At the magnificent Villa Kérylos near Nice, an extraordinary encounter took place that brought together young people who had fallen outside the traditional school system with contemporary art and ancient Greek culture. This remarkable 18,300-square-foot mansion, built between 1902 and 1908 as a tribute to ancient Greece, periodically opens its doors to artists and welcomes diverse audiences throughout the year.
In May, seven young people from Nice's "Second Chance School" (École de la 2e Chance), aged 16 to 22, had the unique opportunity to visit this architectural jewel in Beaulieu-sur-Mer and interact with contemporary artist Gabriel Leger during a special visit and workshop. This innovative educational experience represents a first for the historic venue.
The Villa Kérylos stands as a peaceful haven on the French Riviera, conceived and created by the multitalented Théodore Reinach – an archaeologist, jurist, philologist, epigraphist, historian, numismatist, musicologist, and politician – working alongside architect Emmanuel Pontremoli at the beginning of the last century. This architectural masterpiece synthesizes the rich residences of the island of Delos from the Hellenistic period (two centuries before Christ) and belongs to the Institute of France. It operates year-round under the management of the Center for National Monuments (Centre des monuments nationaux).
The CMN, seeking a new mandate to administer the site, is actively working to open it to different audiences. With rising visitor numbers – 62,000 visitors last year – the venue has been offering specialized programs for the past two years, including guided experiences for visually impaired visitors and children with behavioral disorders. In Greek mythology, Kérylos refers to the Halcyon, a mythical bird and sea swallow reputed to announce good fortune.
During a beautiful May afternoon, the seven young people from Nice's Second Chance School arrived with their chaperone to discover this architectural gem and meet Gabriel Leger, the contemporary artist exhibiting there for the summer. This marked a groundbreaking initiative for the venue. The students first toured the monument room by room, following the path of the artworks currently enriching the space, before participating in a calligraphy workshop on thin brass plates with the artist who has mastered this technique.
Each participant chose a phrase to be translated into Greek and then engraved with a stylus. Sheyma, one of the students, shared her experience: "I wrote 'Wisdom is a path without end.' Everything that Gabriel Leger knows, you can see it fascinates him. It makes us want to discover even more, and it allows us to use our imagination and develop our minds a little."
The exchange proved to be equally meaningful for the artist, who was both enthusiastic and deeply moved by the time spent explaining his approach and methodology: "When you see the originals from ancient Greece and compare them to what they created, you're looking at exactly the same thing. It's magnificent to see them writing in Greek. It's really antiquity passing through like that. I'm astounded! It's very moving, extremely moving."
Two of the young participants worked diligently on their chosen phrases to engrave: "I was born twice, and the second time was to be free" and "A child's soul is made of light and silence; it sees what adults forget."
Wendy Mastroianni, the chaperone from Nice's Second Chance School, expressed her delight with the experience: "It's fantastic that they can meet an artist. They probably won't see one again. I think this will enrich them emotionally and culturally. They'll be able to talk about it later. It will definitely enrich them. And it shows that art is alive and accessible too. Because most of these young people live in priority neighborhoods, and for them, culture and art aren't necessarily meant for them."
Vassiliki Castellana, the educational coordinator of Villa Kérylos, who continuously engaged with the young visitors on-site, was moved to tears while reading one of the engraved phrases and witnessing the enthusiasm and liveliness of those who immediately cited numerous Greek gods and goddesses. For Castellana, this demonstrated that Greek culture, in its multiple dimensions and through its reinterpretations, remains well-anchored: "I'm very moved because we see that they know things and that Greek mythology reminds them of heroes and monsters; and that what we call contemporary art – which is quite abstract for adults – speaks to them immediately. We saw how they appropriated the works, particularly those they could touch. This is also the mission of museums, while respecting the works, to make them accessible, especially to young audiences."
Gabriel Leger, commissioned by the Center for National Monuments, had the choice of venue for his exhibition. His life between Paris and Athens, with a Greek wife and strong connections to the country, naturally led him to wish to exhibit in this Villa he had visited several times before: "Kérylos acted as an obvious choice, not easy but intuitive."
For his 14 works displayed until September 21, the artist, who says he had "complete freedom," explains that he focused on two main themes – nature and literature – in "a form of respect for the place, originally perfectly conceived and to which there's nothing to add in a certain way." His approach involved "trying to follow in the footsteps of the Villa's founder, that is, bringing antiquity to today in a living way."
For the nature theme, Gabriel Leger collected organic elements (branches, flowers) from important archaeological sites in ancient Athens, captured rainwater, and created sourdough starter, before transforming them in France and arranging them custom-made throughout the Villa. For literature, he used "words that come from different places, different eras," including those from the oracles of Delphi and Dodona, Greek poetry, and a papyrus from Herculaneum. The artist, who explores the multiple connections between past and present and whose exhibition is titled "The Gold of Time," also employed a contemporary license plate press to imprint ancient words onto brass ribbons.
"I didn't want to copy too much the way of writing in ancient Greek. It's a tool of today that helps convey something ancient," he explains. One of his works, "The Exile's Banquet," consists of breads and dishes made of brass, with breads based on sourdough starter created in Athens.
Gabriel Leger also chose not to place too many physical barriers between the public and his works: "I take this risk; it's a house where people lived. I wanted things to be fluid, for my works to allow visitors to see the Villa and experience it differently." The artist, who notably completed a residency in São Paulo, emphasizes his desire to work through emotion and acknowledges a personal accomplishment: "Absolutely, I changed my way of creating works thanks to this Villa, and my relationship with Greece has also changed because I had to deepen it considerably for this exhibition, both through my readings and through my life."
Among his other notable works displayed are "Empedocles' Sandal" (brass, rivets), "Remember" (a bust of Homer partially hidden; cyanotype on cotton veil), and "Friday of Eternal Rain" (a molding of rain that fell on Athens on December 6, 2024, immersed in a Carrara marble bathtub from the Villa). In the library of the Villa stands the work that gives the exhibition its name: "The Gold of Time," which consists of an assemblage of Greek poems from antiquity to the present day, created with perforated and riveted brass on a steel structure.
This unprecedented interactive visit by young people from the Second Chance School demonstrates the Villa's commitment to making high culture accessible to all audiences, particularly those who might not otherwise have such opportunities. The success of this initiative, evidenced by the emotional responses from both participants and organizers, suggests that such programs could serve as a model for other cultural institutions seeking to bridge the gap between classical heritage and contemporary artistic expression while serving underrepresented youth populations.
