On Sunday, 20 February, adolescents aged 11-16 came to the Museum and experienced DJing (DJ Culture) first hand with beloved DJ Kostis Nikiforakis Black Athina on the decks.
They travelled to distant Jamaica, the Caribbean, where rave parties and DJing first started, and moved to Great Britain and New York, where hip hop and rap music were born. They learned about the origin of the term Disk Jockey, which was first used by radio news commentator Walter Winchell in 1935 to describe the radio producers who presented music on the air.
They met the first DJ in history, 16-year-old Ray Newby, who in 1906 played music on a transmitter at the college he was attending.
At the Museum's amphitheatre, scenes from the famous soundsystems parties of the 1950s and 1960s, on the streets of Jamaica, were screened, along with snapshots from the block parties of the 1970s in New York, featuring the world's most famous DJs.
Then, under the guidance of the DJ, on a special DJSET set up in the Museum’s permanent exhibition hall, the children practised basic DJing and, in the end, mixed their two favourite tracks using the transition fade in fade out technique.
The ‘Be a DJ at the Museum’ action will be back at the Museum on 20 March, 10.30-12.00 & 12.30-14.00, for adolescents aged 11-16.
* Participation in the programs is free.
Monday – Friday
10:00-17:00
(last entry on 16:00)
Two Sundays each month
10:00-16:00