The Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation organizes the exhibition “Doulamas” the Magnificent. An exceptional overcoat at the Benaki Museum / Pireos 138 from March 7 to May 26, 2019 (opening: March 6, 8.00 pm). The concept belongs to the President of the PFF Ioanna Papantoniou, Costume Designer and Historian of Dress.

The “doulamas”, and the “pirpiri”, the equivalent dress for the women, is an exceptional garment worn in the Balkans during the Ottoman Empire Period, denoting its geographical origin and other interesting details.

The aim of the exhibition is to analyse the terminological variations in pattern, materials and decorations of the doulamas, and finally to propose new ways of its use in fashion and theatre, in the same way that Ioanna Papantoniou was accustomed to create patterns for the costumes she designed for many theatrical productions.

Ioanna Papantoniou took the opportunity of her participation in the 2017 ICOM Costume Committee meeting to propose to a number of Greek designers an experimental exhibition, held at the “Kanari 4”, Athens, leading to a larger one, on the doulamas and the pirpiri, having as an example the Dries van Noten Inspirations exhibition in MoMu, Antwerp 2015.