The Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation ‘Vas. Papantoniou’ or PFF (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ''Πελοποννησιακό Λαογραφικό Ίδρυμα'' also known as ''ΠΛΙ'') is a nonprofit cultural institution and museum based in

Nafplion Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. It was founded in 1974 by the folklorist and scenic designer Ioanna Papantoniou in memory of her father Vasilios Papantoniou. The aim of PFF is the research, preservation, study and presentation of the material culture of the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

History

PFF was founded in 1974 by Ioanna Papantoniou and it is located since 1981 in an early 20th century house belonging to Papantoniou family which was converted into a museum. The same year PFF was awarded with the ''European Museum of the Year Main Award'' (EMYA). During the 70's and the 80's, the foundation made several researches over

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

and the

Griko Griko, sometimes spelled Grico, is the dialect of Italiot Greek spoken by Griko people in Salento (province of Lecce) and (also called Grecanic) in Calabria. Some Greek linguists consider it to be a Modern Greek dialect and often call it ( el, ...

communities of Southern Italy, gathering data and documents about the traditional culture, music and dance and also about the preindustrial technology and the old fashioned children toys. In 1989 PFF founded a children's museum in

at the old local railway station. Four years later,

Melina Merkouri Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri (, 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994) was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a political family that was prominent over multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination a ...

(then Culture minister of

) assigned to PFF the Hellenic National Costume Archives while in 1999 the foundation's facilities were renovated. In 2013 PFF was awarded by the Academy of Athens for its cultural activities. Artifacts of the foundation have been exposed in various exhibitions worldwide including

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

etc. in cooperation with foundations and authorities such as

Benaki Museum The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the ...

, Municipality of Nafplio,

Nicosia Municipality Nicosia Municipality ( el, Δήμος Λευκωσίας, ''Dimos Lefkosias''; tr, Lefkoşa Belediyesi) is the municipal government which is responsible for all the municipal duties of the southern part of Nicosia. History The municipal council ...

Harokopio University Harokopio University of Athens, HUA ( el, Χαροκόπειο Πανεπιστήμιο) is a public research university based in Kallithea, Athens, Greece. Founded in 1990, the 18th state University established in Greece, as the successor of th ...

, Foundation of the Hellenic World, Hellenic Centre of London, Teloglion Foundation of Art etc.

Collections

PFF collections include 45,000 items. The majority of them, more than 27,000 items, are directly connected to the popular and modern Greek culture including traditional costumes and items from mainland Greece,

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, Aegean and Ionian Islands,

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, etc. The museum also holds a collection of 5,500 items linked with the history of fashion, including works by designers such as Christian Dior,

Issey Miyake was a Japanese fashion designer. He was known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances, such as '' L'eau d'Issey'', which became his best-known product. Life and career Miyake was born on 22 April 1938 in Hiroshi ...

, Paco Rabanne,

Christian Louboutin Christian Louboutin (; born 7 January 1963) is a French fashion designer whose high-end stiletto footwear incorporates shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature. Initially a freelance designer for fashion houses, he started hi ...

Sue Wong Sue Wong is a Chinese-born American fashion designer best known for her dress designs with a contemporary twist based on old Hollywood glamor style. Her collections, available in some 27 countries, have been noted for her interpretations of the ...

, Mariano Fortuny,

Laura Ashley Laura Ashley (née Mountney; 7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She originally made furnishing materials in the 1950s, expanding the business into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s ...

Jean Dessès Jean Dessès (6 August 1904 – 2 August 1970) was a world leading fashion designer in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. His designs reflected the influences of his travels, specializing in creating draped evening gowns in chiffon and mousseline, b ...

, James Galanos, Yiannis Tseklenis etc. Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation also owns a photography, sound and film collection dedicated to its past researches, a library of 10,000 titles a publishing house.

Gallery

File:2009.06.1118 louboutin.jpg, La Falaise by Christian Louboutin. File:PLI1 (4).jpg, Photo by PFF's participation in 1982's Europalia in Brussels. File:Grey top hat by Scotts Ltd of Old Bond Street, London, with hatbox, 1950.jpg, A

top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditional ...

from the 1950s. File:Two dresses by Paul Poiret, 1920.jpg,

Paul Poiret Paul Poiret (20 April 1879 – 30 April 1944, Paris, France) was a French fashion designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. Early life and care ...

dresses. File:MEGARA1.jpg, ''Kaplamas'', traditional Greek costume from Megara. File:Gidas.jpg, Wedding dress from Alexandreia, Greece, Alexandria, Greek Macedonia. File:Kavakli.jpg, Traditional Greek costume from Topolovgrad, Bulgaria by PFF's photo archives. File:Perachora's dress.jpg, Traditional costume from Corinthia, Peloponnese by PFF's photo archives. File:Attiki1.jpg, Chemise from Attica region, early 20th century. File:Pair of long white kid gloves.jpg, 19th century gloves.

References

{{Authority control Fashion museums Folk museums in Greece Museums in Peloponnese (region) Nafplion Foundations based in Greece 1974 establishments in Greece