Greece in Context is a conversation series that explores Greek identity, citizenship, and culture through encounters between people, ideas, and objects. Grounded in the belief that material culture can open powerful pathways to understanding the present, the series brings together Greece-focused thinkers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to engage directly with the collections of the Benaki Museum.

Each participant—artists, writers, scholars, curators, activists, and cultural practitioners—visits the museum and selects an object that resonates with their work or concerns. Through this encounter, objects become starting points for reflection on contemporary Greece: its social transformations, cultural continuities and ruptures, and its place within a broader global landscape.

The series addresses pressing issues shaping Greece today, including the environment, social justice, urban life, health and wellbeing, migration, and cultural expression. These conversations are framed through the lens of sustainability, understood not only through its social, economic, and environmental dimensions, but also through culture as a vital fourth pillar that gives meaning and cohesion to them all.

Designed by members of the Benaki Museum and the SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University, Greece in Context is guided by a shared set of questions that invite critical reflection and dialogue. In this process, the Benaki Museum becomes a living space—one that hosts not only history and collections, but also people, perspectives, and ideas in active conversation.

At its core, Greece in Context envisions cultural institutions as places of belonging and exchange, where diverse communities can feel at home, engage as active members of society, and contribute to social and cultural change. By connecting objects, voices, and lived experience, the series celebrates the richness of Greek culture while opening it to new interpretations and futures.