The temporary art exhibition of the American artist Darryl Keith Babatunde Smith (ΔΚΒΣ), titled “Man is by nature…”, which was held at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki from May 18 to September 28, 2025, became the occasion for another event to follow immediately after its conclusion—this time at the University of Ioannina.

This was a special workshop organized by the Laboratory of Art History and the Painting Studio of the Department of Fine Arts and Art Sciences at the University of Ioannina, on Wednesday, October 1, 2025.

The workshop, featuring Darryl Keith Babatunde Smith as a guest artist, brought together students of the Department, who explored the relationship between drawing materials and the representation of the human body, through the intersection of artistic practice, literary analysis, and anatomical research.

As part of the workshop, Dr. Evangelia Tsangaraki, archaeologist at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, was also invited. She spoke about the museological and museographical approach of the exhibition “Man is by nature…” and, more broadly, about the museum’s special relationship with contemporary artistic creation.

A relationship that has lasted for many years (since 1962) and has always aimed to foster a mutual dialogue between the art of the past and that of the present—a dialogue that transcends superficial comparisons and offers the museum’s visitors a new perspective for approaching both ancient artifacts and contemporary works of art.