The Umbrellas of Zongolopoulos have returned to the New Waterfront of Thessaloniki, renewed, illuminated, and ready to embrace the city’s sea horizon once again.
Behind this return are people who did not see merely a sculpture, but a piece of the soul of Thessaloniki.
A heartfelt, sincere “thank you” from President Nikos Theodoridis and the Board of Directors of the George Zongolopoulos Foundation:
➡️ To the Municipality of Thessaloniki, which substantially supported the entire process with consistency and respect for the work. Especially to Mayor Stelios Angeloudis and Deputy Mayor Prodromos Nikiforidis, for their personal care and excellent coordination at every stage of the project. Their collaboration was not merely formal—it was meaningful, and the results speak for themselves.
➡️ To Andreas Evangelatos, the person who not only repaired the Umbrellas, but stood for hours in the rain, high up in the cherry picker, with risk and effort, to install one by one the umbrellas and the “rains” of the work.
The image of him—balancing upright on the basket of the cherry picker to reach 12 m in height at the most difficult point of the work—is in itself a monument of love and respect from the craftsman to the artist and his creation.
Today the Umbrellas stand again by the sea, with Mount Olympus in the background at the spot chosen by their creator, more complete than ever.
Art endures — when there are people who lift it high.
The President, Nikos Theodoridis
George Zongolopoulos Foundation
