“Ancient Chinese Science and Technology” exhibition at the Museum Herakleidon in Athens

To celebrate the Year of Greek-Chinese Friendship, the Museum Herakleidon is presenting, in both its buildings, the exhibition “Ancient Chinese Science and Technology” with 90 exhibits from the China Museum of Science and Technology (CMST) in Beijing, from September  23, 2017 through April 29, 2018, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religion/Department of Research and Innovation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Greek-Chinese Chamber. 

The exhibition “Ancient Chinese Science and Technology” will introduce to the Greek public for the first time some of the remarkable technological achievements of the Chinese civilization, which is one of the most ancient. These achievements cover nearly all disciplinary fields, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geoscience, biology, agricultural science, medical science, pharmacy, engineering technology and so on. The exhibition will showcase some of the most important ones through 4 main thematic units: Astronomy and Time Measurement, Navigation and Orientation, Weaving and Embroidery, Papermaking and Printing. The exhibition will also present models of various other important Chinese inventions, such as the first seismograph (132 A.D.), ancient farming tools (i.e., the ancient Chinese plow that first appeared 5000 years ago), the forerunner of the odometer, the first wheelbarrow, which was constructed a century, approximately, before the equivalent European one, and others. Exhibits are supported by video-installations and all accompanying texts are trilingual (Greek-English-Chinese). 

Moreover, visitors will have the unique opportunity to watch the following demonstrations:

- Papermaking: This presentation will allow the audience to understand the papermaking process, an epoch-making invention in the history of human civilization.

- Printing hands-on demonstration: Visitors can experience traditional Chinese printing by using wooden movable types, rubbing and stamping.

- Rubbing: The audience will be introduced to the ancient Chinese rubbing technique, created by placing a piece of paper over the subject and then rubbing the paper. 

- Weaving game for children, to introduce them to the technique of weaving in a simplified way. 

- Dougong/Luban Lock/Ball-shaped Luban Lock: This complex jumble of wooden brackets known as “dougong” (11th cent.-256 BC) is one of the outstanding features of traditional Chinese architecture, designed to absorb the earthquake energy. 

- Dragon Wash Basin: These folk amusement articles were especially made for the Imperial Court (10th-13th cent AD), as their dragon pattern on the interior suggests.

CURATORS Paul & Anna Belinda Fyros ● CO-ORDINATION AND MANAGEMENT Eleni Nomikou ● SCIENTIFIC ADVISORS Ms. Yang Jun, Senior Engineer of Ancient Science and Technology Exhibition Department/CSTM - Mr. Chang Cheng, Lecturer of Ancient Science and Technology Exhibition Department/CSTM

Ancient Chinese Science and Technology

MUSEUM HERAKLEIDON, 16 Herakleidon & 37 Apostolou Pavlou Str., Thissio

T: 210 34 61 981 & 211 01 26 486 ● E: info@herakleidon-art.gr & museum@herakleidon-art.gr

OPENING HOURS

Daily & weekends 10:00-18:00 ● Thursday 10:00-20:00

GENERAL ADMISSION

Monday-Tuesday: 5 €

Wednesday-Sunday: 7 € including special demonstrations

REDUCED TICKET*: 5 €

Young adults 12-18 yrs., students, teachers, pensioners, unemployed

* Special ID required

ORGANIZED GROUP VISITS*

- School groups: 5 € / per person

-Adult groups of over 10 participants: 5 € / per person

-Guided tours for adult groups of over 10 participants: 7 € / per person

 *Prior reservation required 

FREE ADMISSION*

Chaperones of school & organized groups, children up to 12 yrs, ICOM members, armed forces, guides and journalists

* Special ID required

FAMILY TICKET 

- 2 adults w/1 child*: 14 €

- 2 adults w/2 children*: 19 €

* + 12 yrs 

The Museum Herakleidon has been bringing art, education, and culture to the general public since 2004. Based on its philosophy of Science, Art and Mathematics, it provides original educational programs for students, teachers and adults as well as exhibitions of art and science. The Museum Herakleidon is honored and delighted to announce its official collaboration with the China Science and Technology Museum of Beijing, with the objective of organizing and exchanging exhibitions of ancient science and technology, in parallel, in 2017, which has been declared the "2017 Year of Cultural Exchange and Cooperation between the Cultural Industries of Greece and China". (More info, at the website of the Secretariat General for Media and Communication of the Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Information.)

The China Science and Technology Museum (CMST) in Beijing, the most comprehensive museum of science and technology in China, opened in 1988. The footprint of the museum is 48,000 sq.m., with a total area of 102,000 sq.m., covering a significant area of the park “Olympic Green”, which was created for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It comprises five main thematic exhibitions (Science Paradise, The Glory of China, Science, Technology and Life, Explorations and Discoveries, Challenges and the Future). There is also a temporary exhibition area, as well as four special-effect theatres, lecture halls, a number of laboratories and classrooms, and other facilities. 

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