HELLENIC INSTITUTE OF HOLOGRAPHY
33 years in the service of
the true 3-dimensional imaging ...
and now with OptoClones©
(Optical Clones of art objects)!
Member of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (ΙΗΜΑ) since 1992
Watch it also in our YouTube channel
Update 31 Dec 2018
29 Jun 2018. At the most important triennial gathering of world holographers, ISDH (Int'l Symposium on Display Holography), this year in Aveiro of Portugal, Andreas Sarakinos, holographer and scientific director of the Hellenic Institute of Holography, presented (in one of the three invited papers of HiH) the results of our experiments in the use of direct-write digital holographic prints for documentation and visualization of cultural heritage (select in order to view his presentation in PDF).
27 Jun 2018. At the same meeting of world holographers ISDH (Int'l Symposium on Display Holography) in Aveiro of Portugal, Alkis Lembessis, director of the Hellenic Institute of Holography, presented the second of our three invited papers on our experience in in-situ origination of OptoClones of cultural treasures in 4 important Museums in Greece and Russia (select in order to view his presentation in PDF).
2 Jun 2018. The Ministry of Culture of Russia in collaboration with the Museum Restorers' Association of the Russian Federation organized in Moscow a day-conference on the theme of 'Technologies of the present and the future in the integrated restoration of museums and preservation of museum collections'.
The Hellenic Institute of Holography claims that contemporary display holograms is a special technique for the optical documentation of works of art in addition to their obvious use for exhibitions. Within this context, Alkis Lembessis of HiH made a keynote presentation to a closed group of Museum conservators at the auditorium of the Moscow Museum of Cosmonauts titled "Οptically Documenting Cultural Artefacts with Holographic Optical Clones" (select in order to view his presentation in PDF).
Some photographs from this event may also be viewed by selecting any of the thumbnail images below.
16 Nov 2018. The long-established annual international meeting of professional holography THE HOLOGRAPHY CONFERENCE took place this year in Minsk, Belarus and HiH was invited again. This time, a common presentation by A. Sarakinos and A. Lembessis was delivered titled "The Use of Direct-Write Digital Holographic Printing for the Visualization of Perished Artworks and Historic Sites". Select to download and view in PDF.
Updated 16 Nov 2015
An unforgettable event
(28 June - 3 July 2015)
Three years after Boston and the MIT MediaLab, the Int'l Symposium of Display Holography 2015 (ISDH) was organized this year in St. Petersburg by ΙΤΜΟ University in cooperation with HiH. More than 200 holographers from 16 countries presented 80 papers as well as their own holographic creations at the Russian Academy of Sciences historical building.
In memorim of Yuri Denisyuk (inventor of the type of holograms known by his name) and in honour of late Prof. T. Jeong (founder of ISDH), the organization of the Symposium in 2015 -the UNESCO Int'l year of Light- will remain unforgettable to all those who had the unique opportunity to visit splendid St. Petersburg during the season of White Nights.
The Hellenic Institute of Holography was present not only through its active participation in the Organizing Committee as well as an official sponsor but also with 4 oral presentations (click for abstract):
The full programme of the Symposium sessions (to be published in a commemorative publication) can be found here.
The official album of commemorative photos can be viewed at the media portal of IΤΜΟ University (here), whereas private pictures are being collected by participants for common posting on the Web.
The Symposium was enhanced by a mega-exhibition of holography (also co-organized by ITMO University and HiH) with title 'Magic of Light: Holograms, Light Installations and OptoClones'. Participants to ISDH2015 had the chance of a private preview of this show, which was met by public with substantial success and came to an end in mid Nov2015 after having attracted more than 80,000 visitors.
Ενημέρωση 13 Αυγ 2018
(Almost) everybody was there !
(25-29 June 2018)
Three years after St.Petersburg, Russia and ITMO University, the Int'l Symposium on Display Holography 2018 (ISDH) was organized this year in Aveiro, Portugal by the local University.
Holographers from all over the world presented their latest works and holograms and the Hellenic Institute of Holography, one of the most active and productive organizations in display holography, could not be absent. In fact, this time HiH was honoured with (not only one but) two invited papers, which you may view in PDF format by clicking on one of the links below:
Andreas Sarakinos presented the joint paper of HiH titled "Direct-write digital holographic printing of color reflection holograms for visualization of artworks and historic sites"and Alkis Lembessis the also joint paper titled "Color Holography for the documentation and dissemination of cultural heritage: OptoClones from 4 museums in 2 countries".
See some selected photos from HiH presence in this event by selecting any or all of the thumbnail images below
The active participation of HiH in this symposium was further extended to chairing two of the main thematic sessions as well as an additional presentation by A.Lembessis of a joint paper together with the Optics Museum of ITMO University of St. Petersburg, Russia titled "Images of Light: Magic, Art & Science; re-educating the public in holography, light and vision".
Once again, the organization of this Symposium will remain unforgettable, similar to all occasions since 1982 when it was first established and organized at Lake Forest College, Illinois, USA by late T.Jeong. And as it can be seen in a video clip during the 'official' dinner, it fully justified the literal definition of a 'symposium'. Watch it here on our HiHolography YouTube channel.
Posted on 06 Dec 2015
A 28-year-old pathway !!
The ΙΗΜΑ 'Best of Year 2015'-Excellence in Holography award to the Hellenic Institute of Holography in Shanghai, China, marks the culmination of a very long pathway to success. This prize is only presented when the judges see an application that is truly outstanding to justify its elevation to best project of the year. The award was granted not only for the creation of the Bowater Collection of Fabergé OptoClones™ by Andreas Sarakinos, scientific director of HiH, but also for the development of dedicated display systems incorporating optimized illuminants. Naturally, the honour is further extended to all involved partners of HiH in this project, individuals and parties such as ITMO University and the Fabergé Museum from St. Petersburg, Russia as well as James Bowater, main sponsor of the venture.
Update 06 July 2015
A medal well deserved !
Within the framework of the most important meeting of world holographers, the 10th International Symposium of Display Holography, which took place in July for the first time ever in St. Petersburg, Russia, the scientific director of HiH, Andreas Sarakinos was honoured with the Yuri Denisyuk medal of the D.S. Rozhdestvensky Optical Society 'for the application of new techniques in the recording of colour holograms'. The joint organization of the Symposium by ITMO University and HiH in memoriam of Yuri N. Denisyuk (inventor of the type of holograms featuring his name) during 2015- the UNESCO Int'l Year of Light- marked a special point in time for this distinguished award to a person, who has practically dedicated the largest part of his professional life to display holography.
At the top-10 of Innovation
The ranking of the ' Τhree-dimensional Optical Clones of Works of Art ' in the top-10 of Applied Research among 208 candidates in the 3rd Competition "Greece Innovates!" (a joint initiative of Eurobank and the Federation of Greek Enterprises) is another public recognition of HiH activities. The proposal of the Hellenic Institute of Holography attracted wide publicity within Greece with special reports in Greek language daily press (KATHIMERINI), in TV (SKAI-First Line) and dedicated road-shows in selected academic venues in Greece. During the open-to-public verbal appraisal (video), Andreas Sarakinos and Tasos Tzerahoglou had the opportunity to demonstrate 'live' results obtained with the proprietary equipment developed by HiH.
Update 25 Dec 2018
In recognition of a professional pathway
An important industry recognition for our collaborative efforts has been the decision of the Board of Directors of the Int'l Association of Hologram Manufacturers (ΙΗΜΑ) to award our director, Alkis Lembessis, with the 2018 Brian Monaghan Award for Business Innovation (see here the official Press Release for the award rationale).
This award is the culmination of a long professional pathway and involvement in many different areas of Holography (security printing, product & document authentication, display holography and organization of thematic edutainment exhibitions). Without a doubt, this award reflects the cumulative group contributions of all HIH colleagues as well as of those corporate partnerships over the years such as CAVOMIT (capital equipment and hot-stamping applications) and TAURUS SecureSolutionS (authentication & security printing).
This was in fact the message that Alkis Lembessis communicated in his thanking address to those present at the official award ceremony (watch here the short video) during the annual Holography Conference 2018 in Minsk, Belarus. Select any of the thumbnail images below to view some memorable moments from the official award.
Update 28 Oct 2018
OptoClones on Travel
In a special temporary exhibition organized at the State Historic Museum of South Urals in Chelyabisnk, Russia, the State Treasury of the Russian Federation (Gokhran) in collaboration with ITMO University of St. Petersburg presented to public the OptoClones of 11 unique State artworks and treasures of Russia created by the Hellenic Institute of Holography. See here in PDF the impressive catalogue of these historic exhibits prepared by the organizers (in Russian language) on the opportunity of this event.
The exhibition lasted for 3 months (Jul-Sep 2018) and attracted considerable regional interest re-confirming once again the usefulness and versatiity of contemporary full-colour display holography in the dissemination of cultural heritage to wide public.
Watch here a video clip frmo the local TV channel 74.RU (in Russian). Also, see photos from the hall area and of some of the exhibits by selecting some of the thumbnail images below.
Updated Feb 28, 2019
"Magic of Light - Display hologram Exhibition goes to China" (read here the selected for the month of February 2019 article), a re-print from the monthly newsletter Holography News, dedicated to the most recent international success project of HiH.Download the relevant excerpt in printer-friendly format:HN-Vol33No2Feb2019_MagicofLightGoesToChina.pdf1.13 MB
"Licht Formen" (read the article in German), from FOTOHITS, the popular magazine on Photography, (Oct2014 issue, pages 16-17), making a futuristic reference to HiH OptoClones© and Photography as in the year 2034.
Update 25 Jun 2019
By clicking on one or more of the links below, you may access and read our scientific published papers on Display Holography. In case you wish to use any of them as reference, please preserve the citation syntax provided. For any publications of interest which are not openly accessible, you may contact us and request by email. Do not re-distribute these articles in their entirety.
Read here a detailed report on HiH activities through the pages of the most authoritative book (May 2013) on the subject by Prof. Hans Bjelkhagen and David Brotherton-Ratcliffe titled 'ULTRA-REALISTIC IMAGING: Advanced Techniques in Digital and Analog Colour Holography' (select the adjacent image to see how to obtain your copy of this unique book).
Hellenic Institute of Holography Facebook page
The 12th Int'l Symposium of Display Holography comes this time to Seoul, South Korea. We will present our paper : "The ZZZyclops V2 color Denisyuk holograms recording system".
This year for the first time, the annual international meeting of the business of holography comes to Athens, Greece and HiH is the Honorary Sponsor and its invited paper titled "Display Holography as an intermediate for science communication: the LightAlive series of edutainment exhibitions" will focus on the recent exhibition at the Shanghai Science & Technology Musuem.
Meet us at the XVIth annual meeting of all-Russian holographers, this year in Strelna, St. Petersburg, Russia. Our presentation titled: "Magic of Light: Re-educating the Chinese public in holography,light and vision" will look into our exhibition at the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum.
This time, a new version of the successful exhibition series LightAlive is hosted at the majestic Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. A special production for China by HiH and the Optics Museum of ITMO University, St. Petersburg, Russia. Daily except on Mondays, from 9 am to 5 pm.
This year for the first time, the annual international meeting of the business of holography comes to Minsk, Belarus and our invited somewhat different presentation is titled "Direct-write digital holographic prints for visualization of perished cultural artworks and monuments".
Meet us at the XVth annual meeting of all-Russian holographers, this year in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.Our presentation will be titled: "The Gokhran of Russia Collection of OptoClones: its making and expositions"
The 11th Int'l Symposium of Display Holography comes this time to Aveiro, Portugal. Five days of holographic exchange. A. Lembessis & A. Sarakinos of HiH will be there with two invited papers: "Color Holography for the documentation and dissemination of cultural heritage" and "Direct-write digital holographic printing of color reflection holograms for visualization of artworks and historic sites".
This year's 20th Int'l Festival INTERMUSEUM 2018 takes place at Pavillion 75 of the Moscow VDNH Exposition Center. HiH will present an invited paper titled "Optical documentation of cultural values using holographic technologies" at the day-conference dedicated to artworks restoration (June 2nd) and exhibit together with Optics Museum of ITMO University its latest OptoClones at booth #48 as foreign guest of the Russian Ministry of Culture.
On this 70th anniversary since the invention of Holography, the annual international meeting of the business of holography comes to Barcelona, Spain and our invited presentation is titled "OptoClones™ of Russian State Treasures from the Moscow Kremlin Diamond Fund"
Meet us at the 14th annual meeting of all-Russian holographers, this year in Zvenigorod, Russia.Our presentation will be titled: "Aerial views of religious monuments of St. Petersburg"
An international workshop seminar for leading experts in science-based restoration of works of art at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia with HiH invited with a presentation titled: 'Optically Documenting Cultural Artefacts with Holographic Optical Clones'.
The annual international meeting of the business of holography this year comes to Shanghai, China and our invited presentation is tiltled "The Attack of OptoClones™ : The Making of the Bowater Collection of Fabergé Holographic Optical Clones"
Meet us at the 12th annual meeting of all-Russian holographers, this year in Kazan. Our presentation will be titled: "LED illuminants for optimal viewing of monochromatic holograms and OptoClones™ "
At this year's annual international conference of the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg, we will present for the first time "The Fabergé Collection of OptoClones™ " to a world of specialists.
The main event in the city of St.Petersburg on the occasion of 2015, the UNESCO Int'l Year of Light, this exhibition will combine "Holograms, Light Installations and OptoClones". At the Elisseev Palace, co-organized by ITMO University and HiH. Don't miss this unforgettable event !
The 10th anniversary of the Int'l Symposium of Display Holography coming to the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in memoriam of Yuri Denisyuk. Five days of holographic exchange plus a major holographic show. Hosted by ITMO University in association with HiH. Holographers of the world, Unite !
Seminar taking place at the Centre for Optical and Laser Engineering (COLE) of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), titled "Holography for Optical Documentation and Diagnostics of Works of Art". Time: 3:00pm, Place: Fusion@MAE Seminar Room (N3.1-B3c-06).
At the 11th annual meeting of all-Russian holographers, this year taking place in Sochi, Russia, where you may personally meet us and appreciate our latest OptoClones©. Title of our presentation: "The project LightAlive2013 and its realization".
On the opportunity of the first meeting of the Organising Committee of ISDH2015, see the latest creations of HiH in a Day-Seminar organized by ITMO Univ. in St. Petersburg. The title of our presentation: "Holography for Optical Documentation and Diagnostics of Works of Art".
At the 10th conference on Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks (LACONA10) taking place in Sharjah, UAE with an oral presentation titled: "In-situ recording and displaying full-colour holographic OptoClones of cultural artifacts on loan at the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens".
In OPTO2014 (part of SPIE Photonics West) San Francisco, California between 3-5 Feb 2014 with an update on latest developments in HoloCultura program.
At The Holography Conference (previously known as HOLOPACK/HOLOPRINT) taking place for the first time in Delhi India with a presentation titled "Holographic Methods for Accurate Cloning of Cultural Artefacts".
At the 10th Int'l Meeting of scientific holographers in Moscow, Russia between Sep 17-19, 2013 with our specially prepared presentation for this event titled 'OptoClones and HoLoFoS: advances in colour display holography'.
At the annual meeting of the World Federation of Great Towers (WFGT) taking place this year in Berlin, Germany between 15-19 Sep 2013 with a presentation delivered in cooperation with Tower Park of Prague titled "OptoClones© : A Unique Ultra-realistic Medium for Attracting Public Interest in Cultural Heritage"
In OPTO ( part of SPIE Photonics West ) San Francisco, California between 2-7 Febr 2013 with the presentation "HoLoFoS: an optimized LED illumination system for color reflection holograms display" .
At the Int'l Conference on Cultural Heritage EUROMED2012 in Limassol, Cyprus between 28 Oct-3 Nov 2012 with the presentation of ArtGnomon titled 'Science in Aid of Expert Opinion: A Tell-Tale on Disputed Artworks'.
In the annual meeting of world holographers Holo-pack•Holo-print 2012 in Vienna, Austria between 28-30 Oct 2012 with the presentation of TAURUS SecureSolutions on 'Holography for Accreditation of Works of Art'.
At the 9th Int'l Meeting HOLOEXPO2012 in Suzdal, Russia between 17-21 Sep 2012 with two presentations specially prepared for this event titled 'Modern Progress of Art Holography as seen at the MIT Conference in June 2012' and 'Hyper-DocumentationTM: Lasers and Holography in the Preservation of Cultural Heritage'.
At the Historical Maps Exhibition held at the War Museum in Thessaloniki, Greece between 7-30 Sep 2012 with digital holographic prints of maps for military use, glasses-free autostereoscopic screens and our latest creation of an analog OptoCloneTM of a limited edition model of a 1912 Evzonas soldier.
At the 9th International Symposium on Display Holography (ISDH2012) organized this year (25-29 June) in Boston Massachussets on the top floor of the new extension of the MIT Media Lab with an oral presentation "A transportable system for the in situ recording of color Denisyuk holograms of Greek cultural heritage artifacts in silver halide panchromatic emulsions and an optimized illuminating device for the finished holograms"
Andreas Embeirikos (Greek: Ανδρέας Εμπειρίκος) (Brăila, 2 September 1901 – Athens, 3 August 1975) was a Greek surrealist poet and the first Greek psychoanalyst.
The work of Embeirikos -literary, photographic and psychoanalytic- deals with the “Greek trauma”. In 1935 he gave the famous lecture "On surrealism" in Athens and published "Ypsikaminos", a pure surrealist text, a heretic book characterized by the lack of the punctuation and the peculiarity of the language. His poetry can be defined by two major tendencies. On the one hand, he was one of the major representatives of surrealism in Greece. On the other hand, together with Yorgos Seferis, Embirikos was the most important representative of the generation of the 1930s. He contributed greatly to the introduction of modernism in Greek letters.
In Fotofrachtis (The Light Shutter) (written in 1960 and included in his Oktana collection) Embeirikos correlates the act of photography with daydreaming, not as nostalgia or longing for death, but in the sense of reconciliation with the paradox of time, as a blistering dive in the restless consistency of things.
Assuming that poetry can be translated into a language different to the original, you may taste this poem below or more of his poetry in English by visiting this link.
The Light Shutter
"The hours flow through the iridescences and play of the waters,just like the transparent waters flow through the anemones. With its keys, remembrance opens the horizons, which continuously expand and grow, like the ripples of a stone that falls on a surface that is imperturbable by mortal and bastard acts. Dawn is the first hour. Behind it, the beautiful morning, with red hands which quickly (I almost would say unexpectedly) turn and become golden. A lens with an amazing shutter seizes even the most fleeting moment and transfers it onto the surface of a smooth plate of unbelievable sensitivity. And now that the shutter opened and closed like an incorruptible eye and time was arrested, remembrance expands life and gives to every image the movement and flexibility that, from the depths of a fountain (its own), calls forth its most secret meaning. And behold, it transforms the image completely. It changes it from a static (let's say, 'pinned') moment to a multiply-waved dance of hours and plastic bodies with good rhythm, to a tangible and specific realisation (materialisation) of every vision, of every desire."
Andreas Embirikos, Oktana (Athens: Ikaros, 1960), p. 29.
Translation assisted by Liana Theodoratou.
Also read here an interesting essay titled "The Night of Memory: Andreas Embiricos and the Optical Unconscious" by Eduardo Cadava of Princeton University, published in "Culture & Memory. Special Issue of Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand) 2006.
by Panayiotis KAMBANIS
Translation Coming Soon....
... at the Wyndham Grand Athens Hotel between 13 and 15 November 2019.
29 Jun 2018.
27 Jun 2018.
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In memorim of Yuri Denisyuk (inventor of the type of holograms known by his name) and in honour of late Prof. 
"The Story of OptoClones
"Licht Formen"
