Callas Point

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Major Sponsor

On the occasion of the reimagining of the historic 1961 Medea performance at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, the Greek National Opera presents the exhibition Callas Point in the surroundings of the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, from 18 to 21 June 2026, with the support of PPC. The exhibition is curated by the internationally renowned Greek set designer Dionysis Fotopoulos, while the video art and video installation are created by visual artist and video designer Pantelis Makkas. The exhibition will open to the public on Thursday, 18 June, at 19.00 and will remain open to visitors until Sunday, 21 June, at 20.00.

Dionysis Fotopoulos’ scenographic vision, combined with his long years of theatrical experience and passion, and Pantelis Makkas’ distinct visual language, bring the figure of Maria Callas back to Epidaurus through the Greek National Opera’s exhibition, Callas Point. Memories of the 1961 Medea performance, directed by Alexis Minotis and featuring sets and costumes by Yannis Tsarouchis, snapshots and fragments from its making, and the figure of Callas captured in rare photographic material, all create a visual composition that offers an experiential approach to the GNO’s historic production, since Dionysis Fotopoulos had served as assistant to Yannis Tsarouchis on the 1961 Medea creative team.

Within the lush natural surroundings of the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, LED screens covering a total surface area of 200 square metres will be installed in five distinct units, along with a special structure. They will present visual compositions drawn from the surviving material of the historic Medea production. On the way to the Ancient Theatre’s entrance, audience members will be accompanied by the voice of Maria Callas through a special sound installation set up in the space.

Visitors to the archaeological site and the audience of the performance will have the chance to embark on a ‘mental journey’ through the creation of the 1961 Medea production, as presented in the video projections of its historical records, alongside the original works of the ancient civilisation that inspired Tsarouchis to design the costumes and all the components of the set.

To create the exhibition, material was drawn from the invaluable collections of Nikos Petsalis-Diomidis, Kleisthenis Daskalakos, and Dimitris Pyromallis, as well as from the GNO Archive and the Katina Paxinou and Alexis Minotis Archive (MIET-ELIA).

The Artistic Director of the GNO, Giorgos Koumendakis, notes: ‘Ever since our first visits to Epidaurus to prepare Medea, the presence and memory of Callas at the Ancient Theatre were more than dominant. Determined to honour the memory of the legendary Greek soprano who transformed the art of opera, we decided to embrace the artistic risk of reimagining the historic 1961 Medea production, which she marked with her sublime artistry. The more our research and study of the archival material progressed, the more Callas’ figure was with us—in every decision we had to make, in every challenge we faced, in every note of the work she herself had retrieved from oblivion—and the more the idea of an exhibition about the unsurpassable tragedian and Cherubini’s supreme performer kept recurring. The agreement of Dionysis Fotopoulos—a leading set designer and Yannis Tsarouchis’ close collaborator—to curate the exhibition, while also bringing his personal experience to light, was the starting point. The remarkable collections the GNO now holds in its archive—the most recent being the invaluable collection of Nikos Petsalis-Diomidis—along with our collaboration with the Katina Paxinou and Alexis Minotis Archive (MIET-ELIA) formed the foundation for this exhibition. Dionysis Fotopoulos assigned visual artist Pantelis Makkas to create the video installations we will encounter in the natural landscape of Epidaurus. I am deeply grateful to the Ministry of Culture and to Minister Lina Mendoni for their encouragement and valuable support in creating this exhibition. I also extend my gratitude to the PPC, which has been a valuable supporter of both the production of Medea and the exhibition’s needs, as well as to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for always standing by us.’

Visual artist Pantelis Makkas notes: ‘On the way up to the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, the landscape transforms into a scene of memory and transition. Before the audience encounters Medea onstage, they embark on a five-stop journey through the forest—a video installation that serves as a ritualistic preparation, an initiation into her face, silence, and the traces left behind. The projected images are fragments: snapshots from Maria Callas’ performance in the historic 1961 production. They are not treated as archival reproductions but as vibrant materials that have been broken apart, reconstructed, and reimagined within nature’s setting. The face, the gaze, the gesture—everything dissolves and merges with light, leaves, and shadows. Callas does not appear as a figure of the past but as an energy that lingers on.’