After years of efforts, both by the Community of Koufonissi and the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, in 2017 the handing over of the building of the old primary school of the island to the Ministry of Culture and Sports was completed, with the intent of converting it into an archaeological museum. The old primary school had been in use for over fifty years. After the creation of a new school complex, it was restored to its current form, being given an elongated main hall and a small reception area.
The Archaeological Collection of Koufonissi will be hosted in a planned permanent exhibition. The display of representative finds from the archaeological research in Ano and Kato Koufonissi will focus on interesting aspects of the daily life of the ancient islanders. In addition, antiquities from Keros will enrich the exhibition with material from an important centre of Cycladic civilization.
To date, the small museum of Koufonissi has hosted three temporary exhibitions that have attracted over 10,000 visitors. In 2018, in collaboration with the NEON Organization, the contemporary art exhibition ‘Constellations in the Earth’ was presented. This, showcasing the work of ten young Greek artists, sought to connect contemporary visual reality with the historical site and its archaeological past.
In 2019, the exhibition ‘Look Opposite: a Settlement on Keros 4,500 Years Ago’ was put on. This focused on the presentation of finds from the unique depository of broken figurines on Keros and mainly from recent discoveries in the neighbouring, impressive Early Cycladic settlement of Daskalio. The exhibition was moved to Athens and was on display at the Art Gallery of the Municipality of Athens until 12/10/2021.
In August 2020, the exhibition ‘Traces: the Archaeology of Koufonissia’ was opened. This reconstructed the palaeo-topography of the two islands and conducted tours of the excavations from time to time. In presenting the archaeological finds, it set out to interpret the practices and outline how life was in antiquity on Koufonissia.
