Presentation of a photo album at the 19th Thessaloniki International Book Fair, HELEXPO

The Foundation for the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle and the Modern History of Macedonia (IMMA) and the Publications of the University of Macedonia successfully presented the photo album entitled “Yannis and Miltos Manakia. The faces behind the lens”, in the framework of the 19th Thessaloniki International Book Fair (TIBF) at HELEXPO, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. It is a bilingual album (Greek & English) that includes photographs from the personal archive of Leonidas Manakis, son of Miltos Manakias, donated to IMMA by the Honorary Ambassador Mr. Alexandros Mallias.

The President of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, Mr. Nikos A. Koukis, addressed the audience, referring to the successful opening of the 19th Thessaloniki International Book Fair and the importance of the cooperation between the two Foundations. This was followed by the speech of the Head of the Office of the Liaison Office of Greece in Pristina, Ambassador Mrs. Eleni Vakali, who stressed the close cooperation between the Liaison Office and IMMA, the multidimensional character of the book and the importance of the exhibition of the same name that was recently inaugurated at the “Pjetër Bogdani” Library in Pristina. The Ambassador Extraordinary, Mr. Alexandros Mallias, pointed out the value of the original and unpublished photographic material, which Leonidas Manaki had given him 24 years ago in Skopje.

In her speech, the author of the book, Professor of the University of Macedonia and Director of the KEMIT of IMMA, Mrs. Stavroula Mavrogeni, referred extensively to the artistic activity of the Manakias brothers and to the great folkloric importance of their work, which numbers tens of films and thousands of photographs. The curator of the publication, Art Historian, PhD in Contemporary Art of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Director of the IMMA, Mrs. Fani Tsatsia, stressed the importance of receiving the archival material that preserved, through photography, the natural environment of the region, the architecture of the countryside and the homestead, as well as the geoculture of the passage from the 19th to the 20th century. The presentation was coordinated by the Director of the University of Macedonia Publications, Mrs. Ioanna Dandelia.

At the end of the event, a protocol of cooperation was signed between IMMA and the Hellenic Foundation for Culture (HFC) through their Presidents, Mr. Nikolaos K. Margaropoulos and Mr. Nikolaos Koukis, for the implementation of joint actions in areas of historical and cultural interest.

A large number of people from Greece and abroad, friends and collaborators of the Museum, academics, journalists, students and teachers, visited the respective stand of the Museum at Pavilion 13 and purchased, apart from the album, the luxurious IMMA Calendar for 2023, dedicated to the donors and benefactors of Macedonia, as well as all the previous editions and many souvenirs for the 40 years of the IMMA’s operation.