Τhe Folklore Museum and Archive is housed on the 7th floor (Complex 734) of the School of Philosophy Building, where the Folklore Study Centre and Specialized Library (Spoudasterion Laografias) of the Department of Philology used to operate. The Museum and Archive is linked to the operation of the particular Study Centre, which was founded in 1965 as “Manuscript Archive of Primary Folklore Material” with a “Folklore Museum Collection” attached to it. Today, it numbers more than 4,000 files of manuscripts of folklore material from different regions in Greece, Cyprus and the Greek diaspora that are related to the documentation of various aspects of Greek folklore culture in the language idiom used by the informants. This material has been submitted by students of the School of Philosophy as fieldwork undertaken in the subject of Folklore Studies. 1.303 collections of manuscripts have been digitized and can be accessed by researchers via the University of Athens Digital Library Pergamos (http://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/).
Scholars from Greece and abroad often consult the Archive which is the second largest Archive of folklore interest of its kind in the country. Meanwhile, the Archive is continuously updated with material submitted by BA and MA students and diversified in response to current developments in Greek society and culture. It includes also Archive of Documents dating from the 18th and the 19th centuries that concern statuary laws, a Microphotography Archive, a Musical Material Archive, a Vocal Archive, and an Archive of Autobiography and Narration of the Lives of Refugees, Migrants and Greeks of the Diaspora. As far as the Folklore Museum is concerned, its nucleus numbers approximately 1,100 objects of folklore culture and art that have been donated by students and have been partly digitized.
The Folklore Museum and Archive operates under the supervision of Academic Staff of the Department of Byzantine Philology and Folkloristics and with the important contribution of the librarians of the Folklore Study Centre and Library. Μainly postgraduate students of the MA programme “Folklore Studies and Folklore Culture” participate actively in the organization and operation of the Museum and the Archive with the aim to develop management skills in organizing, documenting, transcribing and digitizing its collections.
Contact
Director: Vasiliki Chrysanthopoulou, Assistant Professor, Department of Philology
Website: fma-en.phil.uoa.gr/folklore_museum_archives/
Contact: Mrs Zoe Zoupa, Department of Philology.
Tel.: 210 7277778
E-mail: fma[at]phil.uoa[dot]gr
Address: School of Philosophy, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, 7th floor, Hall 734
