Cyprus TODAY Volume LI, No 2, April-June 2013 Contents Editorial ..........................................................................................2 International Museum Day ...........................................................4 Makarios and the Fine Arts .........................................................15 The World of Cyprus ...................................................................18 Cyprus Spring ..............................................................................22 Yiannis Katsouris ........................................................................26 Costas Gavras ..............................................................................28 Cyprus Film Days .......................................................................31 George Kepolas ...........................................................................35 Di-Egy Fest ..................................................................................40 Storybox exhibition .....................................................................43 Maria Loizidou ............................................................................46 13th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival ...................48 Gethsemane .................................................................................57 Catharsis/Rebirth .........................................................................60 Coloureceivers exhibition ...........................................................63 Volume LI, No 2, April-June 2013 A quarterly cultural review of the Ministry of Education and Editorial Supervision: Culture published and distributed by the Press and Information Miltos Miltiadou (PΙΟ) Office (PIO), Ministry of Interior, Nicosia, Cyprus. [email protected] Address: Editorial Assistance: Ministry of Education and Culture Maria Lantidou (PΙΟ) Kimonos & Thoukydides Corner, 1434 Nicosia, Cyprus [email protected] Website: http://www.moec.gov.cy Maria Georgiou (PIO) [email protected] Press and Information Office Michaela Mobley Apellis Street, 1456 Nicosia, Cyprus [email protected] Website: http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio Design: GNORA COMMUNICATION CONSULTANTS EDITORIAL BOARD Printed by: Printco Ltd Chairperson: Front cover: Exhibit from Antonis Tziarrides’ Storybox Pavlos Paraskevas, Director of Cultural Services, exhibition at Gallery Kypriaki Gonia in Larnaca Ministry of Education and Culture Chief Editor: Back cover: Scene from Reis Çelik’s fi lm Night of Silence, Jacqueline Agathocleous which won the Best Film Award at the Cyprus Film Days 2013 [email protected] Festival GNORA COMMUNICATION CONSULTANTS PIO 175/2013 - 7.000 (website: www.gnora.com) ISSN (print) 0045-9429 Tel: +357 22441922 Fax: +357 22519743 ISSN (online) 1986-2547 Subscription Note: For free subscriptions please contact: [email protected]. 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Editorial What better way to celebrate art and culture than by looking back on the countless events and exhibitions that took place to mark International Museum Day on 18 May? For 2013, the day was celebrated under the theme Museums (Memory + Creativity) = Social Change, and Cyprus Today was truly spoilt for choice with the island’s wealth of history and abundance of museums and antiquities, ensuring a multitude of special events were on offer. The EOKA Museum in Nicosia took visitors on guided tours, before projecting a short documentary on the national anti-colonial struggle of 1955-1959, while the Byzantine Museum and Art Gallery (Archbishop Makarios III Foun- dation) offered three different educational programmes, all aimed at children. The Cyprus Museum combined celebrations of International Museum Day and European Night of Museums with guided tours of the museum in Greek and English, followed by the exhibition entitled Fragments: Ceramic finds from Byzantine and Medieval Nicosia. One exhibition that was presented on International Museum Day and which will continue throughout the year, is entitled Makarios and the Fine Arts. The exhibition is organised at the Art Gallery of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation as part of a series of events to honour the centenary of the birth of Archbishop Makarios III. For their part, the Cyprus Folk Art Museum and the Kallinikeio Municipal Museum of Athienou embraced the cel- ebrations by holding activities specially dedicated to children as a means to encourage them to participate and create their own art. No cultural publication could possibly be complete without mentioning the return of the great Cypriot painter Ada- mantios Diamantis’ painting The World of Cyprus to its birthplace – the artist’s studio on Onasagorou Street in Nico- sia. The amazing piece of artwork was brought to Cyprus by the Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation. Speaking of significant cultural figures, the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture published a book dedicated to the work of the late Cypriot writer, Yiannis Katsouris. The book and more about the great intellect can be found in our issue. In March, Cyprus was hit with the Eurogroup’s unprecedented decision to dictate a haircut on all bank accounts in the island’s banks with immediate effect. Many saw Cyprus as a “guinea pig” for an EU-imposed experiment and talked about Germany’s infl uence over Cyprus’ fate. Nonetheless, Cyprus Spring 2013, a series of cultural events promot- ing Cypriot artists in Munich, was welcomed with open arms for the eighth year running, proving that the world of art and culture can find opportunity where others see obstacles. The 13th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival went ahead as planned in May, with a baroque recital, piano recital and five further concerts. Theatre lovers got the chance to enjoy the play Gethsemane by famous English playwright David Hare, which was brought to the stage by the Cyprus Theatre Organisation, with parallel shows in Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos. A visit from Costas Gavras, the world-renowned Greek film director could not go unnoticed either, especially when this visit followed the University of Cyprus’ decision to bestow the title of Honorary Professor upon the artist. On the subject of films, cinema lovers got the chance to enjoy outstanding cinematic gems in the 11th edition of Cyprus Film Days 2013, which hit the big screens of Zena Palace Cinema in Nicosia and Rialto Theatre in Limassol in April. A number of the most awarded films of the year alongside new voices and established filmmakers from the international independent cinema were shown, some for the first time. Our issue also takes a look at the work of the well-known mosaic artist George Kepolas, Antonis Tziarrides’ first solo exhibition entitled Storybox, Savvinos Paraskevas’ first solo exhibition Coloureceivers and artist Maria Loizidou’s Collective Autobiography. Cyprus has further participated in the first Digital Art Festival in Egypt – better known as Di-Egy Festival 0.1 – where Cypriot artists Achilleas Kentonis and Maria Papacharalambous presented their work. Our issue wraps with a digital project of work by seven Cypriot artists, entitled Catharsis/Rebirth, which was pro- jected alongside an exhibition by the renowned Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto at the Louvre Museum, France in May, entitled Année1 - Le Paradis sur Terre (Year 1 – Earthly Paradise). 2 Erratum In our previous issue of Cyprus Today (January-March 2013), we mistakenly mentioned that the photo of an embroidered cloth from Phoiti on page 42 (Elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Cyprus) was provided by the Cyprus Handicraft Service Archive of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism. The photo is in fact part of the collection of Maria Eleftheriou Gkafi ero, exhibited at the Cyprus Folk Art Museum – Society of Cypriot Studies. 3 International Museum Day 18 May 2013 yprus’ wealth of history, along with its abun- means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures Cdance of museums and antiquities, ensure the and development of mutual understanding, coop- island generates a plethora of events marking celebra- eration and peace among peoples.” tions of International Museum Day (IMD) organised The IMD theme is proposed by ICOM’s Advisory world-wide around 18 May each year. Given the high Committee and aims to promote museum issues number of countries involved, the events can last a within society. The museum community decided day, a weekend, a week or even a month, yet tradi- to celebrate the day in 2013 around the theme: Mu- tionally IMD is organised on 18 May. seums (Memory + Creativity) = Social Change. The Cyprus Museum arranged a reception and an The Best in Heritage states that “The richness of evening of live jazz in its gardens for the exhibi-