Cyprus
TO D AY
Vo l u m e X L Χ , N o 1 , J a n u a r y - M a r c h 2 0 1 2
Contents
Editorial..............................................................................4
Cyprus Theatre Organization Awards................................5
Byzantine Frescoes Return to Cyprus..............................14
Lefkosia Loop Festival....................................................18
The 7th French and Francophone Film Festival...............22
Concerts at the Pharos Art Foundation............................27
Exhibitions at Gallery Kypriaki Gonia............................33
Concerts of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra..................36
‘The Bearded Goddess: Androgynes,
Goddesses, and Monsters in Ancient Cyprus’..................40
UTOPIA Exhibition.........................................................42
Rhea Bailey ‘Concerto’....................................................46
The Kyriazis Medical Museum........................................51
12th Contemporary Dance Platform.................................54
Events by the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts...................58
Volume XLX, No 1, January-March 2012
A quarterly cultural review of the Ministry of Education and
Culture published and distributed by the Press and Information
Office (PIO), Ministry of Interior, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Editorial Supervision:
Miltos Miltiadou (PΙΟ)
E-mail: [email protected]
Address:
Ministry of Education and Culture
Kimonos & Thoukydides Corner, 1434 Nicosia, Cyprus
Website: http://www.moec.gov.cy
Editorial Assistance:
Maria Georgiou (PΙΟ)
E-mail: [email protected]
David A. Porter
E-mail: [email protected]
Press and Information Office
Apellis Street, 1456 Nicosia, Cyprus
Website: http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio
EDITORIAL BOARD
Chairperson:
Pavlos Paraskevas, Director of Cultural Services,
Ministry of Education and Culture
Chief Editor:
Rachel Chrysostom
[email protected]
GNORA PUBLICATIONS
(website: www.gnora.com)
Tel: +357 22441922 Fax: +357 22519743
Design: GNORA PUBLICATIONS
Printed by: Konos Ltd
Front cover: Painting by Glyn Hughes, exhibited at Gallery
Kypriaki Gonia
Back cover: Presenters of THOC Awards, Panayiota Mina
and Christodoulos Martas
PIO 261/2012 – 10000
ISSN (print) 0045-9429
ISSN (online) 1986-2547
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Cyprus Today and the authors (for signed articles). The sale or other commercial exploitation of this publication or part of it is strictly prohibited.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in the signed articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the publishers.
The magazine can also be found on the Press and Information Office website at www.moi.gov.cy/pio.
3
Editorial
T
his issue of Cyprus Today focuses on the awards ceremony for the Cyprus Theatre Organisation (THOC),
for the years 2009-2011, an event which paid its respects to the great creators of culture in Cyprus, and
rewarded the top artists for their contribution to the Cypriot theatre scene over the past two years. The event
glittered with Cypriot theatre royalties, and was addressed by President Christofias himself.
Another important milestone for Cyprus during this period is the return of a very important part of our cultural heritage, a set of Byzantine Frescoes which were originally housed in a museum in Texas, following
looting and smuggling after the Turkish invasion in 1974. Visitors can now view the remarkable works at
the Archbishop Makarios III Museum in Nicosia.
The Nicosia Loop Festival is one of the newest cultural additions to the island, and introduces audiences
to a new kind of musical performance which incorporates the technique of live looping. Indie record label
Louvana Records organised the event, which featured critically acclaimed Greek artist Alkinoos Ioannides
amongst the acts.
This issue of Cyprus Today also covers another major event for the island, the French and Francophone Film
Festival, held for the 7th year running by the French Institute of Cyprus and the Friends of the Cinema Society,
in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Embassies of Belgium, Hungary and Switzerland.
The Pharos Arts Foundation, a non-profit cultural and education foundation dedicated to the promotion of
the arts and humanities, brings audiences in Cyprus into contact with some of the most exciting and talented
musicians and artists. This time, we cover two of the Foundation’s major concerts, that of the Chilingirian
String Quartet, one of the world’s most celebrated ensembles, and a Slavonic and Russian ensemble, the
Tchaikovsky Trio.
Art exhibitions are frequent on our island, and Gallery Kypriaki Gonia is known for representing a number
of acclaimed Cypriot and International artists. In this issue, we focus on the work of Glyn Hughes and
Nikos Charous.
This issue also takes a closer look at some of the more high profile events of the Cyprus Chamber of Fine
Arts, one of the island’s most significant organisations. This March, the Chamber celebrated its founders
on the occasion of the grand opening of its new premises, and showcased a number of contemporary artists
with a group exhibition, ‘The Art of Denial.’
In what has been called one of Limassol’s biggest dance events, the Contemporary Dance Platform was
held for the 12th consecutive year, hosting some of the country’s most respected dance artists.
While Cyprus is certainly not lacking in museums, the new Kyriazis Medical Museum will attract the interest of museum patrons who wish to learn a little bit more about the history of medicine on the island. This
issue of Cyprus Today takes a closer look at Dr Marios Kyriazis’s brainchild.
The work of internationally-acclaimed artist Rhea Bailey, which was explored in the previous issue, is reprinted once again with a correction, as a layout mishap mistakenly attributed the article to another author
and not the Cypriot poet, Kyriakos Charalambides.
This issue also takes a closer look at the exhibition entitled ‘Utopia’ at the Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis
foundation featuring works from the private collection of the Phileleftheros newspaper.
A book by Swedish archaeologist and writer Marie-Louise Windbladh, titled ‘The Bearded Goddess’ delves
into the archaeology and history of Cyprus from 10,000 BC to today, and the rich and complex religious
life of Ancient Cyprus.
Finally, we close this issue with a peek at the activities of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, specifically its
two programmes titled ‘At whose faucet?’ and ‘Clarinet Duets.’
4
THOC Awards
for 2009-2011
The awards ceremony for
the Cyprus Theatre Organisation (THOC) 2009-2011
was held at the Latsia Municipal Theatre
in Nicosia on 16 January 2012.
5
CYPRUS THEATRE ORGANISATION
Four decades in the running
With Aeschylus’ Agamemnon staged at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre, the newly founded Cyprus
Theatre Organisation (THOC) raised its curtain on
18th November, 1971. The Republic of Cyprus succeeded in acquiring its State theatre merely eleven
years after it was proclaimed an independent state
(1960). Professional theatre activity had paved the
way a few decades prior to that, whereas this decisive development in the history of Cypriot theatre
was ignited by the largely dynamic first years of the
island’s independent life.
Today, four decades later, THOC’s contribution
has been significant; with eleven to thirteen productions for each theatre season, it gives approximately 300 performances per year.
A prolific history has already been registered in the
island’s theatre life. The State Theatre of European
Cyprus has been operating for forty consecutive
theatre seasons, boasting 400 productions so far.
Stages and theatre venues
THOC has operated four stages which make up the
profile of the Organisation’s on-stage activity: The
Main, New, Experimental and Children’s Stage
demonstrate a wide repertoire involving different
genres: the ancient, classic, modern, experimental,
foreign, Modern Greek and Cypriot.
THOC’s stages have also hosted productions of
special artistic direction, such as black theatre,
shadow theatre, dance theatre and performances
centered on music.
THOC’s contribution to ancient drama
THOC has been presenting ancient drama productions, both in Epidaurus and other summer stages
in Greece, as well as open-air and ancient theatres
in Cyprus.
6
THOC first participated at the Epidaurus Festival
in 1980 with a landmark production, Euripides’
Suppliants, directed by Nicos Charalambous. It has
so far participated at the Epidaurus Festival with
numerous productions of plays by the three tragic
dramatists, as well as Aristophanes and Menander.
Many of these performances were deemed prolific
artistic proposals. The existence of a consistent and
coordinated company working professionally as
an ensemble has been a decisive parameter in reinforcing the Cypriot State theatre en route to the
Epidaurus Festival.
THOC and Overall Theatre Development
From 1979 onwards, the Organisation has expanded its activities, aiming at a decisive contribution to the country’s overall theatre development,
focusing its attention not only on its own productions but also on a number of additional activities.
The Theatre Development Department, embarking
in 1986 on a full-fledged activity range, has been
Presenters Panayiota Monia and Christodoulos Martas
subsidising Cypriot theatres, providing infrastructure support, enhancing existing theatre venues and
creating new ones, promoting school and amateur
theatre, as well as the work of Cypriot playwrights
through competitions and other incentives. Finally,
it promotes events, lectures and seminars to enlighten artists, educators and the public on matters
concerning theatre.
THOC’s International Profile
Throughout the years, THOC has expanded its horizons as well as the range of its artistic proposal in
various ways, having worked with nearly all Cypriot theatre artists, Cypriots working abroad, and
with as numerous directors from Europe and the
United States.
THOC has participated in international theatre festivals, touring all over the world: it has appeared
in Greece’s foremost ancient and modern theatres,
while occasionally touring to various cities and islands. It has sought collaborations and co-produc-
tions with Greek and European theatre organisations, participating in international organisations
such as the European Theatre Convention (ETCCTE).
Today, THOC aspires to promote the theatre of Cyprus abroad, participating in festivals, drawing up
bilateral agreements (collaboration protocol with
the National Theatre of Greece and the National
Theatre of Northern Greece) and working with directors of international standing.
The profile of a contemporary organisation
With its performances, THOC has been established
as a theatre entity known for its impeccable professionalism, high artistic merit and dynamic creativity.
It has given performances that have honoured Cyprus, adding to the promotion of a rich Greek theatre
heritage as well as the interaction of different civilisations. In turn, THOC has received artistic input
by people with different cultural origins, allowing its
voice to be heard in faraway places.
7
THOC Awards
The awards ceremony for the Cyprus Theatre
Organisation (THOC) 2009-2011 was held at the
Latsia Municipal Theatre in Nicosia on 16 January
2012. The President of the Republic, Mr Demetris
Christofias, was in attendance.
The ceremony was presented by actors Panayiota
Monia and Christodoulos Martas and directed by
Alexia Roider. Other participants included Cypriot
theatre royalty Elena Antoniou, Styliana Aristeidou, Loizos Constantinou, Christos Gavriel, Iacovos Hadjivasili and Petros Konnaris. The evening
commenced with an address from the President of
the Republic and a welcome from the Chairman of
the Board.
The Awards:
MUSIC AWARD
Alkinoos Ioannides, Bacchae
The Chairman of the THOC Artistic Committee,
Mr Athos Erotokritou, presented the award.
Alkinoos Ioannides’s music for Bacchae gave
rhythm and new life to Euripides’ tragedy. It served
as a dynamic element in the direction of the play,
giving it a beautiful twofold shape, moving in elegant concert with Euripides’ text. Ioannides’s music enabled the actors to submit to the tragedy while
emphasising its greatness and beauty.
MOVEMENT AWARD
Nataly Amman, Cyclops
The President of the Judging Committee 20092011, Mr Christos Zezides, presented the award.
Nataly Amman’s performance in Euripides’ Cyclops underlined some of the key elements of the
text, bringing expressiveness, plasticity and liveliness to the play and ultimately transcending it.
The diversity and originality of the dance brought
rhythm and dynamism to the show, giving the audience an opportunity to travel though a continuum
of emotional space.
SET DESIGN AWARD
Nikos Kouroushis, Slaughterhouse
The Director of THOC, Mr Varnavas Kyriazis, presented the award.
Nikos Kouroushis’s set design for Ilan Hatsor’s
THOC Grand Prize winner Stephanos Athienitis, presented by the President of the Republic, Demetris Christofias
8
Alkinoos Ioannides
Nataly Amman
Slaughterhouse combined theatricality and artistic autonomy with realistic figures and emblematic objects, bringing together the play’s
merciless conflicts and fratricidal grief. Mr
Kouroushis’s sets fully supported the performance, leading the audience directly to the
play’s specific associations and metaphors: the
colours, shapes and textures of the set all conveyed their individual symbolism, helping Mr
Kouroushis present tangled ideological forms.
His multi-faceted sets strengthened the directorial process and brought a unique dynamic to
the performance.
COSTUME AWARD
Marina Nicolaides, Beckett X5
The Chairman of the Board of the Housing Finance Corporation, Mr Christakis Loizides, presented the award.
In her costumes for Beckett X5, Marina Nicolaides underlined the dialogue with her unique
sartorial choices. Her use of mainly black and
red and simple, bold, expressionistic components was an inspired decision – her functional
costumes helped finalise the overall aesthetic of
the performance. Despite the diverse needs of
each of the one-act plays, Ms Nicolaides maintained a uniform style, adapting it accordingly,
yet discreetly, for each play.
Nicos Kouroushis
MULTIMEDIA DESIGN AWARD
Nicoletta Kalatha, The Disease
The Director General of CyBC, Mr Themis
Themistocleous, presented the award.
Antonis Georgiou’s work, Disease, is about an elderly
writer suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Nicoletta
Kalatha’s inventive use of multimedia video projections to create optical interference throughout the
performance enabled the audience to perceive and
understand the protagonist’s condition. Ms Kalatha’s
crucial contribution to the play gave audiences an
entrée to the heroine’s world, one cut off from reality – she projected letters and numbers in a confused,
disorderly fashion, illuminating the protagonist’s confusion: the writer struggles to immobilise and contain
them, but they slip out of reach, leaving her in a futile
struggle between being and nothingness. The multimedia expression of this mental struggle provided the
fullest support to The Disease.
BEST CHILDREN’S
PERFORMANCE AWARD
Antidoto Theater, Hide and Seek
The President of the Judging Committee, Ms Elena
Smyrniou, presented the award.
Hide and Seek perfectly epitomised a performance
for children: the structure of the play, its direction,
its musical direction and the performance of its two
9
Marina Nicolaides
Antonis Katsaris
Nicoletta Kalatha
Giorgos Neophytou
main actors, Catherine Biger and Charlotte Davis,
were all in perfect harmony – its direction and aesthetics were flawless. Even with minimal use of
scenery and costumes, and with limited dialogue,
Hide and Seek was perfect children’s theatre because it managed to cultivate the imagination of its
young audiences and mobilise their creativity while
communicating its message. The play proved that
when fantasy and creativity collide, children can be
inspired to create their own tales.
SCRIPTWRITING AWARD
Giorgos Rodosthenous
of Cyprus in 1974. The play’s simple, dynamic
dialogue is powerful, and its realism is intense – it
gives full expression to the friction inherent in confrontation and enables the actors to fully integrate
this expression into their performances. The storyline is strong and flexible; it holds the audience’s
interest as it explores the unjust fate of human beings falling victim to the violence and misery of
war. At times DNA harkens back to ancient Greek
tragedy. The language, which is symbolic but shorn
of unnecessary elements, masterfully entwines the
play’s meaning around its dialogue.
Giorgos Neophytou, DNA
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Education Committee, Mr Nikos Tornaritis, presented the award.
BEST ACTRESS AWARD
Giorgos Neophytou’s DNA is about the Greek Cypriots who went missing during the Turkish invasion
The Chairman of the Board of THOC, Mr Demetris Karayiannis, presented the award.
10
Elena Papadopoulou, The Cripple of the Island
Elena Papadopoulou played Eileen in Martin
McDonagh’s The Cripple of the Island, with
artistic maturity and skill; her performance was
flawless. Ms Papadopoulou’s intense yet natural interpretation, in tandem with her emotional
control, resulted in an integral character in complete harmony with all of the play’s elements.
She forcefully conveyed Eileen’s shocking loneliness and bitterness, her hopelessness, as she
embarked on a journey of no return.
BEST ACTOR AWARD
Antonis Katsaris, A New Order of Things
The Minister of Education and Culture, Mr George
Demosthenous, presented the award.
Antonis Katsaris played Nikolas in A New Order of Things, a compilation of four one-act
plays by Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. Nikolas
is one of two heroes in the plays, and Katsaris
portrayed him with a shocking, effortless and
natural performance, sweeping the viewers into
a thinking man’s painfully real adventure as he
gradually realises the horrors of state violence.
Katsaris gave audiences a lively portrayal of
Nikolas, one with flair and imagination, imbuing him with a unique expressiveness.
Chairman of the Board of THOC, Demetris Karayianni
DIRECTING AWARD
Giorgos Rodosthenous, Faded Blue Body
Roula Mavronicola presented the award on behalf
of the President of the House of Representatives.
Giorgos Rodosthenous approached the play
Faded Blue Body with sensitivity and inventiveness, supporting the plot with soulful music
that emphasises the emotional maze in which
the play’s heroine finds herself trapped. Following the techniques employed in musicals,
Rodosthenous allowed the play’s love triangle
to unfold: his characters skillfully revolved
around this triangle, demonstrating the director’s masterful control of the show’s parameters. Rodosthenous kept these parameters
loose, however, which made the play spontaneous, fresh and fun. Using appropriate doses
of humour and drama, the director successfully
balanced a spectacle that shifted effortlessly
between drama and comedy, between laughter
and reflection.
THOC GRAND PRIZE
Stephanos Athienitis
The President of the Republic, Mr Demetris
Christofias, presented the award.
Stephanos Athienitis, an architect of the imagination, creates utopias – he draws words,
paints ideas, brings dreams and nightmares to
life, makes seasons palpable…he awakens our
souls with his unique costumes and scenery. He
uses art to clothe the words of playwrights and
their characters, bringing them fully-realised
into our lives, where they became ethereal,
magical, terrifying, everyday ghosts in our subconscious or bright rays of sunshine battling the
clouds. Athienitis’s costumes are always sacred
items: they lure the audience into a dialogue
with color, with movement, and with light, into
a dialogue with our passions, our dreams, and
our furies. A great artist who generously shares
his talent with us, he has given us access to the
costuming and set design of his soul. He has
enabled us to truly experience theatrical art,
deeply and fully.
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Address by the President of
the Republic Mr Demetris Christofias
in honour of the THOC
Awards Ceremony
I am greatly honoured to be here with you tonight,
amongst the great creators of culture. With my
presence at tonight’s celebration of theatre, I would
like to once more express my deep appreciation
and gratitude towards the people who serve the
theater, who, through their artistic creation and
offerings, are able to educate and teach. At the
same time, they have been entertaining audiences,
and highlighting eternal values and principles
which should govern the lives of all citizens of a
democratic and free society.
Arts provide the means for alternative forms of
communication and expression. In particular,
the theatre, as a representational art form,
demonstrates the need to build a community of
citizens with equal participation in the creation
of a common reality, reflecting their needs and
ambitions. The activation of imagination and
critical thought through a process of exploring
ideas, values and attitudes, cultivates and develops
abilities, skills and behaviors which make up
the modern democratic culture. Participation in
the theatrical world is, in effect, a rehearsal for
tomorrow’s active citizen, one who will stake his
claim in the world and raise his voice in public
affairs. We must of course note that theatre cannot
play its effective role of educator if it is cut off
from the rest of society. There is even an element
of mass contribution by the public in the theatrical
procedure. It is important that educational theatre
be cultivated through modern democratic schools.
At this point, I would also like to extend my
congratulations to the Ministry and the officers of
Education for the exceptional work being done.
Dear Friends,
The Government, without question, provides
full support to culture, and theatre in particular. I
12
President of the Republic, Demetris Christofias
assure you that we have the political will, but also
the ability, despite the economic crisis, to create
infrastructures and institutes that will provide our
culture with a new dynamic and a wider horizon.
We will continue in 2012 with the implementation
of a multidimensional cultural policy we are
currently developing, through the creation of
new cultural institutions and infrastructures, and
through the introduction of modern concepts in
cultural management issues. The emergence of
culture through which we can showcase Cyprus
within the EU Presidency during the second half
of 2012 is one of our main goals.
Important developments have resulted from the
promotion of the establishment of a Single Culture
Authority, as well as the recent approval by the
European Commission for a coverage of 85% of
the Cultural House. I assure you that we will work
towards promoting the project and the release of
funds by the Parliament so that its implementation
can begin. Other important projects during the year
2011 include a Music Programme for Young Talent
Development, the start of the Culture Creation
Foundation for Children and Youth in Larnaka, as
well as a Museum of Modern and Contemporary
Art. Additional positive steps include approval
of the revised plan to support local authorities
for the creation of a cultural infrastructure and
a revision of the Regulation of State Prizes for
Literature. Also, the approval of new publishing
project grants, the Museums Act and the revision
of legislation relating to the enrichment of public
buildings with works of Art.
I would like to refer briefly to theatre in
particular. Currently, THOC has succeeded
in obtaining its own private Theatre, a vision
which has been in the making for decades. The
project will be delivered in late February, and
from the new theatre season, performances by
THOC will be showcased under its own roof.
At the same time, the Theatrical Museum of
Cyprus, created in collaboration with THOC and
the Limassol Municipality, will soon be hosting
its grand opening. The creation of an academic
Drama School, which will give further impetus
to the development of theatre in our country,
is also currently being studied. Similarly, the
State supports private theater with grants based
on specific criteria aimed at widening theater
education. Through this financial assistance, we
offer professional and cultural support to the
actors who make up the body of these theatres.
The effort implemented by the Cyprus Theatre
Organisation is especially important for the
development of school and amateur theatre as
every year, competitions and theatre groups
are organised. We support and applaud the
educational programs, the major European
development programmesfor theatre, and the
protocols of cooperation with state theatres
throughout Europe.
Dear friends,
Today marks the 12 year anniversary of the
THOC theatre awards. Through this institution,
we honour top theatre artists who are singled
out for their successes. I would like to
extend my congratulations to THOC for the
establishment of this institution, as well as to
all artists, regardless of whether or not they
will be receiving an award today, for their
invaluable contribution to the cultural life of
Cyprus.
At the same time, this year’s awards ceremony
coincides with the forty-year celebration of the
Theatrical Organisation of Cyprus; a forty-year
artistic journey, for which THOC can showcase
many achievements and shows that made history.
It is a forty-year course through which thousands
of art patrons showed, through their artistic quests,
their love for Theatrical Art and gained recognition
for the State Theatre, both in Cyprus and Greece,
and the wider international level.
I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all those
who stood by the journey of the State Theatre
these past 40 years, with the aim of our people’s
artistic, intellectual, aesthetic, recreational and
educational enhancement. Allow me to emphasise
my own personal relationship with the theatre.
This relationship is well known to be continuous
and uninterrupted. Despite my heavy schedule, I
consider it my duty to stand behind the men and
women of the theatre and witness their hard work.
While watching their performances, I feel an
aesthetic satisfaction, personal uplift, and a general
feeling of euphoria.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all those
who worked hard to make tonight’s big
celebration possible, especially the persons who
participated in the two selection committees
and had to perform the difficult and laborious
task of choosing from a wealth of talent and
performances that will best showcase Cypriot
theatre. I wish everyone a good and creative new
year, with the hope that the next THOC awards
will take place in a peaceful, free Cyprus; a
common homeland for all its children.
13
Byzantine Frescoes Return to Cyprus
T
he Menil Collection (www.menil.org), a museum located in the Museum District in Houston, Texas, houses one of the world’s great (and
growing) art collections. The Collection’s thirtyacre campus is home to a number of galleries and
chapels, all of which display works of art from the
Byzantine era to today. One of its collections, however, held unique importance for Cyprus. Near the
Collection’s Rothko Chapel stands another small,
contemporary chapel, its design telling nothing of
the contents inside. Through February 2012, visitors to the chapel could behold two Byzantine frescoes: one, in the apse of the chapel, depicted the
Virgin Mary flanked by the Archangels Michael
and Gabriel; the other, in the dome, portrayed
Christ in the heavens surrounded by 12 angels.
These beautiful frescoes were thousands of miles
from their original home. Painted in the 13th century, the murals are from St. Evphemianos, a tiny
limestone chapel in the village of Lysi in Cyprus.
Following the 1974 military invasion of Cyprus
by Turkey, nearly 200.000 Greek Cypriot refugees
fled south, leaving behind churches filled with religious art – many of these churches were looted.
Though it took them a few years to notice the two
incredible 800 year-old frescoes, thieves eventually
caught sight of them and hacked them out of the
dome and apse with a chainsaw, ultimately cutting
them into 38 pieces.
The pieces were smuggled to Munich, Germany,
where a Turkish dealer offered them to Dominique
de Menil, a French-American art collector, philanthropist, and founder of the Menil Collection.
The dealer claimed the pieces had been found in
a private home in Anatolia, Turkey, but de Menil
was suspicious about the Frescoes’ origin. After a
year of painstaking research, she tracked the frescoes back to Cyprus. She then contacted the Greek
Orthodox Church of Cyprus and offered to ransom
the Frescoes and restore them (at a cost of more
than $1 million). The Church consented, and the de
Menil Foundation purchased the Frescoes on behalf of the Church, the legal owner of the Frescoes.
De Menil initially wanted to display the restored
Left: The inside of St. Evphemianos chapel in Lysi.
Above: St. Evphemianos (or Themonianos), chapel in the village
of Lysi.
14
frescoes in Houston for a year, after which she
planned to return them to Cyprus. The Menil
Foundation and the Greek Orthodox Church of
Cyprus entered into a formal agreement: the frescoes would be on long-term loan to the Menil
Foundation, which would restore, protect, and ultimately build a space where the frescoes would be
honoured as works of artistic and spiritual importance. The agreement was the first-ever between a
US cultural institution and the Church of Cyprus.
Subsequent agreements extended the partnership
and the loan, and for the last 27 years, the frescoes
were on display in Houston in a chapel designed
and built especially for them, the Byzantine Fresco
Chapel, which follows the shape and layout of St.
Evphemianos. Hundreds of thousands of visitors
have worshipped in the chapel, attended concerts
and education programs, or simply sat in quiet appreciation beneath these Byzantine masterpieces.
The Frescoes were ultimately returned to Cyprus in
March of 2012. The Director of the Menil Collection, Josef Helfenstein, prepared a farewell letter to
the Frescoes, in which he also discusses the extension of the groundbreaking partnership between the
Menil Foundation and the Greek Orthodox Church
In March of 2012 this year,
the frescoes came home
to the Holy Archbishopric of Cyprus.
of Cyprus – the letter is available at http://www.
menil.org/ByzantineFrescoChapelNews.php.
Despite the drama of their history, the frescoes
themselves stand on their own artistic merits.
Not only are the pigments dispersed in water
700 years ago still vibrant, the images are masterful. Arts journalist Regine Kolbe wrote extensively about the Frescoes and their journey in
the online journal, Antiques and the Arts Online
(http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/TradeTalk/2012-01-31__14-18-07.html):
According to Annemarie Weyl Carr, scholar
and author, and Laurence J. Morrocco, restoration expert, authors of A Byzantine Masterpiece
Recovered, the Thirteenth-Century Murals
of Lysi, Cyprus, the chapel at Lysi is a stellar
monument to Cypriot painting, comparable to
well known Cypriot monuments such as Asinou, Lagoudera, Lythrangkomi and Moutoullas. The murals were originally painted in the
15
dome and the apse of a votive space dedicated
to Saint Themonianos. They belong to the artistic tradition of Byzantium, the era of the Roman Empire that existed circa 324 to 1453.
Kolbe explains that despite their large size, the murals seem to be the work of a single artist. In broad
terms, they follow the classic Byzantine scheme
that evolved during the 9th and 10th centuries. The
dome of the church represents the heavens, with
Christ as the Pantokrator and angels as the courtiers
of heaven and symbols of power. From this apex
the paintings descend into the human world. The
Virgin Mary is the greatest human and is honoured
in the apse; prophets usually occupy the drum of
the dome, while Evangelists are found in the triangular vaulting under the dome (the pendentives).
The Lysi murals, however, include uniquely Cypriot iconography. The style in which the Virgin is
portrayed, for instance, with a medallion of Christ
on her breast, was a later development in Byzantine
imagery and popular only in Cyprus into the middle of the 12th century. According to Kolbe, perhaps
the most impressive characteristic of the murals is
the interplay of image and curved surface. In the
Despite their large size, the murals
seem to be the work of a single artist.
apse, the angels bend toward the Virgin in perfect
context. The dome itself is not as seamless as it appears at first glance – according to experts, there
are a number of irregularities, particularly the face
of Christ, which is asymmetrical. The Savior’s left
eyebrow rises higher than the right, and his beard
sweeps to one side. These distortions, however,
only add to the dome’s vitality.
When the fragments were delivered and inspected
in the warehouse of Artworld Shipping in North
London, it was immediately clear their curvature
had been destroyed when they were dismantled,
which meant the restoration of the Frescoes would
be a tremendous challenge for restorers. There were
no measurements, save a dubious one supplied by
the smugglers, and the surface paint on many of
the fragments was obscured by coarse cloth facings
applied with a strong rubber-type adhesive. Finally,
the imperfections in the dome of the chapel from
which the murals had been torn were impossible to
For the last 27 years, the frescoes have been on display in Houston in a chapel designed and built especially for them.
16
calculate. According to Kolbe, it took “three long
years” to restore the Frescoes.
“The restoration process took three long years,”
Kolbe writes. Since their removal from the Byzantine Fresco Chapel had been anticipated, however,
their final design compensated for their extraction
and subsequent transport to Cyprus. The ceiling to
which the frescoes are affixed includes a track and
a trolley suspended from a rail, so the Frescoes can
be transported to the rear of the chapel and lowered
with a winch.
The agreement between the Menil Collection and
the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus is a landmark in the recovery, restoration and presentation of
stolen artefacts, one that reaches a successful conclusion with the homecoming of the St. Evphemianos
Frescoes, thanks to the efforts and expertise of the
Menil Collection. The Greek Orthodox Church of
Cyprus is extremely grateful to the Menil Collection
for its outstanding stewardship of the Frescoes, and
for helping to finalise their return to Cyprus.
In March of 2012, the frescoes came home to the
Holy Archbishopric of Cyprus. They were unveiled at the Archbishop Makarios III Museum in
Nicosia and will be officially inaugurated during
the Cypriot presidency of the EU, between 1 July
2012 and 31 December 2012. They are a Cypriot
national treasure and part of the Church’s ongoing
struggle to recover the artefacts and artworks stolen
away from Cyprus since 1974.
Photo credits: Byzantine Museum and Art Galleries, Archbishop Makarios III Foundation Archive.
17
Lefkosia Loop Festival 2012
I
ndie record label Louvana Records is known
for promoting and distributing records from a
group of select musicians from a number of countries, and for cultivating a small number of artists
– the label manages and produces these artists and
promotes and distributes their music.
Louvana Records recently organised the first
Lefkosia Loop Festival in Cyprus, which took
place at the Melina Merkouri Hall on the 3rd and 4th
of January 2012. The purpose of the Festival was to
present a range of top musical performances incorporating live looping. Live looping is the recording
and playback of looped audio samples in real-time,
using hardware (magnetic tape, dedicated hardware devices) or software. The process enables
improvisation by creating new composition techniques and instrument textures, taking the artist and
the audience in unexpected sonic directions.
Louvana Records invited exceptional musicians
from Cyprus, England and Greece to perform at
Greek duo performing music using two instruments, Sancho 003
18
the festival, each selected for their aesthetic and
technical mastery of live looping. The artists and
bands who played the Lefkosia Loop Festival
came from a variety of musical backgrounds; each
took a different approach to the use of their instruments, thus providing Festival audiences with a
diverse series of performances.
Live Looping
Live looping is a technique that helps musicians
create complex, multilayered musical pieces in
real time. This is achieved by crafting melodic and
rhythmic phrases with natural or electronic instruments that, once structured, are repeated as recorded samples to which the artist adds new lines – the
final result is often a complete musical piece. Live
looping enables musicians to demonstrate to their
audiences how a song is created on the spot and
gives these audiences a chance to experience the
creative process.
The Artists
Alkinoos Ioannides (CY)
Alkinoos Ioannides, a highly-regarded Greek
Cypriot composer, lyricist, singer and arranger,
was the star of the Festival. For his performance,
various instruments were scattered across the
stage: acoustic and electric guitars, strings, horns
and percussion instruments, all connected to a
central loop station. Ioannides recorded and reproduced all of the musical phrases he played on each
instrument at the central loop station, adding one
after the other, and the lyrics and melodies traveled
across these soundscapes.
Ioannides divided his performance into two parts.
For the first part, he performed the music he composed based on the two final chapters of I Fonissa,
a novel by influential Greek writer Alexandros Papadiamantis – this project was first presented with
Maria Farantouri at the Filippon Ancient Theatre
last summer, on the 100th anniversary of the novelist’s death. Singer and actress Stella Fyrogeni
read from I Fonissa at the Lefkosia Loop Festival
performance, while Pavlos Michaelides and Fotis
Siotas accompanied Ioannides on violin and viola,
respectively. The second part of the performance
was entirely based on live looping, with Ioannides
performing his own songs using the loop station.
Sancho 003 (GR)
Kostas Pantelis (electric guitar) and Fotis Siotas
(violin/viola/keys/vocals) are Sancho 003. The
duo composes and performs music based on two
instruments and loops; their live performances feature looping and the synchronization of two entirely separate loop stations. Sancho 003 performed
tracks from their 2009 album, We Buy Gold, as
well as material from their new album, Los Dos
Aguas, which was released in the spring of 2012
by Belgian label Conspiracy Records. Pantelis and
Siotas also performed pieces from their collaboration with the dance group Sinequanon.
Acclaimed Greek singer Alkinoos Ioannides
Babis Papadopoulos (GR)
Babis Papadopoulos, guitarist for the band Trypes,
has worked with many of Greece’s finest musicians, including Thanasis Papakonstantinou, Socratis Malamas and Floros Florides. Papadopoulos
began his solo career in 2008 with Scenes from a
Journey, followed by From Draco’s Cave in 2010
– he has played both albums in many Greek cities
and abroad.
In his “Electric Solo” shows, Papadopoulos plays
a set comprising his own instrumentals alongside
“tweaked” versions of famous songs. He plays
both acoustic and electric guitar during his shows,
improvising and adding effects, and then makes
use of a loop station – the sonic result is a melange
of rock, ambient and electronic jazz. The unique
Live looping is the recording and playback of looped audio samples in real-time,
using hardware (magnetic tape, dedicated hardware devices) or software.
19
Experimental solo project Elektronik Meditation
blend of sounds Papadopoulos creates, both onstage and in the studio, has made his music easily
identifiable and loved by audiences the world over.
Soundspecies (UK)
Soundspecies is the alias of brothers Henry and
Oliver Keen – DJs, producers and musicians
based in London. The name Soundspecies describes the duo’s genre-hopping, rhythm-heavy,
soulful, atmospheric music. The Soundspecies
vibe is present in all of the band’s projects, including a live six-piece Moroccan Gnawa Funk Fusion band, twisted Hip Hop and deep Dub-Techno
beats. The band presented its live, two-man, partimprovised electronic Afro-Techno experience at
the Lefkosia Loop Festival, to the delight of the
Festival audience.
Over the past five years Soundspecies has performed at Glastonbury, The Big Chill, Bestival,
Sonar (Barcelona), Sunsplash (Turkey) and Red
20
Bull Music Academy. The Keens released the debut Soundspecies album in April 2009 on indie
label Burnt Progress – the record featured collaborations with well-known artists from the UK
and abroad. Radio 1 DJs Gilles Peterson and Mary
Anne Hobbs are among their supporters.
Bunty (UK)
Bunty is a Brighton-based musician and visual artist and part of the BEATABET! collective. She vocalises for a number of bands, including UK dub
9 piece, Resonators, Renegade Eclecto Collective,
BEATABET! and experimental folk/soul trio Le
Juki. Bunty also co-curates multi-disciplinary arts
events with BEATABET!
Live, Bunty uses her renegade multi-instrumentalism, voice, effects pedals and a mash-up
of real and made-up languages – she whispers,
bellows, beatboxes, claps, stamps and produces frenzied harmonies – to create music from
scratch. Each Bunty show is different, with
much of her set relying on improvisation and
off-the-cuff inspiration. Bunty flits deftly from
serene choral soundscapes and psych folk to
stomping funkadelia and Arabian disco.
Lόόp (GR, CY)
Lόόp is a musical collective with flutist Stelios
Romaliadis at its centre, in collaboration with
David Jackson (Van Der Graaf Generator), Lisa
Isaksson (Lisa O Piu), Andria Degens (Current
93, Pantaleimon), Lefteris Moumtzis (J. Kriste,
Master of Disguise) and others. The collective has
released two albums, Distress Signal Code (Musea, France) and Meadow Rituals (Experimedia,
USA). Their music is a mix of ambient, psychfolk and neo-classical styles. According to Italian
website OndaRock, Lόόp’s music is “innovative,
discovering what has always been present without
being noticed. It brings to light the subconscious
of European folklore music, doing so in an original, charming and sophisticated way.”
At the Lefkosia Loop Festival, Lόόp performed
material from its two albums as a trio for the first
Greek musical collective Lόόp
time. The trio comprised Stelios Romaliadis,
Lefteris Moumtzis (guitar, vocals) and Sofia Efklidou (cello).
Elektronik Meditation (GR)
Elektronik Meditation is an experimental solo
project by Jannis Anastasakis Marinos. Marinos
played guitar for the band ‘Intravenus’ and is the
creator and designer of Jam Pedals. All of his
sounds and music are produced live, without drum
machines or pre-recorded material, using a unique
collection of mostly homemade effects pedals. Elektronik Meditation creates fresh, unique
sounds that journey from ambient to psychedelic
to entirely new territory.
Raven’s Arm (CY)
Raven’s Arm is a solo project by Cyprus musician
Christopher Malapitan. Malapitan creates melodic
compositions with his acoustic guitar, voice, Cajun drum and loop pedal. As part of the Lefkosia
Loop Festival, he presented a collection of songs
from his upcoming debut album. It was the first
time Malapitan had played the songs live.
Brighton-based musician and visual artist, Bunty
21
The 7th French and Francophone Film Festival
1 March–6 April 2012 at the Cine Studio (University of Nicosia)
T
he French Institute of Cyprus and the
Friends of the Cinema Society, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and
the Embassies of Belgium, Switzerland and
Hungary, presented the 7th French and Francophone Film Festival from 1 March through 6
April 2012 at the Cine Studio at the University
of Nicosia.
The Friends of the Cinema Society was
founded in early 1990 as a nonprofit organisation by a group of people who loved film,
at a time when cinemas in Cyprus were few,
defeated by the omnipotence of video. The
Friends of the Cinema Society took the baton
from the two film societies operating in Nicosia over the past decade, and added a breath
of fresh air to Cypriot cinema, with its contribution of quality, alternative films that go
beyond the narrow confines of commercial
Hollywood blockbusters.
Since its foundation, the Friends of the Cinema
Society conducts regular screenings three times
a week throughout the entire year. With tributes
to filmmakers, various film schools and regular
screenings of quality films, the Society is the
sole provider of education in the art of cinema
in Cyprus, bringing to Cypriot audiences films
from such far-away countries as China, Iran
and Japan.
The Society holds various festivals throughout
the year, including European, French, Spanish
and German, during which it shows award-winning films from around the world.
Thursday 1 March
By Miracle
Directed by: Marinos Kartikkis (Cyprus, 2010,
1.25΄, with French subtitles)
Starring: Eliza Patsalidou, Giorgos Hadjikyriacou, Lefteris Salomidis and Androula Iracleous
Aliki and Andreas, a couple in their thirties,
try to have a baby a year after the death of
their four-year old daughter. Marios, a man
in his late twenties and living with his mother, Demetra, tries to satisfy his sexual needs
through casual encounters with men in the
park. Aliki develops an interest in miracles
when she hears on the news about an icon of
the Virgin Mary believed to weep and perform miracles. Marios becomes interested in
a young man he meets at the pool; Demetra is
constantly concerned about Marios. One day,
while visiting her husband’s grave, Demetra
sees Aliki in front of her daughter’s grave, and
she is intrigued.
The French Institute of Cyprus and the Friends of the Cinema Society, in
collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Embassies of Belgium,
Switzerland and Hungary, presented the 7th French and Francophone Film Festival.
22
Friday 2, Sunday 4, Tuesday 6
and Thursday 8 March
De Vrais Mensonges (Beautiful Lies)
Directed by: Pierre Salvadori (France, 2010,
1.45΄)
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Nathalie Baye and
Sami Bouajila
It’s hard to sustain a relationship, romantic or otherwise, when its foundation is built on lies. Emelie, the co-owner of a hair salon, tosses aside an
innocent, anonymous love letter from the salon
handyman, Jean. She then realises her mother,
Maddy, is due for a romantic lift from a prolonged depression brought on by the departure of
her husband, Marc, who has left her for a younger
woman who becomes his muse, and she passes
the letter on to her. Thus begins a series of contrived misunderstandings and lies built upon lies,
as Emelie pretends to be Maddy’s secret admirer.
Monday 5 March
Formidable Directed by: Dominique Standaert (Belgium,
2008, 1.30΄)
Starring: Serge Larivière and Stéphane De
Groodt
Formidable is about two men in their forties,
both well and truly bonkers. They have nothing in common except that they are lonely and
vulnerable, which makes them susceptible to
each other and brings them together. Mathieu,
unemployed for years, meets Mark, the manager of a safety parts company, whose company
and marriage are not doing well. The two men
decide to leave for the south of France, though
it appears their car has other ideas and strands
them in the middle of nowhere. The fun ensues!
Friday 9, Sunday 11, Tuesday 13
and Thursday 15 March
Mammuth
Directed by: Gustavede Kervern (France,
2010, 1.32΄)
Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Yolande Moreau,
Isabelle Adjani and Benoît Poelvoorde
Serge Pilardosse is about to retire from his job
in a slaughterhouse. How will this man fill his
days once he retires? He has little interest in
reading or in doing odd jobs around the house.
To make matters worse, his wife, Catherine,
who still works in a supermarket, realises Serge
won’t be getting all of his retirement benefits,
23
since some of his former employers failed to
complete the requisite paperwork. So Serge
rides off on his old Munch “Mammut” bike in
search of the missing documents.
Vico, a young African, inherits an alpine pasture in Gruyère. He comes to Switzerland firmly intent on selling the land. Amused to discover the local black market in cheese, he manages
to defy the plans of a local bigwig who is too
sure of his white man’s superiority. Filmed on
location in the home of the famous cheese, this
modern fable takes us behind the scenes of a
Swiss village, a village whose well-oiled mechanisms are suddenly thrown off kilter by a tiny
“grain of sand” from Africa. A humorous and
offbeat look at a clash between two cultures,
L’Héritier portrays Switzerland in a new and
unexpected light.
Monday 12 March
Joueuse (Queen to Play)
Directed by: Caroline Bottaro (France, 2009,
1.40΄)
Starring: Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline and
Valérie Lagrange
Middle-aged chambermaid Hélène’s newfound
obsession with chess inspires her to seek the tutelage of a reclusive American expat, transforming both of their ho-hum lives in the process.
Friday 16 March,
L’Héritier (The Inheritor)
Directed by: Christian Karcher (Switzerland,
2002, 1.39΄)
Starring: Patrick Raynal, Jean-Baptiste Anoumon, Laurent Sandoz and Natacha Koutchoumov
24
Sunday 18, Monday 19, Tuesday 20
and Thursday 22 March
Les émotifs anonymes (Romantics Anonymous)
Directed by: Jean-Pierre Améris (France,
2010, 1.20΄)
Starring: Isabelle Carré, Benoît Poelvoorde
and Lorella Cravotta
What happens when a man and a woman share
a common passion? What happens when a
highly emotional man meets a highly emotional woman? They fall in love. This is what
happens to Jean-René, the manager of a small
chocolate factory, and Angélique, the gifted
chocolate maker he has just hired. They share
the same handicap – both are pathologically
timid, which doesn’t make things easy for
them. Will they manage to get together, join
their solitudes and live happily ever after? One
can only guess.
Friday 23, Sunday 25, Tuesday 27
and Thursday 20 March
L’âge de raison (With Love…From the Age
of Reason)
Directed by: Yann Samuell (France, 2010,
1.37΄)
Starring: Sophie Marceau, Jonathan Zaccaï,
Marton Csokas and Michel Duchaussoy
“Dear Me : Today I am seven years old and I’m
writing you this letter to help you remember the
promises I made, and also to remind you of what
I want to become...” Fast-forward 30+ years to
Margaret, a hard-charging businesswoman who
sells power plants – that contribute to global
warming – to the Chinese. Margaret has looks
that kill and an adoring English lover; she has
everything, in fact, but her freedom. On her 40th
birthday, Margaret receives the first bundle of
letters she wrote to herself when she was seven.
A jumble of colourful collages, photographs, and
wildly creative puzzles, they seem to have come
from an entirely different girl than Margaret. As
her letters to herself continue to arrive, Margaret
finds herself disenchanted. She visits her childhood village and, reconnecting with people who
see in her the girl they once knew, she finds her
way to the woman she vowed to become.
While cleaning offices at night, Gábor learns
a lot about his invisible employers by examining what they leave behind. He is also
a practiced lothario, carefully choosing his
targets, usually disillusioned women – he seduces them and takes their money. An artist
of manipulation with a sharp sense of humour
and the ability to assume different personas,
Gábor finds work in a psychologist’s practice, where he meets Hanna, a 30 year-old
dancer, physically incapacitated and a millionaire’s daughter. She is the ideal victim, if
love doesn’t get in the way.
Friday 30 March, Sunday 1,
Tuesday 3 and Thursday 5 April
Pieds nus sur les limaces (Lily Sometimes)
Monday 26 March
Kaméleon (Chameleon)
Directed by: Krisztina Goda (Hungary, 2008,
1.48΄)
Starring: Ervin Nagy, Gabriella Hamori, Zsolt
Trill and János Kulka
Directed by: Fabienne Berthaud (France, 2010,
1.48΄)
Starring: Diane Kruger, Ludivine Sagnier,
Denis Menochet and Jean-Pierre Martins
Lily is like no one else. She lives in a whimsical universe, in perfect harmony with nature
at her mother’s country house. Her older sister,
25
angle? Is she a plant who will ruin the case? Is
Beauvois just her toy? Is she digging for gold?
Is she genuine? Beauvois loves the wild sex, but
not Audrey’s promiscuity. Has Christophe failed
to protect him?
Clara, married to an up-and-coming attorney,
lives and works in Paris. When their mother
dies, Clara’s life is turned upside down when
she has to leave Paris and her job to look after
Lily. Under Lily’s influence, however, Clara reexamines her life and tastes a new freedom.
Monday 2 April
La fille de Monaco (The Girl from Monaco)
Directed by: Anne Fontaine (France, 2008,
1.35΄)
Starring: Louise Bourgoin, Fabrice Luchini
and Roschdy Zem
A well-known attorney, Bertrand Beauvois, is in
Monte Carlo to defend a businessman’s mother,
accused of murdering a gigolo with ties to gangsters. The businessman provides Beauvois with
a bodyguard, Christophe, who is thorough and
unsmiling. The middle-aged Beauvois is drawn
to Audrey, a free spirited a local TV weather girl
in her twenties who once dated Christophe. Although Christophe warns Beauvois to stay away
from Audrey, Beauvois is hooked, and he spends
every moment he can with her. But what is her
26
Friday 6 April
L’heure zéro (Towards Zero)
Directed by: Pascal Thomas (France, 2006,
1.35΄)
Starring: Danielle Darrieux, Chiara Mastroianni, François Morel and Melvil Poupaud
When Guillaume has the bizarre idea of inviting
his ex-wife, Aude, to a family reunion at the luxurious coastal estate of his wealthy aunt, Camilla,
his tempestuous new wife, Caroline, is consumed
with rage. Guillaume hopes the two women will
become friends, but they despise one another.
Things turn ugly when Camilla is found dead in
her bedroom – only the trusty Inspector Bataille
can put the pieces
together. As the inspector untangles
Camilla’s mysterious death, he also
begins to unearth
dark family secrets,
brewing jealousies
and perhaps even a
murderer in the family’s midst.
Concerts at the Pharos Arts Foundation
The Shoe Factory, Nicosia
T
he Pharos Arts Foundation (www.thepharostrust.org) is a non-profit cultural and educational foundation based in Cyprus dedicated to the
promotion of the arts and humanities. The Pharos
Arts Foundation aims to promote artistic excellence
by bringing audiences in Cyprus into contact with
some of the most exciting and talented musicians
and artists on the Cypriot and international scene.
In the long term the Pharos Arts Foundation aims
to create a permanent home for the arts, culture
and global dialogue in Cyprus, bringing artists,
writers, musicians, composers and philosophers
together for creative expression and exchange,
taking advantage of the island’s unique cultural
and geographic situation on the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa and the European Union’s
south-eastern boundary.
The Chilingirian String Quartet
Thursday 26 January 2012
One of the world’s most celebrated and widelytraveled ensembles opened the Pharos Arts Foundation’s 2012 season. Renowned for its thrilling
interpretations of the great quartets as well as the
commanding performances of the contemporary
repertoire, the Chilingirian Quartet celebrates its 40th
anniversary. Having developed strong bonds with
Cyprus audiences through a number of outstanding
concerts and educational activities throughout the
years, the Chilingirian Quartet joined forces with
young Cypriot clarinettist George Georgiou at a
unique concert of quartets by Ravel and Haydn and
Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet.
The Chilingirian String Quartet is renowned for its
The Chilingirian Quartet joined forces with young Cypriot clarinettist George Georgiou (right) at a unique concert
27
Chilingirian’s educational concert of students of secondary education public schools
thrilling interpretations of the great quartets and for
commanding performances of the contemporary
repertoire. The Quartet comprises Levon Chilingirian (violin), Philip De Groote (cello), Ronald
Birks (violin) and Susie Mészáros (viola), all highlyacclaimed musicians who blend four distinct voices
into a single, extraordinary sound, a sound critics the
world over have heralded as “balanced,” “passionate,” “warm,” “subtle” and “dynamic.”
London has always been a key destination for the
world’s musicians, and it was there, in 1971, that
the four prize-winning musicians of the Chilingirian
String Quartet met and decided to devote themselves
to chamber music. Word of the new quartet spread
rapidly, and within a short time the Chilingirian
String Quartet was acclaimed by critics as an ensemble that would have a major impact on the world
of the string quartet. BBC and World Service broadcasts of the Chilingirian Quartet were soon followed
by invitations to the Aldeburgh, Bath and Edinburgh
festivals, and by invitations to play at concert halls in
European capitals.
In 1976 the Chilingirians made their triumphant debut in New York and became a much sought-after
28
ensemble throughout the USA. The Quartet has
since made more than 15 coast-to-coast tours of the
USA and Canada, while extensive tours in Africa,
Australia, the Far East, New Zealand and South
America have made the Quartet a household name
on every continent.
The Quartet has created an extensive and critically-acclaimed discography of works by Bartok,
Beethoven, Dvorak, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and
other major composers, and has released groundbreaking recordings of masterworks by contemporary composers such as Michael Berkeley, John
Tavener, Michael Tippett and Hugh Wood. The
Chilingirians have also appeared on TV and radio
programs around the world and are currently part of
an ongoing series of broadcasts for the BBC.
In 1988, the group became the first ever Quartetin-Residence at the Royal College of Music, where
it continues to offer master classes to many of the
world’s most promising young musicians. The
Quartet maintains a keen balance between its performance and teaching activities – its residencies
have included the Royal College of Music, Liverpool University and the Norway Chamber Music
Association. The Chilingirians have also established
an exciting connection with Venezuela’s “El Sistema,” world-famous for its Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. The Quartet has been asked to further
the chamber music education of the group’s highly
talented young players by visiting Caracas to teach
and perform with older players, who will pass on
their knowledge to younger colleagues.
Now in its fourth decade, the Chilingirian Quartet
continues to tour, record, and teach, continuing to
add to one of the music world’s most impressive
resumes.
George Georgiou – clarinet
George Georgiou was born in Nicosia in 1984.
He studied the clarinet with Julian Farrell and
Joy Farall at the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama in London, and holds degrees (BMus and
Master in Advanced Instrumental Studies) from
the City University. As a soloist, Georgiou has
appeared with the City University Symphony Orchestra and the prestigious Moscow Virtuosi under the baton of Vladimir Spivakov. He has given
recitals in Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, the UK and
the USA. He has collaborated with a number of
ensembles, including the Apple Hill String Quartet (USA) and the Semplice String Quartet – he
was the ‘Artist in Residence’ at the 2010 Apple
Hill Chamber Music Festival.
Georgiou’s strong interest in contemporary music
has inspired him to premiere a number of works
in Cyprus by Berio, Carter, Mantovani and Stockhausen. He is also a strong supporter of Cypriot
composers and has worked closely with several of
them, premiering their work in Cyprus and abroad.
Georgiou lives in Cyprus, where he works as the
co-ordinator of the Cyprus Youth Orchestra. He is
a member of Amphiliki Ensemble and the Claretini
Quartet and the founder of the Cyprus Clarinet Studio. He was recently appointed the artistic director of
Due Capi Music Agency.
Programme:
Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)
String Quartet in F major (1903)
Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)
String Quartet in D major, Op. 76, No. 5 (1797)
Interval
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581 (1789)
Tchaikovsky Trio
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Since its inception in 1975, the Tchaikovsky
Trio has been the special milestone for the performance of the Slavonic and Russian composers in the genre of chamber music. This
outstanding ensemble appeared in Cyprus for
the first time for a concert that included piano
trios by Tcherepnin, Dvořák and Shostakovich.
Poster for Tchaikovksy Trio Performance
In the long term the Pharos Arts Foundation aims to create a permanent home for
the arts, culture and global dialogue in Cyprus, bringing artists, writers, musicians,
composers and philosophers together for creative expression.
29
Pavel Vernikov, Konstantin Bogino and Anatoly
Liberman formed Tchaikovsky Trio in Moscow
in 1975 (Alexander Chaushian has been the
Trio’s cellist since 2009). A brilliant continuation of the traditions of the Moscow and St.
Petersburg performance schools, Tchaikovsky
Trio has been playing peerless performances
of chamber music works by Russian and Slavic
composers since its inception.
Tchaikovsky Trio has won a series of European
competitions, including the ARD International
Competition in Munich (1979), the Grand Prix of
Vittorio Gui in Florence (1979) and the International J.B. Viotti Competition in Vercelli (1991),
and has participated in such prestigious Festivals
as Menton (France), Santander (Spain), Naantali and Kuhmo (Finland), Brescia/Bergamo and
MITO Torino-Milano (Italy), and the “December Evenings” of Svyatoslav Richter (Moscow,
Russia). The Tchaikovsky Trio has performed at
Salle Gaveau and in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris,
The Tchaikovsky Trio
30
at Wigmore Hall in London, at Teatro alla Scala
and Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, at the Herkulessaal in Munich, at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln
Center in New York, at the Art Center in Seoul,
at Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, at the Big Hall
of the Moscow Conservatory, at St. Petersburg
Philharmonic Large and Small Halls, and at
many other important venues.
As soloists, the three members of Tchaikovsky
Trio regularly collaborate with world-renowned
musicians such as Emmanuel Ax, Yuri Bashmet,
Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Misha Maisky,
Emmanuel Pahud, Anthony Pay, Julian Rachlin,
Maxim Shostakovich, Yuri Temirkanov, Maria
Tipo, Maxim Vengerov and Tabea Zimmerman,
while a special creative friendship binds Tchaikovsky Trio to composer Rodion Shchedrin, who
dedicated his Piano Terzetto for Violin, Violoncello and Piano to the Trio in 1995.
The members of Tchaikovsky Trio are outstanding and internationally-renowned instructors;
they have been invited to teach at esteemed institutions such as the Conservatoire National Superiore of Paris and Lyon, the University and Konservatorium Wien Private University, the Sibelius
Academia (Helsinki), Rubin Academia (Tel Aviv)
and Musikhochschule Stuttgart. In addition to
teaching, each member of the Trio has been a juror at a number of international competitions. As
part of the Pharos Arts Foundation’s Music Education Programme, Tchaikovsky Trio performed
an educational concert for students of secondary
education public schools in Cyprus.
Pavel Vernikov plays Guadagnini’s “Ex Contessa
Crespi ex Brengola” violin (Piacenza, 1747), kindly loaned by the Fondazione Pro Canale Milano.
Programme:
Alexander Tcherepnin (1899 - 1977)
Piano Trio Op. 34 (1925)
Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904)
Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor “Dumky” (1891)
Interval
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975)
Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67 (1944)
Yevgeny Sudbin
Sunday 19 February 2012
After his phenomenal recital for the Pharos Arts
Foundation in 2010, Yevgeny Sudbin returned to
The Shoe Factory for another exciting performance on Sunday 19 February. Hailed by the Daily
Telegraph as potentially one of the greatest pianists of the 21st century, Sudbin performed works
by Scarlatti, Chopin, Liszt, Medtner, Rachmaninov and Scriabin.
-‘Once in a blue moon a record appears by a hitherto unknown artist who seems destined to take his
place among the elect. Both musically and technically, this debut is on a par with those two greatest
of Scarlatti pianists, Horowitz and Pletnev. As eloquent in the most poignant sonatas as he is brilliant
in the showstoppers, Sudbin is already a master.’
Daniel Steans for Piano Magazine
-‘Yevgeny Sudbin is already hailed as potentially
one of the greatest pianists of the 21st century’
The Daily Telegraph
In the midst of 7-year and 14-album collaboration with BIS Records, Yevgeny Sudbin’s recordings have met with overwhelming critical
acclaim. His release of works by Scriabin was
chosen CD of the Year by the Daily Telegraph,
CD of the Month by BBC Music Magazine, and
was awarded the MIDEM Classical Award for
best solo instrument CD at Cannes.
Sudbin has performed in many of the world’s
finest venues, both in recital and with orchestra.
In 2009-2010, Sudbin’s many recitals include
appearances at Tonhalle (Zurich), Wigmore Hall
Master Series (London), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), San Francisco Performances, the Gilmore International Piano Festival, and ProArte
Musical (San Juan, Puerto Rico). Orchestral engagements include performances of Scriabin’s
Piano Concerto with the London Philharmonic
under Neeme Järvi, and Shostakovich Piano
Concerto No. 2 with the Philharmonia under
Sokhiev, both at the Royal Festival Hall in London, and his debut at the Mostly Mozart Festival
under Osmo Vanska at Lincoln Center’s Avery
Fisher Hall, New York.
Other recent engagements with orchestra include
performances with the Minnesota Orchestra,
Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Symphony,
the Tonhalle Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra. Sudbin’s performance of Rachmaninov’s Concerto No. 1 with the BBC Philharmonic under Tortelier at the 2008 BBC Proms was
described by the Daily Telegraph as “sublime.”
Recitals during 2010 included the International
Piano Series at London’s Southbank and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.
Sudbin has performed at music festivals throughout the world including the Aspen Festival, La
Roque d’Antheron, and he is a frequent participant at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. In
2008-2009, Sudbin embarked on recording the
complete cycle of Beethoven concertos for BIS.
31
This is a multi-year undertaking in collaboration
with the Minnesota Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä. His recording of Rachmaninov’s Concerto
No. 4, in its original 1926 version coupled with
Medtner’s Concerto No.2, with the North Carolina Symphony, was enthusiastically received.
Sudbin has recently released a CD a Chopin’s
solo works.
Programme:
Scarlatti: 3 sonatas - K 466, K 455 and K27
Chopin: Ballade No. 3
Liszt: Transcendental Studies, Harmonies du Soir
and F minor
Interval
Medtner: Sonata Tragica
Rachmaninov: 4 preludes
Scriabin: Sonata No 5
Quatuor Tana
Thursday 29 March 2012
Founded in 2005, Quatuor Tana is already considered one of the most exciting string quartets in Europe. This is an ensemble with an original and singular philosophy: to explore and mix different universes of sound in order to invent a unique concert
where the symbiosis of classical repertory and the
masterpieces of the 21st century will exist. At their
concert at The Shoe Factory on 29 March 2012,
Quatuor Tana performed a diverse and interesting
programme consisting of Schubert’s Rosamunde
and Ligeti’s First Quartet, as well the Cyprus Premieres of works by Raphaël Cendo and Yan Robbin, and the World Premiere of a string quartet by
Cypriot composer Andreas Moustoukis.
Chikako Hosoda / violin
Maxime Desert / viola
Jeanne Maisonhaute / cello
A Laureate of the Foundation ProQuartet-CEMC in
Paris, Quatuor Tana has received the guidance and
support of world-renowned maestros such as Walter
Levin, Paul Katz, Louis Fima, Eberhard Feltz, and
Alasdair Tait at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
Quatuor Tana has gained international recognition for its mastery of classical repertory but also
for its tastefulness with regards to the discovery
and promotion of new works. The Quartet has
been repeatedly invited to participate in prestigious international festivals, including Festival
d’Aix en Provence (under the direction of Bernard Fouccroulle), Klara Festival (under the direction of Patrick Declerc), Ars Musica, Festival
de Musique de Saint-Briac, Festival de Musique
de Dinard (under the artistic direction of Koon
Wo Paik), and International Festival «Clé de Soleil» (under the direction of Denis Simandy). In
January 2010 the Tana Quartet was selected to
present the opening concert of the reopening of
the Mediatheque of Paris.
Because of their deep dedication to contemporary
music and longstanding collaboration with composers, the Tana Quartet is supported by a number of
cultural organisations, including SACEM (a nonprofit organisation dedicated to the protection, representation and service of composers and original
music).
Programme:
The Concert was followed by an interactive seminar, on 30 March 2012, at The Shoe Factory, by
Yann Robin and Raphaël Cento. The composers
focused on what is the role of “saturation mode”
in modern music, and explored ways of developing new sounds in music. Quatuor Tana demonstrated examples and explained the role of the
quartet in the creation process.
Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828) - String Quartet No.
13 in A minor, D. 804 « Rosamunde » (1824)
QUATUOR TANA
Antoine Maisonhaute / violin
Andreas Moustoukis - Commission by Pharos Arts
Foundation World Premiere
32
Raphaël Cendo (1975) - In Vivo for String Quartet
Cyprus Premiere
György Ligetti (1923 – 2006) - String Quartet No. 1
Métamorphoses nocturnes (1954)
Yann Robin (1974) - Crescent Scratches No. 2 Cyprus Premiere
Exhibitions at Gallery Kypriaki Gonia
K
nown for representing acclaimed Cypriot
and international artists, Gallery Kypriaki
Gonia
(www.gallerykypriakigonia.com.cy),
the brainchild of artist Nikos Psatharis, exhibits traditional and cutting-edge works of art and
provides consulting services to private and corporate collectors. Approximately 300 local and
international artists have exhibited their work
in solo, group or online exhibitions at the gallery over the last 18 years.
Gallery Kypriaki Gonia is housed in a traditional Cypriot house in Larnaka where Mr
Psatharis exhibited his own work. The house
itself is a work of art – Mr Psatharis lovingly
cares for the house, whose traditional arches,
high roof and big windows he has preserved.
The gallery provides a link between the creator and the public, giving the people of Cyprus
the opportunity to get acquainted with artists
and their work.
The gallery presented two notable exhibitions in
February and March, by artists Glyn Hughes and
Nikos Charous, respectively.
Glyn Hughes
9 – 29 February
Glyn Hughes was born in Wales in 1931 and
studied fine art at Bretton Hall in Yorkshire before coming to Cyprus in 1956. Colour and light
are his key inspiration, which isn’t surprising
since he has spent most of his life living and
working in Cyprus. He came from Wales to take
up a teaching post on the island and, awestruck
by its beauty, he decided to stay and has been
a part of Cypriot culture ever since. In 1960,
he founded the first gallery in Cyprus, the Apophasis Gallery, with established Cypriot artist
Christoforos Savva. In 1971, he created Synergy,
a combined conceptual and environmental art
event, which was held annually until 1974.
Of his early years in Cyprus, he says, “In those
days you could buy earth colours, and I used
them to paint strong abstract shapes, sometimes
adding sand. The landscape was very white, and
the stark contrast of olive trees against the dusty
ground led to a particular use of these earth colours. It was not until I taught children that I dis-
Glyn Hughes
33
covered full colour.”
Besides the inspiration he found in the Cypriot
people and in the landscape, Glyn was also affected by the politics of the country: “We struggled to work and occasionally found that it became impossible to obtain the necessary paint
and canvas. I started to use all sorts of paint and
materials. My work has always been reflective
of the times and, consequently, I have painted a
changing Cyprus, a Cyprus that is continuing to
evolve. Always of the moment, but my art does
seem to capture some timeless quality, too.”
Thessaloniki. Glyn has also lectured extensively
on Cypriot contemporary art, on Berthold Brecht,
William Hogarth, German expressionism and
other subjects. He currently graces the art pages
of the Cyprus Weekly, where he offers his views
on various exhibitions in galleries across Cyprus.
Glyn’s links with Britain are still strong, and he
often travels to London to view exhibitions and
to display his own work.
Nikos Charous
3 – 24 March
There is a unique aspect of vibrancy in the colours Glyn uses, and the way in which his shapes
and textures recur in each image, not quite portraying a direct image but conjuring the sense
and mood of a particular place.
Cypriot artist Nikos Charous’s latest exhibition,
Gorgones (“Mermaids”), comprises 100 pieces
in both acrylic and oil. Each painting tells the
story of a day in the life of a mermaid.
In addition to his painting and teaching, Glyn
has also been heavily involved with the Cyprus
Theatre Organisation (THOC) and has collaborated with German director Heinz Uwe Haus,
both in Cyprus and abroad. He has designed theatre sets and costumes for a variety of plays, from
Ancient Greek tragedies to contemporary works,
and many of the productions for which he has designed sets and costumes have travelled beyond
Cyprus to Athens, Edinburgh, Epidaurus and
Nikos Charous was born in the Aradippou area
of Larnaka in 1958. The ninth of ten children,
Glyn Hughes
34
The collection was inspired by the female form,
and many of the paintings include images of
beautiful sea beds inhabited by mermaids. The
dominant colour in almost every painting is
blue, particularly as it appears under the sea. The
paintings evoke dreams, reflecting both the poetic mood of the artist himself and what he imagines it might be like to live beneath the sea.
Nikos Charous
Nikos commenced his studies at the University
of Fine Arts in Athens in 1980, where he studied
under the Greek artists Dimitris Mitaras and Ilias
Dekoulakos. He has since participated in 23 art
exhibitions, both in Cyprus and abroad. Nikos is
also a poet and recently published a collection of
poems, Musical Love.
The gallery
A result of the deep love for the art is Gallery
Kypriaki Gonia. The owner of the gallery Nikos
Psatharis who studies the Popular Art. He is an
artist himself who organised his ‘place’ in order to exhibit his traditional pieces of art and to
give the chance to the public to get acquainted
with Traditional Art. Later he gave the chance
to other artists to exhibit, and for this reason
an old traditional house was transformed into a
gallery for the needs of this purpose. This new
place is in 45 Stadiou street near the old stadium G.S.Z. (Gymnastic Society Zenon). Very
near is the ancient church of St Lazarus and
in the neighborhood there are many mansions
that remind one of the old beauty of Larnaka.
This stone house, cared for with love, preserves
the traditional arches, the high roof and the big
windows, intact. The place is discreetly orna-
mented by the artist’s creations that add to the
house’s traditional beauty. Since the opening
of the gallery, in January 1993, under the name
Kypriaki Gonia, many remarkable artists have
been hosted.
What is the role of the gallery? It is the link between the creator and the puplic and gives the
chance to the people in Cyprus to get acquainted with the country’s artists, it brings a cultural
breeze to Larnaka. The gallery’s attitude to face
the artists with much respect and responsibility
and keep away from any kind of commercialization, accomplishes its goal.
Dr Tonia Loizou - Art Critic
35
Concerts of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
T
he Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation
was founded in 2006 by decision of the Council of the Ministers, with the aims of developing and
promoting the art of orchestral music, of improving
musical life and education in the country, as well as
the involvement of society in musical activities.
On 1st January 2007, the Foundation undertook the
management of the State Chamber Orchestra and
the State Youth Orchestra (which were renamed
Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and Cyprus Youth
Symphony Orchestra, respectively), with the aim
of further expanding their promotion and activities.
In addition, the Foundation manages the Music
Workshop of the Youth Orchestra, as well as the
Strings Workshop and in collaboration with the
Ministry of Education and Culture, the foundation
also manages the Music Information Centre.
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation is a
not for profit private company. It is managed by a
Board of Directors made up of nine members appointed by the Council of Ministers. Three of the
members are officers of the Ministry of Education
and Culture: the Permanent Secretary, who chairs
the Board; the Deputy Director of Cultural Services and the executive responsible for musical
matters. The remaining six members are drawn
from the private sector.
The main sponsor of the Foundation is the Government, which undertakes all the expenses of the Foundation and the Orchestras. In addition, the Foundation seeks to collaborate with various organisations
in order to achieve a better profile for its activities,
organisation of complex programmes as well as the
further advancement of community interactions.
Since its establishment, the Foundation has to a
large extent progressed its objectives, making its
presence felt both with music lovers and wider
audiences through the concerts and the educational and outreach programmes it organises.
36
‘At whose faucet?’
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra presented
an interesting programme titled “At whose
faucet?” under the music direction of famous
conductor Russell Harris.
With this programme, the audience will had
the opportunity to listen to the work by Cypriot composer Andys Skordis titled “Stin vrysin
ton pion?” (‘At whose faucet?’ from which the
name of the programme is derived) which was
awarded the 2nd prize in the CySO Foundation
Composition Competition 2010 for the 50th anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus. The programme also includes the works Oedipus Tyrannus by MikisTheodorakis. The second half
of the show featured Beethoven’s Symphony
No. 5 which is considered to be one of the most
important works of orchestral music.
The programme comprised two evening concerts on Friday 23 March 2012 at Larnaka Municipal Theatre and on Saturday 24 March 2012
at the Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Nicosia.
THE CONDUCTOR:
Russell Harris was
born in London
where he studied
conducting, composition and piano at
the Royal College
of Music. His teachers included Vernon
Handley, Sir Adrian
Boult, Janos Fürst and Bernard Haitink. After
successfully completing his studies he moved
to Sweden to embark on a long and productive career with the Malmö Opera. It was there
that he established himself as an experienced
conductor of opera, ballet and musicals, not
sic at the Theatre in Altenburg-Gera. His numerous guest appointments have taken him to
all parts of the world, including China, Canada,
France and the USA. In 2003, Russell Harris
was engaged as Chief Conductor of the SouthWestphalian Philharmonic Orchestra. His work
with this orchestra has taken him to some of
the most prominent concert halls in Germany
(e.g., Berlin, Essen, Hamburg and Dortmund).
A memorable highlight was his highly successful concert tour of China in 2007.
The Programme:
Mikis Theodorakis (b. 1925): Oedipus Tyrannus – Ode for string orchestra
Poster for ‘At Whose Faucet’
to mention countless concerts with the Malmö
Symphony Orchestra. Before long, he had conducted practically every orchestra in Sweden.
Scandinavian posts include Musical Director
of the Norrlands Opera, Director of the Nordic
Festival of New Music in Malmö and Principal
Conductor of the Gothenburg Opera. During
this period he was also engaged as conducting
teacher at the Malmö Music College.
In 1985 he made his debut at the Royal Opera
in Stockholm conducting Jean-Pierre Ponelle’s
production of Carmen. This led to many further
appearances there as guest conductor. In 1991
Russell Harris moved to Germany to take up
the post of First Kapellmeister at the German
National Theatre in Weimar. This was followed
by his appointment as General Director of Mu-
Following his arrest by the police in Athens in
1948, Theodorakis was once more sent to Ikaria,
where he set down a large body of musical ideas
inspired by ancient drama and myth. These musical ideas led to his first symphony and to the first
version of Oedipus Tyrannus. Theodorakis revised the work in 1957, dedicating it to his former
teacher, Philoktites Economides, who died that
year. The Ode was performed in 1970 at the Royal Albert Hall by members of the London Symphony Orchestra. Evoking a dark, introspective
mood, this Ode stands as one of the composer’s
consummate works. Contrary to most pieces inspired by their title, it is not guided by a program
or a plan, but rather focuses the listener’s attention
on contemporary thoughts and emotions, setting
Oedipus’ trials and tribulations outside time and
imbuing them with universal meaning.
Andys Skordis: ‘Stin Vrysin ton Pion? (At
whose faucet?)
Andys Skordis was born in Nicosia, Cyprus in
1983. At the age of six, he represented Cyprus
at a European song festival, an experience that
made him enthusiastic and passionate about
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation aims at developing and promoting the
art of orchestral music and improving musical life and education in the country.
37
music. Very soon he began taking guitar, piano,
harmony, ear training and theory lessons to help
him realise music and to expand his musicality
to a further extent. As a teenager he had his own
rock band, “Spirits”, where he played guitar and
composed songs. At the age of twenty, he enrolled at the University of Bridgeport, where he
received a scholarship to study Jazz Guitar Performance. He later attended Berklee College of
Music, where he studied Classical Composition
and Film Scoring with Vuk Kulenovic, Tibor
Pusztai and Yakov Gubanov. During his time
in Boston, Andys composed music for various
short films and for small ensembles. His music
was performed by the Kalistos Chamber Orchestra and the Triple Helix Piano Trio, and the
films he scored were presented in various film
festivals in Europe and the USA. After gaining his BMus in Composition and Film Scoring, Andys worked in Cyprus for a while as a
composer and as a private music instructor, and
later on as a music and English teacher at Xiagnan Experimental School, Changning – China.
During this time, his music was performed by
the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. This particular song, for which he was awarded the prize,
talks about a fountain where, “If you have pain
in your heart, you can drink from it and recover,
and even though this fountain is full of lichens,
its water is good.” These lines have been perceived in different ways by different people,
with the most popular meaning being that no
matter what goes wrong, there is always a simple solution for making things right. In this instance, the solution is drinking water from the
fountain. Although the water may not appear
to be good, the hope of curing oneself brings
the desired results. An uplifting song that audiences are definitely going to enjoy.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827):
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
Though Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony stands as a
milestone in the canon of orchestral music, very
little is known about its creation, apart from cer38
tain unsubstantiated theories. What we do know
is that the four-year span of its composition, beginning in the spring of 1804, was Beethoven’s
most prolific period. The Symphony premiered
on 22 December 1808 at the Theater an der Wien
and, despite an initial resistance, it was soon recognised, according to critic E. T. A. Hoffmann,
as a masterpiece of romanticism ‘that tears the
listener irresistibly away into the wonderful spiritual realm of the infinite’.
It is one of the most popular and best-known
compositions in classical music, and one of the
most often played symphonies. It comprises
four movements: an opening sonata, an andante, and a fast scherzo which leads attacca
to the finale. The Symphony and the four-note
opening motif in particular, are well known
worldwide, with the motif appearing frequently
in popular culture, from disco to rock and roll,
from film and television.
Clarinet Duets with members
of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
Members of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
give regular chamber music concerts every
month in the city centre of Nicosia. On 17
March 2012, Dusco Zarkovic and Angelos Angelides, two clarinetists with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, performed as clarinet duets..
The programme included works by W.A Mozart: the Duet K.378 from the Violin Sonata
No. 26 in C major and the Duet K. 296 from the
Violin Sonata No. 17 in C major.
The concert took place at the Pallas Theatre,
Paphos Gate.
The Programme:
Mozart’s sonatas for violin and keyboard span
a period of about twenty-five years. He had already written a number of violin sonatas in his
childhood, and he first published four of these
Poster for Clarinet Duets
Clarinetist Angelos Angelides
works in 1764. He then published a set of six
sonatas in London, and another six in Amsterdam, in 1766. During his visit at Mannheim, he
composed a further set of four sonatas, and another six sonatas in 1781, including the Violin
Sonata No. 26 in B-flat major, K. 378.
minor subject is soon taken over by an exciting rendition of the refrain in an unexpected
4/4 meter (from 3/8) and fast triplets, before it
submits again back to refrain to conclude the
Sonata.
The work was probably the first sonata of the
set Mozart composed; it was written either
shortly after the composer moved to Vienna (in
1781) or earlier, in 1779, while he was still living in Salzburg. The set was, nevertheless, the
first one Mozart published in Vienna. The first
movement, Allegro moderato, opens the Sonata
with an air of latitude, and a beautiful, powerful
theme, which is soon interrupted by a contrasting hasty subject. The second movement, Andante sostenuto e cantabile, is extremely rich in
its rhythmic material, featuring rising phrases
and dotted figures against triplets. The finale is
a rondo featuring a rhythmically playful refrain
that swirls in descending gestures. Its first G
Mozart composed the Violin Sonata No. 17 in
C major, K. 296 on 11 March 1778, just a few
days before he and his mother left Mannheim for Paris. The work was dedicated to the
extremely talented pupil of Mozart, Therese
Pierron Serrarius, stepdaughter of the Privy
Court Councillor with whom Mozart was living during his stay at Mannheim. The Sonata
is introduced by a spirited subject, which is
further developed later in the movement,
while the second movement, Andante sostenuto, features a number of contrasting ideas.
Giving the two instruments a rather equal role,
the rondo finale exhibits two contrasting subjects – the first one in the key of C major and
the second one in A minor.
39
‘The Bearded Goddess: Androgynes, Goddesses and Monsters
in Ancient Cyprus’ a book by Marie-Louise Winbladh
M
arie-Louise Winbladh is an archaeologist,
author, painter and curator at the Museum of
Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet) in Stockholm, Sweden – her specialty
is the archaeology of Crete and Cyprus. From 1971
until 2001 she was in charge of the famous Cyprus
Collections in Stockholm and organised a number of
important exhibitions of the Collection. She has written several books and has given numerous lectures
about the archaeology, history and religion of Cyprus
and Crete during antiquity.
Professor Winbladh’s latest book, The Bearded
Goddess: Androgynes, Goddesses and Monsters
in Ancient Cyprus, was written in Swedish in 2010
and subsequently translated into English – the book
outlines the archaeology and history of Cyprus from
10.000 BC to today. Professor Winbladh presented
the English version of The Bearded Goddess, published by Cypriot publisher Armida Publications, at
the Nordic Trade Fair at the Amathus Beach Hotel
in Limassol in March of 2012. The book is a short
introduction to the rich and complex religious life of
ancient Cyprus.
rines of women giving birth while seated. Discovered
in tombs, these small idols were placed with the dead
as symbols of rebirth, to guarantee new life.
The Fertility Goddess gradually became Aphrodite,
the goddess of love in Greek mythology – it was believed she was born in the waves and carried to the
beach at what later became Aphrodite’s Rock (Petra
Tou Romiou) in the Paphos region. Much later, during the Bronze Age, new commercial and cultural
connections with other countries brought an influx
of religious ideas and foreign divinities to Cyprus –
in a very Cypriot way, these newcomers were transformed to suit domestic conditions and needs. Thus
we find ourselves in the presence of the Great Goddess of the Near East in the shape of a new type of
Cypriot goddess: she has broad hips, large pointed
breasts and spectacular sexual parts. The oriental
goddess was responsible for the fertility of men and
animals. Both mother and spouse, she was united
with her son in a holy marriage that, in a magical
way, guaranteed the fecundity of nature.
Ancient Cypriots expected their gods to protect the
The “bearded goddess” alludes to ancient texts describing the cult of a bearded Aphrodite. The famous
Ayia Irini (Saint Irene) hermaphrodite pictured on the
cover of the book is sometimes considered to be an
image of Aphroditos, the goddess with a beard. In
ancient Cyprus, the worship of a Fertility Goddess
was an important ritual. The Goddess and her retinue
of deities were worshipped to sustain life – they protected the fields and the animals that enabled human
beings to survive. The cult around this Goddess runs
through the centuries.
Beginning in approximately 6.000 BC, many of the
island’s sculptures were carved with an obvious androgynous or bisexual character. This made the figures very powerful, since their androgyny or bisexuality made them complete and self-sufficient. Some
2.000 years later, some Cypriot sculptors carved figu40
Front Cover of The Bearded Goddess: Androgynes,
Goddesses and Monsters in Ancient Cyprus
course with men who made offerings. Many temples
in the Phoenician colonies in the western Mediterranean, particularly in the harbour towns, were believed
to have created much of their wealth through prostitution. A number of ancient sources have contributed
to a persistent rumour of “sacred prostitution”, which
they describe with disgust.
Marie-Louise Windblah, author of The Bearded Goddess
island’s copper mines, and they venerated the Cypriot
Goddess in a twin cult with a male smithing god –
she was also believed to have a relationship with an
oriental god of war. In Greek mythology Aphrodite
was married to Hephaestos, the blacksmith of the
Gods. Finding her marriage to the unsightly Hephaestos distasteful, Aphrodite commences an affair with
Ares. Hephaestos discovers his unfaithful wife in bed
with her lover, ensnares them both in a chain link net
and drags them to Mount Olympus to shame them
before the gods. It may be that the mythic story of this
ménage a troi is of Cypriot origin.
In 1929 at the famous sanctuary of Ayia Irini, the
Swedish Cyprus Expedition found a crowd of ancient
Cypriots – there were priests and warriors, bulls and
chariots. The Cypriots believed their Goddess dwelt
in the sanctuary at Ayia Irini, and they attended religious ceremonies, including holy banquets, offerings and the burning of incense, throughout the
year. Accompanied by flutes, lyres and tambourines,
they danced around the sacred trees, shaking their
branches, waiting for the epiphany (“manifestation”)
of the Goddess. The air was full of spices, with an
overpowering scent of basil, oregano and thyme, and
the “singing” of cicadas. During the 8th – 5thcentury
BC, the sacred areas of Paphos and other towns were
dedicated to the Phoenician Astarte and, later, to Aphrodite. The aroma in these sanctuaries was heavy with
myrtle, the sacred flower of Aphrodite.
Traditional scholarly opinion maintains there was
prostitution in ancient temples throughout the Mediterranean. Women supposedly served voluntarily in
the sanctuaries of the Goddess, where they had inter-
Cypriot archaeologists at Kition excavated the most
monumental Phoenician Astarte temple ever found.
Redolent with myths and sacred rites, it is easy to stand
amongst the excavated remains at Kition and breathe
the atmosphere of the remote past, when swarms of
devotees travelled to the sanctuary from all over the
Mediterranean. The priests wore the skulls of bulls on
their heads, in an effort to share the life-giving force
and power of the animal with worshippers. The priestess most likely inhaled opium during ceremonies at
the Temple to induce hallucinations and utter the Goddess’s prophesies. From earliest times, opium appears
to have had ritual significance; ancient priests may
have used the drug as proof of their healing power.
The myth of the forbidden love affair between Aphrodite and Adonis may have its origins in the verdant
woods along the eastern hill of Idalion. The most celebrated shrine at ancient Idalion, on the eastern acropolis, was dedicated to the Great Mother, who the Greeks
gradually came to identify with Aphrodite.
The title of The Bearded Goddess refers to the famous Ayia Irini statuette in the Cyprus Collections.
This figure appears to be female, but she has a big
black beard, and her hands are aloft in a gesture of
blessing, like a priest’s; some academics believe the
statuette is a figure of the bearded Aphrodite. The
Bearded Goddess hints at the ancient literary texts
which describe the cult of a bearded Aphrodite or
Venus, a cult perhaps concentrated in the town of
Amathus and with adherents across the island. Later
Greeks, and Romans, identified the Cypriot bisexual
goddess with Aphrodite and Venus, and they engaged
in transvestite rituals in her honour.
In the ancient Mediterranean, the worship of a bisexual goddess seems to indicate that attitudes toward androgynes were far different than they are today. Professor Windbladh’s fascinating book proves modern
man could learn much from prehistory, when people
seemed to have few problems crossing borders.
41
UTOPIA Exhibition
The Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis Foundation
22 March to 17 May 2012
T
he Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis Foundation was founded in November 2001
by Costas, Platon, Marios and Isabella Lanitis.
It has been registered according to the law, as
a non profit organisation, based in Limassol.
The Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis Foundation is managed by the Chairman, Mr Platon E.
Lanitis, and the eleven members of the Board.
It was created in memory of the late Evagoras
Lanitis and aims to continue his social contribution. The Foundation organises and sponsors
cultural and educational events, which promote
human achievements. In the ten years of its
operation the Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis
Foundation has organised a series of events,
such as the exhibitions ‘In the Shadow’s Light’,
‘Lighting the Body of Athletes’, ‘Weaving
Greek Myths’ ‘Hyperlinks’, ‘Terpandros –
Recreations of Ancient Greek Musical Instruments’, ‘Toulouse Lautrec,’ and others.
Acting as the main financier of these events,
the Foundation has collaborated with major
organisations, such as the Olympic Museum
in Lausanne and the Petit Palais Museum of
Fine Arts in Paris. It has also worked in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and
Culture, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, the
University of Cyprus, and others.
Utopia featured new acquisitions from the collection
of Nicos Chr. Pattichis and Phileleftheros newspaper.
Kostis Velonis, Left Wing Melancholy
42
Phanos Kyriakou, Statues in Synergy, 2009
43
Utopia Exhibition
The Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis Foundation
presented the exhibition ‘Utopia’ from March
22 to May 17. Utopia featured new acquisitions
from the collection of Nicos Chr. Pattichis and
Phileleftheros newspaper. The exhibition was
curated by Elena Parpa and Maria Stathi.
Following the first exhibition of work from the
Nicos Chr. Pattichis collection in 2008, Where
Do We Go From Here?, at the Municipal Arts
Centre, Utopia, at the Evagoras and Kathleen
Lanitis Foundation, served as a response to this
question. The search inspired by the persistent
“where” of the 2008 exhibition finally found its
destination in Utopia, whose title signifies not
only the new direction of the Pattichis collection
but also the concerns of contemporary Cypriot
and Greek art. While Where Do We Go From
Here? reflected the involvement of the artists
and the interest of the collector in both form
and representation, Utopia, which celebrated a
recently enriched Pattichis collection, is an exploration of the aim of Cypriot and Greek art-
Savvas Christodoulides, Just Married
44
ists to tackle the crucial issues endemic to our
current political and social reality.
Whether it be the Makarious Nisous (Blessed
Isles) of ancient Greek mythology, the Ithaka
of Odysseus or the elusive utopia of Thomas
Moore’s 1516 book of the same name, the
search for utopia nearly always has an island
as its destination, and artists, philosophers and
poets have long sought eternal happiness and
a fair and just society on its mythical shores.
Islands rarely, if ever, offer salvation. Robinson
Crusoe landed near Trinidad, but Ariadne was
trapped on Crete, Odysseus on the island of Calypso. Cyprus is promoted as the sun-drenched
isle of Aphrodite, and it is often seen as the paradise lost of the West; like every utopia, however, even the most enduring, it is also defined
by its failure. Utopia is an unattainable state, a
non-place – as suggested by the etymology of
the word – built not only with dreams but also
with nightmares; it is the province of mythical
beasts, a place where utter destruction, both
personal and communal, can occur.
In Cyprus, this dystopic reality has many names:
Alexandros Yiorkadjis, Dietro le Palpebre
Constantnos Taliotis, Bad timing, but, thank god, no casualties yet
the Green Line, the Cyprus issue, immigration
problems, uncontrolled urbanisation, the financial crisis...These difficulties inevitably affect
the work of the island’s artists, some of whom
tackle it with optimism, some of whom tackle
it with resignation. Utopia sought to present the
results of their soul searching, all of them new
acquisitions by the Pattichis collection.
The following artists presented work at Utopia:
Klitsa Antoniou, Nikos Charalambidis, Savvas Christodoulides, Kyriaki Costa, Eleni
Economou, Peter Eramian, Elina Ioannou, Soteris Kallis, Phanos Kyriacou, Georgios Lapas,
Maria Loizidou, Panayiotis Michael, Demetris
Neokleous, Christodoulos Panagiotou, Vicky
Perikleous, Polys Peslikas, Socratis Socratous,
Constantinos Taliotis, Lefteris Tapas, Maria
Toumazou, Panikos Tempriotis, Kostis Velonis,
Christos Venetis and Alexandros Yiorkadjis.
Panayiotis Michael, Remember Me
45
Rhea Bailey – “Concerto”
Art and Performance Exhibition
By Kyriakos Charalambides
Editorial Note: Due to a mistake in the layout of
the previous edition of Cyprus Today (October
– December 2011) this article was published as
having been written by Johan Adler. It is reprinted here under the correct name of the author,
Cypriot poet Kyriakos Charalambides.
I
nternationally-acclaimed artist Rhea Bailey is
a child of Nicosia – she hosted her first solo
exhibition in her hometown in 1971. On 22 October 2011, Bailey hosted a performance and
exhibition of her most recent work at the House
of Cyprus in Athens. Currently the Deputy Director General IBC Cambridge for Europe, Bailey continues to inspire and amaze viewers and
critics the world over. Cypriot poet Kyriakos
Charalambides had much to say about her recent
exhibition:
Sea-girt Cyprus, where Apollo has bid me
live” is where the painter Rhea Bailey stands;
this is the precise historical and geographical
point from where she emits her vibration. This
crossroads of civilisations emanates its Greek –
46
therefore ecumenical – identity through the maturing processes of time. This spiralling force,
however, opens up the subterranean routes of
a secret creation which bears the hallmarks of
the Cypriot painter, works that are a complete
composition of light and music, as expressed in
her own painting “concert”. The musicality of
colour is the essential character of Rhea Bailey,
since form – according to Kandinsky, who experienced the music of colours – “is the expression
of inner content”. Every word uttered – ‘tree’,
‘sky’, ‘creature’- creates an inner vibration; the
same happens with every visually-represented
object.
What defines Rhea Bailey’s art is her unique inner vibration which, once expressed, forms circles in the air in imitation of the spiralling of a
sparrow. The essence of her work is manifested
in action – action, in this instance, defined as
conception and performance, both subject to
the influences of ambience, the vibration of the
place, the sense that art is happening in the presence of the public.
The circular placement of Bailey’s polyptyches
is intensified by the live presence of the jurorspectators who are called upon to reach a verdict
on the innocence of art. Rhea Bailey’s compositions require that we approach them in an enlightened state, as far as that is humanly possible. We stand before visual art work of such harmony that it can penetrate the densest surface,
it can dampen the strongest resistance, so long
as we receive the paintings’ cosmic call and become one with them, so long as permit ourselves
to be caught in the maelstrom of their effusive
messages.
Rhea Bailey’s paintings are activated on sight.
Their relationship with the viewer functions on a
purely musical level – this has to be established
from the beginning. It requires a sensitive ear,
the ability to transcribe the infinite onto the scale
of the soul.
At this point it would be appropriate to quote a
parable taken from The Chinese Theory of Art,
a parable attributed to a conversation between
Confucius and one of his disciples.
Tse-Hsia asked, “What does this line mean (from
The Book of Poetry)? It says, ‘How winning her
smiles! How attractive her eyes! And the white
47
(su) makes up the pattern.’”
Confucius replied, “in the art of painting, the
white powder is applied last.”
“Do you mean that the rituals should come last?”
“Oh, Ah-shang, you have suggested a point here.
You are worthy to discuss The Book of Poetry.”
We will tarry no more. We would simply like
to submit to your sensitivities the significance
of penetrating the mystery of artistic creation,
the very making of the cosmos, which is related
as an archetype, to the mystery of Heaven and
Earth. We think her very nature allows Rhea to
achieve such a penetration. Her name is her very
seal. The artist herself explains: “Rhea is the
personification of movement, succession, a lasting quality. “Rhea” comes from the Greek verb
«ρέω» “to flow”, «ρέουσα» “the flowing one”,
«ροή» “the flow”.
The mythological Rhea is associated with the
cycle of life. Her husband, Saturn, swallows his
children to prevent them seizing power from
him. His son, Zeus, however, assisted by his
mother, Rhea, kills Saturn (time) – thus Rhea
eliminates time and makes her son immortal.
The goddess Rhea is the Greek counterpart to
Cybele, the Asiatic goddess of nature: both Rhea
and Saturn (her husband and brother), were the
children of Uranus and the Earth.
To leave myth behind for history, we suggest
that Rhea Bailey is the product of both elements
– both Uranus and the Earth contribute to her
composition, both have claims on her. As an artist, she takes from Earth and transmutes it into
a spiritual, heavenly material. She performs her
duty, undergoes successive transformations, fulfils her destiny...she moves even further, toward
other worlds. This is how she explains it:
In the quest of harmonising opposites, we
meet a third quality – the truth, the point
where microcosm and macrocosm meet,
where the experience of an atom can be the
experience of a universe, where the experience of a single human being can be that of
all humanity. In the quest for the essence beyond form, transformation takes place.
This transmutation leaves its marks on Rhea’s
paintings. They are millions of years old, millions of light years as, behind them, there exists a chain of earth ancestors and a rainbow of
cosmic ancestors, as some thinkers or mystics
“One of the main characteristics of her paintings is the daring with which she places
colour on canvas and the dynamic that this develops schematically.”
Andreas Hadjithomas
48
might describe them. They would emphasise
“the inevitability of our future”, “the complexity of structure”, “the thunder of the echo from
the Universe” and “the delicate nature of energy
which dispenses with every line separating the
natural and the metaphysical world”; they would
emphasise “the realism of true reality”, the point
where everything is, where it all stands, clear
and comprehensible.
This is in complete harmony with the painter’s
metaphysical tendencies, tendencies which
have inspired her to two fully-committed slogans on her studio walls. The first is, “no matter
what the rhythms of the present, the soul has its
own rhythms,” and the second is, “creating new
worlds for future generations.” The latter was
once said of Rhea, and she fully identifies with it.
Rhea throws herself into the fray for the salvation
of the art of painting, a struggle which is inextricably linked with the struggle for an ideal future
state. The theosophical view would describe this
as “a struggle for the multiplicity of stars”, whilst
Christian theology describe it as the establishment
of “the kingdom of Heaven”. Rhea paints, in the
words of the poet Dionysios Solomos, “a beautiful, chaste world, made for angels”.
49
“Rhea Bailey – spontaneity and insight of perennial intuition”
Nea Epohi Cultural Magazine 2011
We must examine Rhea’s paintings in a metaphysical light because they evolve within the
great ocean of life, the source of all insight into
the future. We should talk about the outpouring of colour, about the cleansing and purification brought about by a game of applied cosmic
considerations, a game in which colours, in their
spiralling outbursts, in their flights and flashes,
become channels to higher knowledge. This inner emission of colour – the intellectual vehicle
of Rhea’s works – takes the observer beyond
gravity, provides him with symmetry and brings
along joy.
This is art that is liberated and celebratory. We
would even go further and add that with this art
Rhea discovers the colour of her soul – she flies
to its rhythm, seated on her magical brush. Surely a colour made to dance inside a painting conveys a thousand words – it condenses language.
There is no need, then, to emphasise here how
liberating it is to view Rhea’s polyptyches. At a
time of artificial, heavily made-up paintings and
ideas, at a time when poor workmanship pollutes
our space, Rhea Bailey, labouring on behalf of
harmony, paints her music, always working, at
heart level, on a number of canvases. As her art
evolves, it helps her evolve; it reveals to the artist her new potential. Rhea knows this well.
There is no sense in recycling your work. You
owe it to yourself, if you are a true artist, to move
up the ladder, to evolve, and there is no other
way to accomplish this than through experimentation and risk. To be a vehicle for the laws of
creation, you must dare to challenge them. Attention is necessary at this point, however, so
as not to invite everyone to lash out at you. You
have to measure how much new wave you will
permit, with what rhythm – you have to gauge
how much intensity you will give to the pursuit
of your volition.
Experience, good technique and maturity will
guide you, will help you lead things where you
wish to take them, will help you balance. I remain under the impression that Rhea Bailey has
completed her necessary meditations, that she
has fully constructed and refined her soul’s duct
so she can channel her high artistic spirit through
it. The essence of this is that Rhea does not reject
matter; she attaches herself to it, she draws ideas
from it. She sees possibility in the world and she
moves ahead full of surprises. If Rhea weren’t a
true artist, she couldn’t have described her paintings thusly:
“My paintings begin to live when I observe
them during the day, when I view them at different moment in the sun’s light, directly or
from the side. Electric light kills them. The
paintings have their own light – it comes
from inside them. This is their art, their resistance and their beauty.”
We close with the artist’s own words: “Although
they can stand apart when together, they create a
force which justifies their coexistence.” And our
coexistence with them, we might add.
Translated from the Greek by Lia Vickers
Photos by Christos Avraamides
50
The Kyriazis Medical Museum
The small street where the Museum is located, Karaoli and Demetriou Street, has been nicknamed ‘the Harley Street of Larnaka’
T
he Kyriazis Medical Museum, a new and
unique museum, is now welcoming visitors in Larnaka. The first medical museum in the
Republic of Cyprus, Health Minister Dr Stavros Malas inaugurated the museum in October
2011. The Museum has already collected several
hundred medical items, books, and framed documents pertaining to all aspects of the practice
of Cypriot medicine, from antiquity to the 20th
century, in an effort to safeguard the history and
tradition of the healing arts in Cyprus.
Dr Marios Kyriazis, a descendant of four generations of doctors and pharmacists from Larnaka,
founded the Museum, which is housed in a traditional restored and listed town mansion in the centre of Larnaka near St Lazarus Church – Dr Kyri-
azis donated the house to the Museum. The small
street where the Museum is located, Karaoli and
Demetriou Street, has been nicknamed ‘the Harley Street of Larnaka’. Home to approximately 15
houses, there have been at least eight pharmacists
or doctors on the street at one time or another.
Dr Kyriazis’s substantial donation includes a great
number and variety of books and objects he inherited from his grandfather, Dr Neoclis Kyriazis (18781956), and from his great-grandfather, Dr Antonios
Tsepis (1843-1905), both of whom practiced medicine in Larnaka. Some of these items were unfortunately stolen in 2011 prior to the relocation of the
collection to its Karaoli and Demetriou Street location, but many have been recovered and are now on
display. The police are still searching for a number
51
The ‘iliakos’ or main entrance hall
of missing items, particularly medical texts dating
from the 1840s.
Upon entering the time-honoured ‘iliakos’ (main
entrance hall) of the Museum, visitors can view
framed photographs and illustrations of the practice of medicine through the ages, including amputations, physiotherapy practices by ancient Greek
doctors, medieval medicine and Renaissance treatments. True to the architectural tradition of most
urban Cypriot houses, on either side of the ‘iliakos’
there are four high-ceilinged rooms with wood
floors; originally bedrooms and sitting rooms,
they are now home to the bulk of the Kyriazis collection. At the far end of the iliakos, visitors step
through a stone arch and into a small courtyard
where the Museum hosts lectures and other events.
The house’s neoclassical façade features blue shutters, while the floor of the iliakos is decorated with
ceramic tiles.
Highlights of the collection include a gynaecologi-
Visitors can view framed photographs and illustrations
of the practice of medicine through the ages
cal/surgical table used by one of Larnaca’s doctors
on which thousands of people were born or operated upon – it is estimated that perhaps half of the
original residents of Larnaka received treatment on
the table at one time or another. Another remnant of
surgical practices in Larnaka includes an amputation table and a number of original surgical instruments – the Museum’s mock amputations are sure
to please students and younger visitors.
A number of the displays are old pharmacy cupboards and storage cases. Abandoned for decades
in a crumbling chemist and druggist’s shop on the
same street as the Museum, some of the furniture
was rescued before the final collapse of the building and is now on exhibit, together with original
bottles, tablets, injections, doctor’s prescriptions
etc., from the shop which were collected from a
skip outside the abandoned building. Inspired by
the recovery of these items and the Museum’s efforts to restore and preserve them, several doctors,
Highlights of the collection include a gynaecological/surgical table used by one of
Larnaca’s doctors on which thousands of people were born or operated upon.
52
pharmacists and private citizens have donated both
small and large items to the Museum.
The Museum’s research section is dedicated to
the study of traditional Cypriot medical practice,
quackery, black and white magic, barber-surgeon
treatments, religious therapies, healing prayers,
superstitions and incantations. The Museum hopes
to preserve this information for future generations
of medical scientists and to convey to the public
their sociological, scientific, medical and literary
importance.
Another section of the Museum is dedicated to old
Cypriot poems and curses with medical content,
to remind the people of Cyprus how their medical
and linguistic heritage is intertwined. This portion
of the collection includes sayings and poems of
Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian or Ottoman origin
that pertain to health and medicine, many of them
virtually forgotten. The curators have attempted to
explain the state of mind of the authors, who lived
on the island when it was shaped by a climate of
continual suffering, inadequate medical facilities
and unsophisticated treatment methods. Younger
visitors to the Museum can learn about medicine
as it was practiced in the past and how to apply this
knowledge to modern-day health issues.
The Museum has a ‘hands-on’ philosophy with
regard to visitors, and members of the public can
enjoy unrestricted access to any of the exhibits. The
items can be handled, examined and used, regardless of their age, so visitors can learn how the item
was used. The Museum’s goal is to teach and inform, not just to collect and exhibit.
The Museum is housed in a traditional restored town mansion
in the centre of Larnaca
A gift to the people of Cyprus and to the history
of health and medicine, the Kyriazis Medical Museum is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from
09.00-12.00, other days by appointment. The Museum is located at 35 Karaoli and Demetriou Street,
Larnaka 6021, Cyprus. For more information, the
email address is [email protected].
A number of the displays are old pharmacy cupboards and storage cases
Part of the Kyriazis private collection
53
12th Contemporary Dance Platform
9 – 11 March 2012
O
ne of Limassol’s biggest dance events, the
12th Contemporary Dance Platform hosted
some of the country’s most respected dance artists
for the twelfth consecutive year. Held at the Rialto
Theatre in Limassol and organised by the Cultural
Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture
and the Rialto, the three-day dance affair showcased five performances per evening by local choreographers. The Contemporary Dance Platform
gives modern dance performers an opportunity to
express themselves, and to demonstrate their passion for an art that continues to grow in popularity
in Cyprus; audiences were treated to world class
performances of new trends in dance. The Platform has contributed enormously to the advancement of Dance in Cyprus by exposing works by
artists and different dance groups in the field of
contemporary dance. It reveals the richness of creativity, imagination and determination of the choreographers, as well as the hard work and skills of
the dancers, all of which enable Cyprus Dance to
succeed and prosper. The institution opens, at the
Performers from the 12th Contemporary Dance Platform
54
same time, a window of opportunity for both creators and dancers to overcome linguistic and geographical boundaries and become ambassadors to
the international cultural scene.
Fifteen different dance companies charmed and
provoked audiences at the 12th Contemporary
Dance Platform, taking them on a journey through
a variety of duets, solo pieces and interactive performances significant for their dynamic expression
and movements. The 2012 entries included works
by Alexis Vassiliou; Milena Ugren-Koulas; Marina Poyiadji; Machi Dimitriadou-Lindahl and her
dance company, ‘Asomates Dynameis’ (Bodyless
Powers); Loizos Constantinou; Alexia and Foteini
Perdikaki and their dance company, AELION; Elena Christodoulidou and her dance company, ‘Amfidromo Chorotheatro’; Lia Haraki and her dance
company, ‘pelma.lia.haraki’; Fotis Nikolaou; Alexandra Waierstall and her dance company, ‘Noema
Dance Works’; Harry Koushos; Arianna Economou and her dance company, ‘ECHO ARTS’; Evie
Loizos Constantinou - 4 Red Decibel Melting
Demetriou and her company, ‘En Drasi’; Chloe
Melidou and her dance company, ‘Chorotheatro
Omada Pende’ and Elena Antoniou.
For several years, at the invitation of the organisers, renowned personalities from the international
dance community, including representatives of international festivals and world-renowned choreographers, have come together at the Contemporary
Dance Platform, one of Europe’s largest dance
symposiums, to attend performances and discuss
modern dance with the coordinators and participants. The 12th Contemporary Dance Platform
was attended by such dance luminaries as Victoria
Marangopoulou, Artistic Director of the Kalamata
International Dance Centre; Christiana Galanopoulou, Artistic Director of the MIR Athens Festival; Miki Braniste, Directore of Temps d’Image
Festival of Romania; Tiina Ylönen, Finance and
Administration Manager of the Dublin Dance Festival; Roberto Casarotto, Artistic Director at Oper-
aestate Festival Veneto, Italia; Cosmin Manolescu,
Executive Director of the Gabriela Tudor Foundation in Romania; Stefania Ferchedau, Coordinator
of the European Programme E-Motional Bodies &
Cities; Ilze Zirina, Executive Director of the Association of the Professional Dance Choreographers
of Latvia; Elisabetta Bisaro, Artistic Programme
Manager of Dance Ireland, and Leanne Hammacott, Associate Director/Creative Producer of
body>data>space, UK.
One of the regular participants at the Contemporary Dance Platform is Arianna Economou’s
Echo Arts, which has performed at every platform since 2001. This year they performed ‘No
Land’, an examination of the interactive nature of
place and the human body where, through movement, the body’s taxonomy embodies the fluid
landscapes found wherever the feet touch. Marina
Poyiadji, in collaboration with Treacle Holasz,
premiered ‘Declare What’, a performance by two
The Contemporary Dance Platform has contributed enormously
to the advancement of dance in Cyprus by exposing works by artists
and dance groups in the field of contemporary dance.
55
Milena Ugren Koulas - House of Heaven II
artists who come from different cultural and dance
backgrounds. Poyiadji and Holasz enhanced their
project by enlisting Russian artist Anna Kompaniets and Cypriot artists Christos Avraam (installations) and Marios Takoushis (music).
The 12th Platform’s parallel events included
‘Dance Throughout the Year’, organised by the
Dance House Lemesos, with a performance by
Harry Koushos, ‘Sleeping Beauty’, and a performance by Emily Papaloizou, ‘Minor Cuts’. Roberto Casarotto and Peggy Olislaegers presented a
workshop, and Cosmin Manolescu moderated a
roundtable discussion for all Contemporary Dance
Platform participants. The 12th Platform concluded
with a celebration at the Dance House for participants and friends of dance.
Contemporary dance continues to find its feet in
Cyprus. Across the Republic, dancers are grappling with a whole new set of issues. They are
questioning sources of origin and specific training techniques and skills – they are experimenting with their bodies, in an attempt to craft a new
vocabulary. The Contemporary Dance Platform
was created to help advance dance in the Repub56
lic. Since its establishment over two decades ago,
when it was called ‘Dance Encounters’ and featured just four dance companies, its structure has
evolved tremendously. Every year for the past
12 years, the Contemporary Dance Platform has
given Cypriot dancers the opportunity to serve as
ambassadors to the international cultural scene. It
continues to advance dance in Cyprus by hosting
performances by artists and dance groups from the
entire spectrum of Cypriot contemporary dance.
The Contemporary Dance Platform has become
an institution, one that continues to grow in size
and stature, and an increasing number of Cypriot performers look forward to participating each
year. It draws talent from all over the island to create a vibrant, original and varied programme of
strikingly different dance acts – as many as possible, so that no matter what the audience’s taste,
there is something for everyone to enjoy. Where
contemporary dance was once viewed as a bizarre
series of surreal kinetics displayed on stage, today
its popularity continues to increase; its sheer energy and passion never fail, even in the slightest,
to entertain each and every spectator.
Programme:
Friday, March 9
Nothing to Declare - Alexis Vassiliou - Generation
Y - 20’
Milena Ugren-Koulas - House of Heaven II - 20’
Marina Poyiadji (in collaboration with Treacle Holasz) - Declare What - 10’
Asomates Dynameis – Machi Dimitriadou-Lindahl
- Vardar- 18’
Loizos Constantinou - 4 Red decibel melting - 10’
Saturday, March 10
AELION Dance Company - Alexia Perdikaki - Café
de Flore - 20’
Amfidromo Dance Company - Elena Christodoulidou- A story - 18’
pelma.lia.haraki - Lia Haraki - Tune In - 20’ Fotis Nikolaou - Lamentu- 20’
The Contemporary Dance Platform has become an
institution, one that continues to grow in size and stature,
and an increasing number of Cypriot performers look
forward to participating each year.
Noema Dance Works - Alexandra Waierstall Haze - 15’
Sunday, March 11
Harry Koushos - Could be Anyone - 10’
ECHO ARTS - Arianna Economou- No Land - 20’ En Drasi - Evie Demetriou - Unusual Suspects - 20’
Chorotheatro Omada Pende - Chloe Melidou -Three
Thousand Words - 20’
Elena Antoniou - The meeting - 20’
Dance throughout the Year Friday, March 9 19:00 - Harry Koushos - Sleeping Beauty
Saturday, March 10 19:00 - Emily Papaloizou - Minor Cuts
Sunday, March 11 11:00 - Sharing responsibilities as dance professionals: Roberto Casarotto & Peggy Olislaegers
Closing Party Monday, March 12 Loizos Constantinou - 4 Red Decibel Melting
11:00 - Meet the artists: Roundtable Discussion led
by Cosmin Manolescu
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Events by the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts
T
he Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts (E.KA.TE),
a non-governmental organisation, was established in 1964; its long history of successfully representing the Republic’s professional visual artists
has made it one of the island’s most significant organisations. 48 years since its founding, E.KA.TE
maintains a powerful presence in the Republic’s
cultural activities, contributing decisively to the
evolution of culture in our country.
Inauguration of the New Premises
of the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts
(E.KA.TE) And Exhibition Dedicated
to the Founders of E.KA.TE
“Cypriot artists live intensely through their spiritual and artistic problems and actively participate in
the artistic movement of our country, even if they
are not widely known. Whether they are singing
of Cypriot art or Cypriot nature, whether they are
inspired from our rich heritage, ancient, Byzantine
or contemporary, whether they remember the recent bitter memories, or explore the subconscious,
most comfortably handle an international language and become worthy creators, thus breaking
national and language barriers in order to communicate and move the viewer…”
- Nicos Dimiotis
(Excerpt from his speech as reprinted in the book,
Cypriot Artists, by Chr. Andreou, 1982)
E.KA.TE is a member of the International Association of Art (IAA) and represents the IAA in
Cyprus. Its primary aims are to promote artistic
creation in Cyprus in all fine arts, to support artistic expression, and to protect the rights of Cypriot
artists. The chamber pursues and accomplishes its
mission via the coordinated efforts of its members.
E.KA.TE, independently and in association with
other intellectual and cultural associations, both
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in Cyprus and abroad, hosts and participates in
exhibitions and other art events and international
conferences.
The organisation’s membership currently includes
400 artists from all over Cyprus and continues to
increase by approximately 40 new members annually. Any Cypriot artist can become a member,
after graduating from a fine arts institution, by
presenting samples of his or her work; if the artist
hasn’t graduated with a specific fine arts degree, he
or she can present work to a specially-appointed
committee. Non-Cypriot artists who permanently
reside in Cyprus are also entitled to join E.KA.TE
– the requirements for these artists are the same as
they are for Cypriot artists.
A nine-member Executive Committee oversees
the day-to-day administration of the chamber. Five
of the members of the Executive Committee are
elected by the General Assembly, while the other
four members are appointed during Regional Assemblies held two weeks prior to the General Assembly, which is held every three years.
On 22 March 2012, E.KA.TE moved into a beautifully-renovated space in Old Nicosia. The Nicosia School Board inaugurated the premises, and Dr
George Demosthenous, the Minister of Education
and Culture, gave a welcoming address. As part
of the event, the new E.KA.TE offices hosted a
month-long exhibition in honour of the Chamber’s
founders.
Address by the Minister of Education and Culture, Dr George Demosthenous, at the inauguration of the new premises of E.KA.TE and the
exhibition dedicated to its founders:
It is with great pleasure that I perform tonight’s
inauguration of the Cultural Foundation of the
Greek Schools Committee of Nicosia on Peonos Street. Throughout the course of its history, the Greek Schools Committee of Nicosia
has been inextricably linked with the evolution
On 22 March 2012, E.KA.TE moved into a beautifully-renovated space in Old Nicosia
As part of the event, the new E.KA.TE offices hosted a month-long exhibition in honour of the Chamber’s founders
59
Dr George Demosthenous, the Minister of Education and Culture, gave a welcoming address
of education in our country.
Education in general has always been a source of
national and cultural identity for Greek Cypriots.
Recognizing the relationship between the ‘communicating vessels’ of education and culture, the
Greek Schools Committee of Nicosia ensures the
cultural cultivation of our youth and of the wider
public through a diverse array of activities. The
maintenance and transformation of the building
on Peonos Street – behind the Pancyprian Gymnasium – into the Cultural Foundation is just one of
these initiatives.
The Cultural Foundation has the potential to become a core organisation with a scope broader
than the walled limits of old Nicosia. The Greek
Schools Committee of Nicosia has presented the
house to the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts (E.KA.
TE), which is celebrating its new home with an
exhibition in tribute to the pioneer artists who
founded the Chamber in 1964.
Two generations of artists have joined together
and evolved within the Chamber of Fine Arts. The
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first generation includes the fathers of contemporary Cypriot art, the creators who, with their work,
laid the foundations of the island’s current artistic
path; the second generation were part of the beginning of a new era, an era that saw the establishment of the independent state of Cyprus...an era
when Cypriot art began to assert itself in the global
art scene.
For 48 years, the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts
has been a prime example of the collective expression of our nation’s artists. As a result of a
number of key initiatives, the Chamber has deservedly become the Republic’s partner in matters related to the visual arts, while regularly
coming to the aid of the country’s artists. I am
convinced that E.KA.TE, now based at the Cultural Foundation on Peonos Street, will continue
to contribute to the development of Cypriot culture.
With these remarks, I inaugurate the Cultural
Foundation and the exhibition in tribute to the
founders of the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts.
The Art of Denial
Contemporary Art Exhibition
17-27 March 2012
The Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts, with the support of the Ministry of Education and Culture presented a Contemporary Art Exhibition entitled:
The Art of Denial. The exhibition was inaugurated by the Mayor of Pafos, Mr Savvas Vergas,
on Saturday 17th March 2012, at Haroupomylos
Art Gallery in Kato Pafos.
The Art of Denial exhibition, which was curated
by Tatiana Ferahian, was initiated under the concept of using the power of art to drive home social
messages. Its goal was to challenge local artists
to define their role in the struggle for progressive
social change and, at the same time, to invite and
encourage the general public to encounter, react to
and connect with the artworks and the artists who
created it.
30 artists were selected by members of EKATE
Board Committee Tatiana Ferahian, Nitsa Hadjigeorgiou and Katina Costa.
The Art of Denial
This exhibition serves to change some of the misconceptions about painting and art making in general. It is an overall meaningful pictorial space of
symbolic narratives, with integrity of purpose, and
a voice that speaks out about social injustice. The
artists have ‘looked critically’ into such circumstances, where the perpetrators and/or the victims
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are consciously ‘turning a blind eye’ to a situation,
whatever that situation may be. Therefore, the purpose was not just to present these issues per se, but
by taking the right approach to undo denial, they
have established a metaphorical move away from
a form of self deception.
Using the act of drawing as a tool, for instance,
in her work Anastasia Mina expressively maps
out an obsessive–compulsive behavior of a person in denial, who seems to be driven by intrusive
thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension,
fear or worry. Again, through a spectacle of images and colours, in her mixed media work Anna
Alexandrou depicts the superficial gaiety of the
Circus and its imprudent performers, making a
direct reference to the absurdity and increasing
superficiality of contemporary society. Similarly,
George Achilleos’s work entitled “Rain” expresses a powerful emotion which stems from the
recreation of experiences in the viewer through a
synthesis of striking colours, form, and the artist’s
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inner subjectivity. As for George Gavriel’s oil
painting, “Collapse”, it explores the sinister side
of modern life with a combination of realistic and
metamorphic objects and images. As such, the
work makes an observation of present-day society
with the very same images that helped to formulate and represent that society. In Despina Fysentzou’s “Secret Garden”, the story of the cross tells
of enduring agony, humiliation and suffering;
that psychological load we carry alone. Elena
Kouma’s “Escaping” resembles a labyrinth that
combines the imagery of twirls and spirals into a
meandering but purposeful path. It is a metaphor
for life’s journey; a journey of hope and discovery, and to illumination at the end of the path! In
her impressionistic “Self Portrait” painting, Eleni
Thodoulou explores the relationship between her
inner and outer selves as a way of documenting
her own psychological state and maintaining a
balance between impulse and conscience. In her
work, Elena Christou connects with the nega-
tive, painful, and/or fearful inner emotions as a
way of dealing with emotional wounds, to soothe
the mind and transform the spirit.
You can also see that Elena Chrysanthou’s
“Reel” is all about counterbalancing. Although,
this can be interpreted in two ways: either as influences which oppose and counteract each other, or
as forces which balance one another. Elli Lestas’s
Portrait of “Self” implies that one’s self-image
is much like a self portrait; it is who and what a
person pictures it to be, which may or may not be
an accurate reflection of who they really are. How
they feel about themselves will have a tremendous
impact on how far they go in life, because they
will probably speak, act, and react as the person
they think they are. Eugenia Vassiloydi’s work is
letter based, yet the real subtext is deliberately denied to the viewer. Instead it is presented more like
a cryptogram or a woven visual illusion.
Effi Savvides’s artwork consists of newspaper
cut-outs which highlight immigrants and their illegal activities in Cyprus. The work deals with the
theme “unlawfulness” and the fine line between
survival and the violation of moral principles, ethical standards, and the conventions of society. Theodora Foutrou’s interactive work, in the shape of
a headless bull, portrays the animated behaviors,
customs and performances in a male-dominant
society. In Katia Savvidou’s “IZOI”, the needleworked old images are reminiscent of lives once
lived, experiences once cherished, lessons once
learnt and taught/shared and rippled through society. As if to say that even though we keep seeking
refuge in the old yet there’s nothing like a bit of
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longing to remind us that time is passing; therefore
we should make the most of it.
In “Light-heavy” Kyriaki Costa depicts our most
personal sense, our experience of the world which
can arise out of chaotic situations where physical
sensation meets mental perception. And the mind
has the ability to sum up all of those vibrations into
a perceived “reality”.
Mayia Hadjigeorgiou’s “Empirical Situation”
depicts her experiences that she has accumulated
during her journey to self discovery. Once connected more deeply with her soul, she found herself gaining more inspiration and insights about
her own self and life. In the “God was never on
your side”,
Maria Ioannou questions the presence of the
higher power. As weaving can be a metaphor for
creation, she manages to quite eloquently weave
the pattern of the existing or nonexistent forces
surrounding her through the webs of time. In her
mixed media installation called “Ideograms/re64
flection” Maria Papacharalambous depicts human nature through a triptych of three different
points of perception: from the point of retelling the
past as a verification; from the point of the present
as denial of time and from the point of merging the
present with Happiness.
In her abstract expressionistic painting Maria
Hadjidemetriou uses very few objective details;
instead she relies heavily upon the symbolic colors
black and red to communicate intangible subjects,
such as conflict, loss, grief, and rage.
Marianna Constanti in “Don’t forget to get pregnant”, portrays (or rather ridicules), how social
norms or the often “unwritten rules,” influence
even those preferences considered private, and ultimately shape not just our behavior but also our
attitudes.
Marina Ioannidou’s mixed media painting reminds me of a Harry Crews quote which says,
“There is something beautiful about all scars of
whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the
wound is closed and healed, done with.
“Miriam Mc Connon’s black and white drawing
illustrates a sentimental yearning to return to the
past. The superimposed barb wires on top of her
drawing, however remind us that being nostalgic
for things past can be a dangerous refuge -- an entrapment in an irrecoverable condition. Rinos Stefani’s “Exographies” are a depiction of collective
denial and suffering. As for his “Enantiodromia”
installation, it deals with the dual and conflicting
symbolism of charcoal. While charcoal symbolizes death and destruction, it is in reality metamorphosized wood, therefore it also signifies the
nature of change, and represents the conception of
an energy source or a stimulant. As such, once presented to the public in such a ritualistic traditional
manner, it portrays one’s wish to stimulate and rekindle a dialogue between people with opposing
views. In “the projection” Sakis Doritis portrays
denial on a wider spectrum on the part of couples;
from benign inattention to passive acknowledgment to full-blown, willful blindness! In “Pictorial
Racism”, Sasa Savic portrays the psychological
implications associated with discrimination and
prejudice. Through a manipulated mirror surface,
viewers receive a distorted or rather obscured per-
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ceptual experience and are encouraged to contemplate their own attitudes towards racism. Through
manipulation of shadows, Simoni Symeonidou
in “Freud and Jung” depicts Freud’s hypothesis
on “Denial” and Jung’s theory of the shadowy
unconscious mind consisting of repressed weaknesses and limitations. Likewise, Sofia Papakosta humorously portrays “Prits” or “Pritsis” as the
embodiment of ‘denial’ or the ‘dark’ side of the
psyche; the part of one’s unconscious self that has
been imprisoned against its will. In her “Erasing”
video installation, Sylvia Nicolaides deals with
the concept of existentialism; this refers more to
the mood and thought in the work rather than a
distinctive style. In the installation called
“Coronary Circulation”, Tatiana Soteropoulos
packs long plastic tubes shaped like blood vessels
with images and words derived from newspapers
and magazines, so as to depict the stereotypical
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ways the mass media clogs our judgments. And last
but not least, in “Chest and stone brothers” Chiaki
Kamikawa incorporates pseudo-religious symbols into her work and encourages the viewer to
delve into her world of fantastic visual expression
without any preconceived notions or prejudices!
Artists are not naive. They are aware that they alone
will not change the world directly or immediately.
Neither can anyone else, alone. But people can be
motivated to be part of the world that is changing
(Wallis 1984). That is why this exhibition may in
fact mark the beginning of a new, fruitful period,
and be an example of how creativity can be the
most powerful and sustainable drive for future development of peace and conflict resolution.
Tatiana Ferahian (MLS)
Member of EKATE Board Committee