game All Around Us  “came alive” in a delightful hunt for hidden minerals all over the Milos Mining Museum. 25 pupils from the second grade of Milos Elementary School and 24 pupils from the first and second grades of Adamas Elementary School explored the museum’s exhibition spaces and discovered the applications and uses of minerals with the aid of the Interactive Touch Unit presenting the minerals. The action was realised under the guidance of educators of the organisation Efpalinos – Games with Art.

The programme was sponsored by Imerys Industrial Minerals Greece S.A., who donated an All Around Us  board game to the participating school classes.

Milos, 6th of April 2017

The Milos Mining Museum (MMM) educational programs’ cycle on “Milos obsidian: Tracing Prehistory” was successfully completed today. The three programs took place on February 14 & 17, and March 10 with the participation of 54 pupils of the first class of the Milos High School and 34 pupils of the 6^th grade of the Milos Primary School.

The program was carried out in the Zafiris Vaos’ Obsidian Exhibition Wing of the MMM. The program was aiming to inform the pupils on the origin, the processing, and the uses of this characteristically Melian rock, as well as on the value attributed to it by man since the prehistoric times.  Especially for the pupils of the primary school, who had walked through the 7^th Miloterranean route “Nychia” a few days ago, the activity in the Museum added to the knowledge already acquired through the guided visit to the prehistoric obsidian quarry of Nychia.

The program was realized by Mrs. Tania Koletsiou, an educator and a music teacher, a Museum’s partner in educational activities.

The educational program “Milos obsidian: Tracing Prehistory” is a part of the Museum’s  yearly activities, offered to the island’s educational community.

Imerys Greece S.A. was the sponsor of the program.

Milos, March 10 2017