Β&Ε Goulandris Foundation

Since 2019, when the new Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art opened its doors to the public, our company has been continuously collaborating with the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, designing and implementing programs and activities for the elderly, people with ‘Mild Cognitive Impairment’ and people living with dementia. In this context, a unique and diverse program has been developed that includes live and digital meetings, mobile applications, and virtual reality experiences, addressing people throughout Greece and abroad.

Given the aging of the population and the stereotypical association of the Third Age with the deterioration of health and the poor quality of life, we wish to help the elderly express themselves through experiencing art in a way that refreshes or arouses their interest in it. Besides, it has been proven that taking part in artistic activities improves the elderly’s quality of life, while also enhancing cognitive functions, such as memory, thinking, and perception.

Can art change the world?

A new perspective of the works of art and their creators is presented to the participants. Artists, colors, and artistic movements form a web of activities,which through the theatrical act and the thāllo approach aim at cultivating imagination,strengthening self-confidence, and encouraging socializing and teamwork.

Through our activity we wish to:

Eliminate the social exclusion experienced by the elderly,
Cultivate the notion that the elderly remains creative,
Develop relationships and share experiences and ideas,
Transform introversion into expression,
Encourage collaboration,
Stimulate and boost memory,
Demonstrate the significance of art in people’s lives.

Eliminate the social exclusion experienced by the elderly,
Cultivate the notion that the elderly remains creative,
Develop relationships and share experiences and ideas,
Transform introversion into expression,
Encourage collaboration,
Stimulate and boost memory,
Demonstrate the significance of art in people’s lives.

Games for adults: "Moments in black & white: The Eternal Voyages of Cartier-Bresson"

Between Henri Cartier-Bresson's black and white, we choose our own shade of gray and travel to Greece and around the world. Moments of past times are colored by our own memories, and we share the feeling our presence in front of, but also behind the lens.

Participants gather in the space of the periodic exhibition of Henri Cartier-Bresson and, through a game- like process, leave their own imprint on the moments of the creative photographer.

Digital Games for Adults: "Time and Contrasts: Digital Encounters of an Analog Age"

Can we listen to a picture? Traveling back to the age of film negatives, to the romance of spontaneous photography, to the world created for us by Henri Cartier-Bresson, we discuss the poetic side of our own memories, in an interactive meeting in which participants choose their own clicks.

The Foundation’s digital programs for elderly people open new paths for people who do not have the opportunity to travel to Athens and experience its collection. At the same time, they boost creativity and self-confidence and encourage the use of digital tools.

Short tours for adults: a specially designed program for people living in nursing and residential homes

Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in collaboration with thāllo® runs the “Little Tours for Adults” program, which is especially designed for the elderly and people with dementia living in nursing and residential homes. It takes place on the first floor of the museum’s permanent Collection. The aim of the program is to evoke memories and start a creative dialogue between human senses and the works of the Foundation’s Collection.

Museum Adventure, an innovative application for mobile phones

“Museum Adventure” is a smart phone, user-friendly application especially designed for people over 65, as well as people living with Mild Cognitive Impairment. It comes in the form of a quiz game and aims to strengthen emotional and mental health through the wonderful world of art.

Each artwork is accompanied by a soundscape, an original composition inspired by the painting and the era it was created. The game is played by answering questions to move forward, while diving into a journey of sounds and colors. The answer lies hidden in what you have heard. During the game, you can also read the text of the narration for additional help. Art is not a matter of knowledge rather than the reality of the viewers’ open heart; thus, the game is an exploration of the unique collection of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation accompanied by original compositions and soundscapes.

The application was developed by thāllo, in collaboration with the B&E Goulandris Foundation, with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Visit our shop and download it for free.

A Museum visit with a different pair... of glasses

B&E Goulandris Foundation collaborated with thāllo to give access to the Collection to people who do not have the opportunity to visit the Museum, enjoy a guided tour and gain access to the unique works of art.

“A Museum visit with a different pair… of glasses” travels to the most remote areas of Greece to offer a unique experience to elderly people who are unable to visit the museum to experience its Collection. Each kit includes a Virtual Reality headset and copies of selected artworks, offering the best possible visitor’s experience with a sensory twist.

Participants can virtually visit the Museum and move around the halls, browse the Collection with the help of a mobile device (tablet) listening to specially adapted tours and touch copies of famous paintings and sculptures.

Short tours for adults

The unprecedented period we experienced since the emergence of the Covid-19 virus led us to search for new, digital, meeting places and design programs to keep the 65+ age group socially and emotionally active, through contact with art and culture.

Guided by the new reality and our belief that art is for everyone, we designed “Short tours for adults” to make art accessible to a social group that is not easy to visit the Museum: the elderly living in care homes.

The program was a 40-minute tour based on thāllo’s “Connotation Thought Principle” with the participants leading the way through selected works of art.
The program started in May 2020 and was offered in care homes throughout Greece completely free of charge.

Games for Adults: Art and the 5 Senses

How can we experience art with all our senses?

“Games for Adults”, the popular series of programs run by the B&E Goulandris Foundation and thāllo for persons aged 65+ and persons with ‘Mild Cognitive Impairment’, urges participants to interact with modern art and come up with new interpretations of artworks and artists, using the Collection’s works as a starting point.

For 2022-2023 season, “Games for Adults”, called “Art and the 5 Senses”, has been designed to create a dialogue between the human senses and the Foundation’s Collection of works, by stirring up different memories.

The smell of cinnamon meets citrus fruit, soundscapes coexist with melodies from exotic islands and the touch of a cold metal surface alternates with that of warm wood and silk, in a sensory game that is been based on the Collection’s artworks.

Digital Games for Adults: Colour and Art

What does colour represent for each one of us?
What would certain works of art look like if the artist had chosen different colours?
What would be the colour of our life and memories if they were a work of art?

The B&E Goulandris Foundation continues its innovative “Digital Games for Adults”, the popular series of online guided tours designed in collaboration with thāllo especially for people over 65, with the program “Colour and Art”.

Participants in “Colour and Art” - which takes place via Zoom and gives the opportunity to persons aged 65+ living anywhere in Greece or abroad to get to know the Foundation’s Collection - learn about the symbolism of colour in art through an innovative game.

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