'Divided Memory and Architecture in Nicosia'

One Island, Many Histories : Rethinking the Politics of the Past in Cyprus PRIO CYPRUS CENTER

‘Divided Memory and Architecture in Nicosia’

Anita Bakshi PhD Candidate Department of Architecture Clare College University of Cambridge

28 November 2008

conflictconflict in citiesin cities & the & the contested contested State State www.conﬂictinwww.conﬂictincities.orgcities.org Abstract

Nicosia will soon face serious questions about how its history will be represented in the urban form of the city, especially in terms of preserving, removing, or other- wise synthesizing the differing spatial representations of historical narratives as presented by the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. This paper will propose an approach to the architectural legacy of Nicosia’s divided past based on the recent work of several historians with the concepts of “error” and the creation of historical legend or myth. Rather than ﬁnding inconsistent tales “wrong,”historians, such as Alessandro Portelli, argue that they are valuable in that they allow us to understand the interests, fears, and desires of the tellers. Just as historians are incorporating these “divided memories” into their historical texts, this paper proposes that there is architectural and social value in incorporating these divergent expressions of historical narrative in the future spatial form of the city.

conflict in cities & the contested State www.conﬂictincities.org Introduction

This presentation will propose an approach to the architectural legacy of Nicosia’s divided past based on the 1. “Errors” recent work of several historians, and the potential relevance to an approach to city. Beginning with a discussion of the work of historian Alessandro Portelli, in particular two of his key concepts of the value of “error” and “myth” in historiography and the use of oral history to create a dialogue between the informer and the historian, these terms will be examined in terms of their potential 2. Monologue / Dialogue relevance to the work of planners and architects. In The Reuniﬁed City several possible future scenarios of what may happen to the space of the Dead Zone in the future will be discussed, outlining a suggested framework that might offer another way to approach this space.

3. The Reuniﬁed City ?

4. Conclusion

conflict in cities & the contested State www.conﬂictincities.org “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... Errors, Legends, and Myths 1 The Order has Been Carried Out: History, Memory and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome - Allesandro Portelli In The Order has Been Carried Out: History, Memory and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome, Allesandro Por- telli goes back and reexamines an event that occurred “multi-voiced narrative, a montage of fragments of varying length.” in Italy during the Second World War, and then rewrites its history by putting together differing accounts of what happened. He interviewed over two hundred people, “pervasiveness of erroneous tales, myths, legends, and silences.” and from these interviews has created a “multi-voiced 2 narrative, a montage of fragments of varying length.”1 Throughout this process he is fascinated by the “pervasiveness of erroneous tales, myths, legends, and silences.”2 This work takes a critical look at how historical consciousness is created through individual and collec- tive means. He engages in a thorough investigation of how the Nazi massacre of the Fosse Ardeatine was mis- remembered by outlining the establishment of a widely 3 believed mythology regarding this event.

1 Portelli, Alessandro, The Order Has Been Carried Out: History Memory and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome. conflict in cities & the contested State (New York: Palgrave, 2003) 17. www.conﬂictincities.org 2 Portelli, The Order Has Been Carried Out 16. “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... Perhaps a good way to illustrate this would be to look 1 The Order has Been Carried Out: History, Memory and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome at how Portelli unearths the distortion of time; time – in “errors”.....”le the sense of chronology - generally being considered a - Allesandro Portelli quantitative, not a qualitative ingredient of history. He gends”.....”m examines how people mentally separate the two occur- yths”.....“error rences that constitute the massacre, the partisan attack “multi-voiced narrative, a montage of fragments of varying length.” on the Nazis at the Via Rasella by an Italian anti-fascist s”.....”legends group in which 33 German soldiers were killed, and the “pervasiveness of erroneous tales, myths, legends, and silences.” ”.....”myths”.... consequent retaliation by the Nazis in a mass murder of 335 men and boys, who were not involved in the attack, 2 .“errors”.....”le at the caves of the Fosse Ardeatine. The retaliation took gends”.....”m place after less than 24 hours, but as Portelli was col- lecting oral histories he discovered that most people be- yths”.....“error lieved that it occurred somewhere between three days s”.....”legends to a few months after the attack. ”.....”myths”.... “It isn’t a matter of ignorance, but one of perception and “It isn’t a matter of ignorance, but one of perception and imagination. At a .“errors”.....”le imagination. At a high-level training seminar for foreign 3 high-level training seminar for foreign service diplomats, I asked the same gends”.....”m service diplomats, I asked the same question, and the answers ranged from 2 days to 6 months, averaging 2 question, and the answers ranged from 2 days to 6 months, averaging 2 yths”.....“erro weeks. It was less than 24 hours. This expansion of time in popular belief weeks. It was less than 24 hours. This expansion of rs”.....”legend time in popular belief is the most fascinating memory is the most fascinating memory construct concerning these events. Its most construct concerning these events. Its most immediate immediate consequence is to reinforce the belief in the partisans guilt, by s”.....”myths”. consequence is to reinforce the belief in the partisans imagining that the Nazis had time to publish an appeal ” ....“errors”.....” guilt, by imagining that the Nazis had time to publish an legends”.....” appeal to them.”3 4 myths”.....“err ors”.....”legen ds”.....”myths

conflict in cities & the contested State ”.....“errors”..... 3 Portelli, The Order Has Been Carried Out 155. www.conﬂictincities.org ”legends”.....” “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... This is one example of the way in which “errors” in the 1 “we also know by now that a great deal happened really inside people’s minds, in terms of way that people misremember quantitative fact serve to unearth and elucidate more qualitative details about feelings, emotions, beliefs, and interpretation. For this reason, even errors, inventions, or lies how people were affected by historical events. In the are in their own way forms of truth” example illustrated above the “errors” in the informants’ account reference what is a “response to a deep neces- The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue sity” to make sense of an unintelligible situation by al- - Alessandro Portelli locating responsibility to the partisans for the massacre by believing that the Germans had allowed them time and opportunity to turn themselves in, in order to avoid 2 such a random mass killing, while in fact they had not – the shocked citizens of Rome, including the partisans themselves, had ﬁrst word of the retaliatory massacre the next morning.

Portelli’s other books present a series of examples from his work with oral history which also illustrate the right- ness of wrongs. So Portelli leaves us with the concept 3 that errors made in the telling of history should not be discounted because they actually tell us a lot about the events, people, and societies involved. He puts it plain- ly, stating that “we also know by now that a great deal happened really inside people’s minds, in terms of feelings, emotions, beliefs, and interpretation. For this reason, even errors, inventions, or lies are in their own way forms of truth”4 4

4 Portelli, Alessandro, The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue. (Madison: University of Wiscon- conflict in cities & the contested State son Press, 1997) 64. www.conﬂictincities.org “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... Another perspective on the “truth” of the remembrance 1 “If [the TRC’s] interest in truth is linked only to amnesty and compensation, then it will have of historical events is presented by Antjie Krog in her chosen not the truth, but justice. If it sees truth as the widest possible compilation of people’s book Country of my Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limit of perceptions, stories, myths, and experiences, it will have chosen to restore memory and foster Forgiveness in the New South Africa, documenting her experience as a journalist covering the entire duration a new humanity, and perhaps that is justice in its deepest sense.” of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings from 1995-1998. She writes : Country of my Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limit of Forgiveness in the New South Africa - Antjie Krog “If [the TRC’s] interest in truth is linked only to amnesty and compensation, then it will have chosen not the 2 truth, but justice. If it sees truth as the widest possible compilation of people’s perceptions, stories, myths, and experiences, it will have chosen to restore memory and foster a new humanity, and perhaps that is justice in its deepest sense.”5

5 Krog, Antjie. Country of my Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limit of Forgiveness in the New South Africa. (New York: conflict in cities & the contested State Random House, 1998) 21. www.conflictincities.org “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... Both these statements from Portelli and from Krog begin 1 “If [the TRC’s] interest in truth is linked only to amnesty and compensation, then it will have to touch on the elusive nature of “truth”. In these cas- chosen not the truth, but justice. If it sees truth as the widest possible compilation of people’s es, truth is a much more subjective element, one that perceptions, stories, myths, and experiences, it will have chosen to restore memory and foster is allowed a more evasive outline, when the goal being pursued is something much more complicated than a new humanity, and perhaps that is justice in its deepest sense.” simply pinning down what happened when and where. Oral sources, both in terms of compiling histories or as Country of my Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limit of Forgiveness in the New South Africa testimony, have been criticized for exhibiting selective - Antjie Krog memory and presenting untrue facts. Rather, it can be argued that a deeper understanding of the relevance of 2 historical events to the people involved can be gleaned by stepping away from the precise confines of Truth, “It is asking too much that everyone should believe the Truth Commission’s version of the quite impossible to define anyway, and learning from truth. Or that people should be set free by this truth, should be healed and reconciled. But the way in which people remember events. This has perhaps these narratives alone are enough to justify the existence of the Truth Commission. particular relevance when the events in question are of Because of these narratives, people no longer can indulge in their separate dynasties of a traumatic or contested nature, as at the Fosse Ardea- tine and the many incidents testified to before the TRC. denial.” 3 “It is asking too much that everyone should believe the Country of my Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limit of Forgiveness in the New South Africa Truth Commission’s version of the truth. Or that peo- - Antjie Krog ple should be set free by this truth, should be healed and reconciled. But perhaps these narratives alone are enough to justify the existence of the Truth Commission. Because of these narratives, people no longer can indulge in their separate dynasties of denial.”6 4

6 Krog 112. conflict in cities & the contested State www.conflictincities.org “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... If we are able to now accept Portelli’s assertion that “er- 1 “we also know by now that a great deal happened really inside people’s minds, in terms of rors” are another form of truth, and were to to examine the city of Nicosia and the tales embedded its urban feelings, emotions, beliefs, and interpretation. For this reason, even errors, inventions, or lies are in fabric in the same way that Portelli has painstakingly their own way forms of truth” examined the oral histories that he has accumulated, we would find similar “errors”. First and foremost we HISTORY : excerpts told by the informant / kept in the original voice can look at the entire region of the Dead Zone as such an “error.” With the building of the Venetian Walls the city was based on an ideal form, a geometrical abstrac- tion, but division distorted its natural geometries and the 2 center became instead two peripheries, and the periph- ery splintered off into several fragmented centers. So one might call this resultant form an architectural or urban design error, but what makes the Dead Zone an error in the same sense that Portelli uses the terms “error,” “legend” and “myth” in his discussions of oral history? 3 In this presentation, I am not asserting that the UNBZ is an error in the literal sense of the word. While one could make the case, and many have, that it was a mistake to draw a line, completely separate two communities, and create an artificial no-mans land in the middle of the city, I am not using “error” in that sense for the purposes of this discussion. Rather, it is important to clarify the nature of the correlation that I am drawing between the use of this term to bridge between historical and archi- 4 tectural discourse.

conflict in cities & the contested State www.conﬂictincities.org “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... For Portelli, in work with oral history the term “er- 1 “we also know by now that a great deal happened really inside people’s minds, in terms of ror” refers to something told by the informant in the original voice. His argument is that this “error” has feelings, emotions, beliefs, and interpretation. For this reason, even errors, inventions, or lies are in value and should be included in the work of the histo- their own way forms of truth” rian, along with the facts, because they reach beyond Fact to arrive at Meaning. What I am referring to here HISTORY : excerpts told by the informant / kept in the original voice as Nicosia’s “errors” in spatial terms is the authenticity of the urban interventions that have arisen as a response to the imposed condition of partition of CITY : authenticity of the urban interventions that have arisen as a the city – the architectural feedback of the residents 2 response to the imposed condition of partition of the city to those who created the borders around their lives. These “errors” take diverse forms, from architectural propaganda used for broadcasting slogans to new uses given by residents to spaces in or near the BZ.

[“silences”] ;

3 [“myths / legends”] ;

[“sidesteps”] ;

[“multi-voiced narrative] ; 4

conflict in cities & the contested State www.conflictincities.org “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... What Portelli suggests is that there is value in using ex- 1 there is value in keeping some form of these authentic spatial responses to partition , in “original voice”, cerpts told by the informant, kept in the original voice, in the future reconfiguration that will become a reunited Nicosia. Some of these responses are more ad- in historiographical writing. What I am suggesting here lib than others, some being planned by the state, with others being spontaneous and informal responses is that there is value in keeping some form of these au- that have allowed people to cope with division and manage their daily lives in the context of boundaries. thentic spatial responses to partition , in “original voice”, 106 Contested Spaces in the future reconfiguration that will become a reunited Nicosia. Some of these responses are more ad-lib than others, some being planned by the state, with others being spontaneous and informal responses that have allowed people to cope with division and manage their 2 daily lives in the context of boundaries.

So now that we have a definition in place for the term “error” in relation to historical work and its relevance to the urban sphere, it is possible to now begin to examine the city within this framework and begin to pinpoint the location of urban “errors,” “myths,” and “legends.” 3 These include buildings and spaces that have been cre- Figure 4.2 Missing (photo: © Debbie Lisle) ated by the state authorities. One of the most prominent and noticeable of these would be the large scale where tourists can visit a small installation commemorating those who have gone missing since independence. While there is a short writtenTurkish and TRNC landscape flags created on a moun- explanation for visitors, the memorial is dominated by enlargedtainside black in north Nicosia, located so as to be visible to and white photographs signifying victimization: crying children, surren- dering civilians, weeping wives holding photographs of loved ones,the and Greek Cypriot residents on the other side of the BZ. citizens being rounded up by authorities (Figure 4.2). The overwhelmingThe Greek Cypriots had used the prominent and load- combination of erasure and victimization in the south provides a compelling contrast to the two museums in the North. Certainly thereed isspace at the end of Ledra Street, an important com- evidence of propaganda in the South, but the dominant framing ofmercial the access bisected by the Green Line, to display conflict generates complex modes of avoidance rather than confronta- 4 tion. One either looks back to the heady days of national liberationa inphoto exhibit of the Greek Cypriot missing of 1974. the 1950s, or takes comfort in the powerful language of victimization.Until it was demolished recently, this was also the site Consequently, the cultural institutions in the South carefully position the Greek-Cypriot community as ready for reconciliation becauseof they an observation platform used by tourists to look over do not, for the most part, display explicit demonizations of Turkish Cypriots. Within this kind of framing, the North is positioned as holdingto the other side across the BZ. Subsequent to the re- up the process because they – and their cultural institutions – continuemoval of this platform there has been the creation of a conflict in cities & the contested State to depict the Greek Cypriots as perpetrators of violence, instigators of www.conflictincities.org conflict and ultimately responsible for partition.

April 27, 2007 7:45 MAC/CDS Page-106 0230_013368_08_cha04 “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... to the removal of this platform there has been the crea- 1 there is value in keeping some form of these authentic spatial responses to partition , in “original voice”, tion of a “new” old space between the now open check- in the future reconfiguration that will become a reunited Nicosia. Some of these responses are more ad- points on both sides through the time capsule of this lib than others, some being planned by the state, with others being spontaneous and informal responses section of the Buffer Zone in-between. that have allowed people to cope with division and manage their daily lives in the context of boundaries. 106 Contested Spaces In addition to state sponsored propaganda such as this, there are numerous ad-hoc spaces that have sprung up along the BZ as a response. One such site would be the “Buffer Zone Café,” owned and operated by G-Cs which, up until the early 1990s, served UNFICYP sol- 2 diers monitoring the BZ. There are also areas located inside the Buffer Zone where farmers, from both sides, have continued to cultivate their land. One of the most important spaces located in the Buffer Zone is the Ledra Palace Hotel,now HQ for UN. This site has importance as a bicommunal zone, as well as significance as a site of division, where one’s world came to an abrupt end. 3 What will happen to these sites when the UN moves out Figure 4.2 Missing (photo: © Debbie Lisle) of the Ledra Palace Hotel and when the city is slowly reunified? While they were not necessarily planned for, where tourists can visit a small installation commemorating those who have gone missing since independence. While there is a short writtenthey are now real facts told by the informant (the city) to explanation for visitors, the memorial is dominated by enlargedthe black historian (planner or architect). If we look at discus- and white photographs signifying victimization: crying children, surren- dering civilians, weeping wives holding photographs of loved ones,sions and of other cities, Berlin being an especially good ex- citizens being rounded up by authorities (Figure 4.2). The overwhelmingample of a city once divided and now reunited, we may combination of erasure and victimization in the south provides a compelling contrast to the two museums in the North. Certainly therebe isable to generalize and pull out two opposite attitudes evidence of propaganda in the South, but the dominant framing of the and approaches on the extreme ends. conflict generates complex modes of avoidance rather than confronta- 4 tion. One either looks back to the heady days of national liberation in the 1950s, or takes comfort in the powerful language of victimization. Consequently, the cultural institutions in the South carefully position the Greek-Cypriot community as ready for reconciliation because they do not, for the most part, display explicit demonizations of Turkish Cypriots. Within this kind of framing, the North is positioned as holding up the process because they – and their cultural institutions – continue conflict in cities & the contested State to depict the Greek Cypriots as perpetrators of violence, instigators of www.conflictincities.org conflict and ultimately responsible for partition.

April 27, 2007 7:45 MAC/CDS Page-106 0230_013368_08_cha04 “errors”.....”legends”.....”myths”..... One would say that the Buffer Zone is a mistake, and 1 museumification ( Oradour-sur-Glane ) that when the city is reunified it should be extirpated, bulldozed, and redeveloped to create a new bicommu- development ( Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz ) nal space in the city. This new space could take the shape of a pedestrian zone full of cultural amenities and dialogical approach ( ? ) renovated heritage buildings, or it could be a developer driven space for consumption – similar to Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. On the other extreme would lie the position that the Buffer Zone is a valuable part of the history of the island, and that it should be embraced and pre- 2 served in its entirety. This space could be museumified like at the French site of Oradour-sur-Glane, a village preserved in ruins with a functioning new town beside it, is an example of this approach taken to its extreme conclusion.

Both of these two alternatives have had their own set of problems when applied in the past, both at Berlin and 3 Oradour-sur-Glane. Perhaps there is an alternative way to approach the reuniﬁcation of the city of Nicosia. If we view the city within the framework outlined above, one where the words of the informant and the historian are synthesized to create a history that is inclusive of memory, we may we able to navigate between these two extreme positions, and ﬁnd another way to approach the planning of the UNBZ in the future. 4

conflict in cities & the contested State www.conflictincities.org monologue / dialogue Monologue / Dialogue 1 “A fearful symmetry structures this hierarchic separation between the interviewer’s ideas and “A fearful symmetry structures this hierarchic separation the informant’s account. The fiction of non-interference turns the dialogue into two mono- between the interviewer’s ideas and the informant’s ac- logues: informant’s supply a monologue of brute facts, while historians and anthropologists count. The fiction of non-interference turns the dialogue will supply – later, from the safety of their desks – a monologue of sophisticated ideas that the into two monologues: informant’s supply a monologue informant never hears about.” of brute facts, while historians and anthropologists will supply – later, from the safety of their desks – a monologue of sophisticated ideas that the informant never The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue hears about.”7 2 - Alessandro Portelli While such accounts may outline key facts, giving chron- ological data and some information about the players involved, they do not tell us that much about the desires, dreams, and intentions of the people involved. Work with oral history differs from this in that, as Portelli ex- plains, the informant and the oral historian participate in this process together, engaging in a dialogue rather than 3 two monologues. An excerpt from Papadakis’ Echoes From the Dead Zone perhaps is a good way to begin to illustrate the connection between monologue/dialogue in oral history and how this relates to Nicosia.

7 Portelli, The Battle of Valle Giulia 11. conflict in cities & the contested State www.conflictincities.org monologue / dialogue “One day, I stumbled upon the two [slogans] confronting 1 “One day, I stumbled upon the two [slogans] confronting each other in capitals across the each other in capitals across the Dead Zone. “I DON’T FORGET” in Greek was inside Lefkosia, while in Lefko- Dead Zone. “I DON’T FORGET” in Greek was inside Lefkosia, while in Lefkosa the reply in sa the reply in Turkish went: “WE WON’T FORGET THE Turkish went: “WE WON’T FORGET THE SLAUGHTER EITHER.” They were meant to be read SLAUGHTER EITHER.” They were meant to be read by those on the other side, but since each was written in a language which the other side no by those on the other side, but since each was written in longer understood, the effect was largely lost. Two desperate screams that remained unheard. a language which the other side no longer understood, A wall reflected them back.” the effect was largely lost. Two desperate screams that remained unheard. A wall reflected them back.”8

2 Echoes From the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide - Yiannis Papadakis He also draws a comparison between the Greek Cypriot Museum of National Struggle, and the Turkish Cypriot Museum with the corresponding name. In this quote he describes similarities in the way that the two museums communicate their histories, without ever communicat- ing to each other. 9

8 Papdakis, Yiannis. Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide (I.B. Taurus, 2005) 126. conflict in cities & the contested State 9 Papdakis, Echoes from the Dead Zone 178. www.conﬂictincities.org monologue / dialogue

1 “One day, I stumbled upon the two [slogans] confronting each other in capitals across the What Papadakis describes here are two monologues inscribed in space, broadcast on elements of the urban Dead Zone. “I DON’T FORGET” in Greek was inside Lefkosia, while in Lefkoşa the reply in structure across a spatial divide. When one considers Turkish went: “WE WON’T FORGET THE SLAUGHTER EITHER.” They were meant to be read the definition of monologue as “a prolonged talk or dis- by those on the other side, but since each was written in a language which the other side no course by a single speaker, especially one dominating longer understood, the effect was largely lost. Two desperate screams that remained unheard. or monopolizing a conversation”, it is clear to see how A wall reflected them back.” the above examples could fit into such a definition. Each dominates the conversation by narrating a history that makes no attempt to engage with the other side, not 2 Echoes From the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide - Yiannis Papadakis only the other side of the buffer zone, but also with other groups within each side. “EOKA was spelled out with the photos of the dead heroes on one side, TMT at the other. Old guns EOKA fighters used There can be no dialogue between them because the were shown here to draw the contrast with the modern ones wall in the middle that delineates the Green Line reflects them back. At the present moment, this line is drawn in the British and their Turkish collaborators had access to; the political and physical space that separates two com- hand-made guns Turkish Cypriots used in contrast to real munities. What would happen to this distortion if this 3 ones Greek Cypriots employed were shown in the other. Be- line were gone? If this does indeed become the case, yond their common name, the two museums echoed each then can the Dead Zone become a space for discourse? other in other ways. History was always a history of war; of Just as the practice of oral history as described by Por- men; self-centered; our heroes, their terrorists; no mention telli operates with a process that results in a multi-voiced dialogue, can designers and planners in Nicosia attempt of others suffering; nothing about people killed by people of to do this as well? Not by erasing the two monologues, their own community; nothing about people also living well” but rather, through a process of synthesis, transform the relationship between them. Is it possible to take Echoes From the Dead Zone: architectural and urban structures, thickly embedded in 4 Across the Cyprus Divide the national historical narrative of their respective sides, which currently speak at each other, and create a dia- - Yiannis Papadakis logue between them?

conflict in cities & the contested State www.conflictincities.org thethe reunifiedreunified citycity ?? The Reunified City ? 1 “there’s nothing as invisible as a monument.” Although possible reunification is not clearly in sight, it is important to ask these questions now; to formulate a - Robert Musil strategy about how to deal with the constituent elements of the anticipated future dialogue so that these elements “it may also be true that the surest engagement with memory lies in its are not just swept away by a broad hand clearing the perpetual irresolution. In fact, the best German memorial to the Fascist board for a new “community” space in Nicosia, such as the proposed design for the nearby Eleftheria Square era and its victims may not be a single memorial at all – but simply the where smooth concrete forms temper the existing Vene- 2 never-to-be-resolved debate over which kind of memory to preserve, how tian walls and moat. to do it, in whose name, and to what end.” There will be significant questions about how to com- The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning memorate the legacy of partition of the island, in fact Greek Cypriot president Christofias recently announced - James Young that there are plans to erect a monument to the missing of 1974. Monuments have often been accused of invis- ibility, most famously by Robert Musil who stated that 3 “there’s nothing as invisible as a monument.”10 Oftentimes the debates surrounding their creation can be more stimulating and engaging than the actual monument itself, which may fade into the background of everyday life. In fact, James Young suggests that the monument may not be necessary at all; “it may also be true that the surest engagement with memory lies in its perpetual irresolution. In fact, the best German memo- 4 rial to the Fascist era and its victims may not be a single memorial at all – but simply the never-to-be-resolved debate over which kind of memory to preserve, how to do it, in whose name, and to what end.”11

10 Young, James E., The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning (New Haven:Yale University Press, conflict in cities & the contested State 1993) 13. www.conflictincities.org 11 Young 21. thethe reunifiedreunified citycity ?? A monologue can be easy to ignore, yet as Young sug- 1 “there’s nothing as invisible as a monument.” gests, a debate and a dialogue is something that de- mands attention, and more importantly, engagement with the memory work itself. Perhaps we can look for a - Robert Musil way of allowing the existing urban errors contiguous to the Dead Zone and the commemorative architecture on “it may also be true that the surest engagement with memory lies in its each side of the Green Line to begin this dialogue. perpetual irresolution. In fact, the best German memorial to the Fascist So how do we deal with the open question of how to ap- era and its victims may not be a single memorial at all – but simply the proach the Dead Zone in the future? Will it be developed 2 never-to-be-resolved debate over which kind of memory to preserve, how in a manner similar to Eleftheria Square? Or transformed to do it, in whose name, and to what end.” into a consumer space and site of intense commemoration as in Berlin? Or reformulated as a heritage zone? The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning If we look at the experience of other cities in whose form conflict had manifested itself, we can imagine possible - James Young scenarios for a future reunited Nicosia. The first would be a scenario similar to a 1989 post-reunification Berlin which saw, at the main zone / point of conflict, the devel- 3 opment of an internationalized space for consumerism, as at the formerly divided square of Potsdamer Platz, which erases points of reference to the recent conflict. These are manifested at other former points of contact, distributed along the line of the no longer extant border line, whose trace is at best suggested intermittently, as “open wounds” on the landscape, such as at the To- pography of Terror, and points of intense and concen- trated memorialisation such as at the Memorial to the 4 Murdered Jews of Europe.

conflict in cities & the contested State www.conflictincities.org the reunified city ? “errors”.....”le Berlin offers an interesting example as the rush to thor- 1 gends”.....”m oughly dismantle the Berlin Wall, which once ran for a stretch of 155 kilometers, has been regarded as a mis- yths”.....“erro take by many Germans. A Berlin pastor, Manfred Fischer, rs”.....”legen had been the head of the Parish of Reconciliation until ds”.....”myth it was demolished because of its location in the “death strip,” or no-man’s-zone near the wall. He became well s”.....“errors”. know in 1990 for physically chasing away the bulldozers ....”legends” that came near his Parish’s former location to demolish the wall remnants there. This is because he felt that 2 .....”myths”..... these leftovers would be needed by Berlin’s citizens to “errors”.....”le come to terms with this history. Due to his efforts, the Berlin Wall remains in this particular area are well pre- gends”.....”m served. Another advocate of preserving this heritage yths”.....“erro was well known British architect Richard Rogers, who rs”.....”legend was a member of the post-wall Berlin planning commit- tee. Although he advocated that this “historically unique” s”.....”myths”. structure should be considered as an important element 3 ....“errors”.....” in future planning, his advice was ignored.12 Berlin’s experience with post-conflict reconstruction suggests that legends”.....” hasty decisions about destroying the architectural lega- myths”.....“err cy of partition may merit more consideration. ors”.....”legen ds”.....”myths ”.....“errors”..... 4 ”legends”..... ”myths”.....“er rors”.....”lege

12 Klausmeier Axel, Schmidt Leo, Wall Remnants – Wall Traces: The Comprehensive Guide to the Berlin Wall (Berlin: conflict in cities & the contested State nds”.....”myth Westkreuz-Druckerei, 2005) 8-17. www.conflictincities.org s”.....“errors”... the reunified city ? “errors”.....”le The destruction and rebuilding of architecture is one 1 gends”.....”m media that allows for the execution of the project of re- yths”.....“erro inventing the past in order to build a future based on the interests of the present. Of course, one knee-jerk rs”.....”legen response to reunification is to erase traces of the ar- ds”.....”myth chitectural legacy of partition itself in order to rebuild a less divisive past. Yet removing those authentic traces s”.....“errors”. of the human reaction to the constraints and pressures ....”legends” of partition may result in a loss that may not be imme- diately recognizable, since while the new city must look 2 .....”myths”..... to the future, it must deal with the past as well. In fact it “errors”.....”le was not until the 1980’s, some thirty odd years later, that gends”.....”m young Germans became increasingly interested in the history of National Socialism and its legacy. Only then yths”.....“erro did a movement begin to, literally, unearth this history rs”.....”legend at the site of the former Gestapo Headquarters at the Topography of Terror. Because the site “for this second s”.....”myths”. generation stood for those memories, social hauntings, 3 ....“errors”.....” of a traumatic past that could never be known to them personally. The name [Gestapo Terrain] signified the legends”.....” second generation’s emotional search for a past that myths”.....“err would always be unknown...”13 ors”.....”legen ds”.....”myths ”.....“errors”..... 4 ”legends”..... ”myths”.....“er rors”.....”lege

nds”.....”myth 13 Till, Karen E. The New Berlin: Memory, Politics, Place, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005) 80 conflict in cities & the contested State www.conflictincities.org s”....“errors”..... CHRYSALINIOTISSAREHABILITATION - ARAB CHRYSALINIOTISSA PROCESSAHMET - ARAB AHMET Housing Rehabilitation Programmes the reunified city ? Housing Rehabilitation Programmes Another possible route is one where the revitalization of 1 heritageThe has overall been used toobjective: create a new urban space, one that hearkens to a more distant past and does not Bi-Communal investmentdirectly •projects: addressTo attract the more new recent residents conflict. in The the current strategy old for city urban heritage-based regeneration em- A common tool of implementationbraced by the Nicosia Master Plan Team, with rehabilita- The overall objective: tion projects in several old city neighbourhoods such as Arab Ahmet and Crysaliniotissa, suggests that this may • To attractbetween new residentsREHABILITATING the two insides the be a direction HISTORIC that Nicosia may head AREAS: towards.14 While placingActions: value on historical buildings and protecting tra- 2 old city Omerye -ditional Selimye urban fabric Projectsis a more than worthy endeavour, it by• itselfIncrease may not beof enoughavailable to deal housing with the ghosts of a moreunits recent past. And this is not an inheritance Twin priority projects: that •the city can afford to ignore, but rather the city is the forumProvision in which historical of community disturbances and discord can be processed.facilities Likewise, the extirpation of the Dead Zone• in theImprovement future, in order toof make the roomquality for community of space thatpublic is commercially open spaces driven, may not provide the 3 • Contribute directly to the Projects funded by USAID through UNHCRanswer & UNDP either. Actions: revitalisation of the historic centre • Increase of available housing units Aim : • Provide the opportunity toTo therehabilitate and upgrade the • Provision of community environment of two of the most 4 public sector to act as catalystimportant and historic areas of the facilities stimulate private initiativewalled city Projects funded by the European Union through UNDP/UNOPS

14 http://www.nicosia.org.cy/english/enniaio_proteraitotitas.shtm conflict in cities & the contested State• Improvement of the quality of www.conﬂictincities.org public open spaces Projects funded by USAID through UNHCR & UNDP conclusion 1 Conclusion Much has been written about how the destruction of architecture and cultural heritage is used to physically erase the memory of a people and a community hav- ing existed; the eradication of Jewish synagogues by the Germans, of Palestinian mosques by the Israelis, of Muslim heritage by the Serbians, of Armenian architecture by the Turks, of Tibetan architecture by the Chinese. These attacks on built heritage were an important com- 2 ponent of a plan to erase the presence of the history of a people from the land. Indeed this has been documented as occurring in Cyprus with the vandalization of many of the 502 Greek Orthodox churches located in the north.15 Fortunately, this orientation has shifted under the framework of the Nicosia Master Plan with the regeneration of several historic areas of the city mentioned above. 3 On the other hand, what has not been the subject of such scrutiny is the post-conﬂict destruction of the architectural legacy of partition itself. While this has been somewhat explored in the case of Berlin, especially in terms of the regret of the loss of important sites and the excavation of the Topography of Terror site, it does merit further study since it is clear that the phenomenon of divided cities is not behind us. Some thought should be given to developing an approach to this unique urban 4 condition, and perhaps techniques used by historians in relation to oral sources can begin to give architects and planners some direction towards such an approach.

15 Bevan, Robert, The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War (London: Reaktion Books, 2006) 164. conflict in cities & the contested State www.conflictincities.org conclusion When dealing with troublesome heritage there may be 1 When dealing with troublesome heritage there may be two extreme responses, ranging from complete preser- vation and museumification on the one hand, to a desire two extreme responses, ranging from complete preser- to get rid of this awkward heritage all together in order vation and museumification on the one hand, to a desire to build a future where that trace of the past is not so present and tangible. This issue is of course one that to get rid of this awkward heritage all together in order historians have dealt with quite a bit, and the work of to build a future where that trace of the past is not so historians like Portelli seeks to address this by piecing together a history that includes testimony in the origi- present and tangible. This issue is of course one that nal voice. Architects and planners can borrow from this 2 historians have dealt with quite a bit, and the work of approach to history in terms of the value of including “error” in the original voice and working towards a “dia- historians like Portelli seeks to address this by piecing logue” between the informant (city) and the historian (ar- together a history that includes testimony in the origi- chitect). This approach may allow a manoeuvring away from these extreme responses in order to find another nal voice. Architects and planners can borrow from this more appropriate way to address the planning of the approach to history in terms of the value of including Buffer Zone in the future, planning that does not imme- diately and irrevocably remove traces of a partition that “error” in the original voice and working towards a “di- 3 has been the significant and formative factor in the de- alogue” between the informant (city) and the historian velopment of the city.

(architect). This approach may allow a manoeuvring In the recent past it has become increasingly difficult to away from these extreme responses in order to find an- find a language for commemoration and there has been a growing general dissatisfaction with monuments and other more appropriate way to address the planning of memorials. This “monologue” of commemoration, en- the Buffer Zone in the future, planning that does not im- capsulated in the traditional monument, is problematic. Perhaps the approach of oral history, inclusive and in- mediately and irrevocably remove traces of a partition 4 terpretive of “error”, can offer a new language for com- that has been the significant and formative factor in the memoration that is a “dialogue” of urban memories of Nicosia. development of the city.

conflict in cities & the contested State www.conﬂictincities.org conclusion 1 WORKS CITED Bevan, Robert, The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War. London: Reak- In the recent past it has become increasingly dif- tion Books, 2006.

ﬁcult to ﬁnd a language for commemoration and Cyprus High Commission. Cyprus News, Issue No. 223, 1-31 March 2008. there has been a growing general dissatisfaction Farmer, Sarah, Martyred Village: Commemorating the 1944 Massacre at Ora- dour-sur-Glane. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. with monuments and memorials. This “monologue” “Farming in the Buffer Zone,” The Blue Beret [UNFICYP] Feb-March 2008: 8-9.

of commemoration, encapsulated in the traditional Hadjichristos, Christos “Cyprus: Nicosia and its d-visions.” Architectural Design, 2 monument, is problematic. Perhaps the approach Vol. 76, No. 3 (2006), pp. 12-19. Hocknell, Peter R. Boundaries of Cooperation: Cyprus de facto Partition, and of oral history, inclusive and interpretive of “error”, the Delimitation of Transboundary Resource Management. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2001. can offer a new language for commemoration that is Klausmeier Axel, Schmidt Leo, Wall Remnants – Wall Traces: The Comprehen- a “dialogue” of urban memories of Nicosia. sive Guide to the Berlin Wall, Berlin: Westkreuz-Druckerei, 2005.

Krog, Antjie. Country of my Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limit of Forgiveness in the New South Africa. New York: Random House, 1998.

Papadakis, Yiannis. “Nicosia after 1960: A River, a Bridge, and a Dead Zone.” 3 Global Media Journal: Mediterranean Edition 1 Spring 2006 : pp 1-16.

Papadakis, Yiannis. Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide. I.B. Taurus, 2005.

Portelli, Alessandro, The Order Has Been Carried Out: History Memory and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome. New York: Palgrave, 2003.

Portelli, Alessandro, The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dia- logue. Madison: University of Wisconson Press, 1997. “There was one place left where one could stand with one’s feet on the ground, still inside the Portelli, Alessandro, The Death of Luigi Trastulli and other Stories. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991. 4 island, not on one side, nor on the other, yet in touch with both: the Dead Zone.” Till, Karen E. The New Berlin: Memory, Politics, Place, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. Echoes From the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide - Yiannis Papadakis Young, James E., The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning, New Haven:Yale University Press, 1993. conflict in cities & the contested State www.conﬂictincities.org