Volume L, No 3, July-September 2012 - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Cyprus 

TODAY 

Volume L, No 3, July-September 2012

Contents 

EDITORIAL ....................................................................4 

Kypria International Festival 2012 ...................................6 

Mapping Cyprus: Crusaders, Traders and Explorers ......14 

Maniera Cypria ...............................................................19 

4 th Cypriot Film Directors Festival .................................22 

4 th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival ..28 

16 th International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama .......36 

Cyprus Medical Museum ...............................................41 

Pafos Aphrodite Festival 2012 ........................................44 

Terra Mediterranea-In Crisis ...........................................48 

Cypriot Armenian Artists Exhibition .............................52 

United States of Europe .................................................56 

Bokoros “Odos Eleftherias” ............................................63 

The World Youth Choir in Cyprus ..................................65 

Volume L, No 3, July-September 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. 

Address: 

Ministry of Education and Culture 

Kimonos & Thoukydides Corner, 1434 Nicosia, Cyprus 

Website: http://www.moec.gov.cy 

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: 

Jacqueline Agathocleous 

jacqueline@gnora.com 

GNORA COMMUNICATION CONSULTANTS 

(website: www.gnora.com) 

Tel: +357 22441922 Fax: +357 22519743 

Editorial Supervision: 

Miltos Miltiadou (PΙΟ) 

E-mail: mmiltiadou@pio.moi.gov.cy 

Editorial Assistance: 

Maria Georgiou (PΙΟ) 

E-mail: mgeorgiou@pio.moi.gov.cy 

David A. Porter 

E-mail: mm2pcommunications@gmail.com 

Design: GNORA COMMUNICATION CONSULTANTS 

Printed by: Konos Ltd 

Front cover: General view of the exhibition Maniera 

Cypria: Lemesos, Fabula, Historia, Memoria 

Back cover: A scene from Electra & Orestes at the 16 th 

International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama 

PIO 416/2012 – 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 

The Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2012 features strongly 

in this issue of Cyprus Today, starting off with the KYPRIA 2012 International Festival, which presented 

music, theatre and dance events of considerable renown throughout the island. The Festival started 

off with a concert, Towards a Europe of Peace, by the Cyprus Youth Symphony. 

The easternmost member of the EU, Cyprus, has always been strategically important to foreign powers 

wishing to influence or control the Eastern Mediterranean. The exhibition Mapping Cyprus: 1191-2012 

Crusaders, Traders and Explorers, held at the BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, examined a long 

period in the turbulent history of the island. 

Lovers of antiquities will enjoy reading about the Maniera Cypria exhibition in Limassol, which presented 

archaeological findings unearthed in the district and its vicinity displayed side by side in a fascinating discourse 

with contemporary art at the Evagoras Lanitis Centre. 

This issue also takes a look at the 4 th Cypriot Film Directors Festival, which presented works by seven 

acclaimed film directors. For the first time ever, the screenings took place “under the stars” at the Constantia 

Open Air Cinema. The 4 th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival was dedicated to the 

promotion of new music, both the established masterpieces of the contemporary music literature of the 20 th 

century and a great number of premieres by leading young composers from all over the world who were 

commissioned by the Pharos Arts Foundation to write new works especially for the Festival. 

In July, theatre lovers from around the world attended the 16 th International Festival of Ancient Greek 

Drama 2012. The Festival opened with a production of Agamemnon’s Children by the Hessian State Theatre 

of Wiesbaden, Germany, while other works included Electra and Orestes, The Trial; The Eumenides, 

and Antigone. Also taking pride of place in this issue is the Cyprus Medical Museum, a venture which 

few people took seriously some 25 years ago when the Committee of the Limassol Medical Association 

announced its decision to collect and exhibit antique medical equipment. Thanks to a number of valuable 

donations from doctors and their families, photographs of which are included in this issue, the museum is 

now a reality, bringing an enormous collection of valuable medical artefacts to the people of Cyprus and to 

visitors to the island with an interest in medicine. 

The 14 th Pafos Aphrodite Festival raised its curtain this year on the Slovak National Theatre’s performance 

of Verdi’s Otello, at the Medieval Castle of Pafos in Pafos Harbour. The adaptation of William Shakespeare’s 

tragedy was set at the Castle of Famagusta in the 15 th century, with Otello serving as the recently 

appointed governor of Cyprus. 

Also featured in this issue is the contemporary art program Terra Mediterranea–In Crisis, which included 

a second contemporary art exhibition, [at Maroudia’s], curated by the Re Aphrodite team at the Ethnological 

Museum–House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios. 

The Armenian Representative, Vartkes Mahdessian, organised a unique exhibition within the framework 

of the Cyprus Presidency featuring works by nine Armenian painters and six Armenian photographers. The 

Painting and Photography Exhibition by Cypriot Armenian Artists is also featured in this issue. 

Do you feel European? Does Mr O’Keeffe in Ireland feel more or less European than Mrs Stylianou in 

Cyprus? And if so, why? The United States of Europe (U.S.E) project, presented outdoors at Pharos Arts 

Foundation, offered various reflections on such questions. In another exhibition related to borders, painter 

Christos Bokoros attempted direct conversation with spaces, buildings and roads which are adjacent to or 

which lead to the Green Line in Nicosia with a series of paintings titled “Odos Eleftherias”. 

Finally, for the first time ever in Cyprus, we got the chance to enjoy concerts by the World Youth Choir. 

The choir performed three a cappella concerts, in Pedoulas, in Pafos and in Ayia Napa. 

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Kypria International Festival 2012 

Right from its inception in 1993, the Kypria 

International Festival has provided Cypriots 

and visitors alike with a variety of cultural events 

of the highest possible standard. Launched in a period 

characterised by a drought of important cultural 

events, the Kypria International Festival became the 

catalyst for the creation of an unprecedented cultural 

movement. The Cultural Services of the Ministry of 

Education and Culture continually seek to improve 

and upgrade the Festival, not only the character of 

the programme’s events but also the conception and 

future course of the Festival. 

20 Years of History 

Throughout its twenty-year history, the Festival has 

presented acclaimed Cypriot and foreign artists from 

various disciplines to its audience. The selection 

committee strives to the greatest possible extent to 

make the work of Cypriot artists and groups elemental 

to the Festival while still maintaining its international 

character. 

Over the past two decades, the Kypria International 

Festival has hosted an array of distinguished artists 

and ensembles from the fields of cinema, dance, 

music, theatre and the visual arts. The Festival has 

welcomed esteemed international dance companies 

to its stages, including the Rhine Ballet, the National 

Ballet of Cuba, Omada Edafous by Demetris Papaioannou 

and the Batsheva Dance Company. 

Theatre Performances by Prominent Directors 

Theatre performances by prominent directors 

featuring distinguished actors and theatre groups 

of worldwide renown have always been at the 

forefront of the Festival, including the National 

Theatre of Greece, the Greek Art Theatre of 

Karolos Koun and Spyros Evangelatos Amphitheatre. 

One of the Festival´s most recent highlights 

was John Malkovich´s outstanding performance 

in The Infernal Comedy: Confessions 

of a Serial Killer in 2011. 

William Shakespeare: Pericles 

Celebrated Music Ensembles 

The Kypria International Festival has also hosted 

a number of internationally renowned music 

ensembles, including the English National Symphony 

Orchestra, the Madrigalisti di Venezia, 

the European Union Baroque Orchestra, the Philarmonic 

Chamber Orchestra of Salzburg, the 

Popular Orchestra of Mikis Theodorakis and the 

State Orchestra of Greek Music, conducted during 

its Kypria Festival appearance by Dionysis 

Savvopoulos. 

Programme 

In 2012 the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education 

and Culture maintained the Festival’s high 

standards by creating the following programme: 

Towards a Europe of Peace 

The Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra in collaboration 

with the World Youth Choir. 

Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. 30 and 31 

August. 

6

Love Songs from Smyrna meet Cyprus Tradition 

Moliere: Amphitryon 

The National Theatre of Greece. 

Makarios III Amphitheatre, Strovolos, Nicosia. 7 

September. 

William Shakespeare: Pericles 

The National Theatre of Greece. 



Othello’s Tower in Music: Four Musical Views on 

the Shakespearian Drama 

Featuring works by Dvořák, Khachaturian, Rossini 

and Verdi. 

The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. 

Municipal Garden Theatre, Limassol. 13 September. 

Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. 14 September. 

Mediterranean Express 

A joint production of the music group En Chordais 

and Maria Farantouri. 

The performance highlighted the creative evolution 

of the musical heritage of the Mediterranean 

and its amalgamation with world music and Ethno-Jazz. 


Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 16 September. 

Love Songs from Smyrna meet Cyprus Tradition 

Giannis Kotsiras and the group Estoudiantina with 

the collaboration of Michalis Terlikkas. The concert 

featured works that herald the beginning of “rebetiko” 

and which left their mark on the musical culture 

of the 1920´s. 



Rossini Cards and Cantata 

A Dance performance by Italy´s largest dance group, 

Fondazione Nazionale della Danza Aterballeto. 

7

Rossini Cards and Cantata 

A Slight Risk 


Municipal Garden Theatre, Limassol. 3 October. 

A Slight Risk 

A theatre production by Fresh Target Theatre Ensemble 

inspired by George Seferis´s poem Staperichora 

tis Keryneias (“In the Province of Keryneia”). 

Skali Aglantzias in Nicosia. 3 and 4 October. 

Vasos Argyrides´s Anthology 

A presentation of the composer´s work from 

throughout his 25-year career. 


Strovolos Municipal Theatre, 5 October. 

Michalis Christodoulides´s Porfyromata 

A musical performance by the Diastasis Cultural Association 

featuring the poetry of Hector Patriotis set 

to music by Michalis Christodoulides. 


October. 


The Age of Now 

A concert featuring important Greek and Cypriot 

musicians by the group J. Kriste, Master of Disguise. 

Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 11 October. 

Famagusta Gate Moat, Nicosia. 12 October. 

Iannis Xenakis: Oresteia-Aeschylus Suite 

The Centre of Vocal Arts performed the suite, the 

final event of KYPRIA 2012. Xenakis drew his inspiration 

for the suite from the Aeschylus trilogy of 

the same name. 

Makarios III Amphitheatre, Strovolos. 20 October. 

Further information regarding the KYPRIA 2012 

programme can be found at www.kypria.org.cy. 

Towards a Europe of Peace 

In honour of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of 

the European Union, the Cyprus Youth Symphony 

Orchestra’s programme, which was prepared during 

its International Summer Academy, juxtaposed 

in musical symbolism the catastrophic wars of the 

European past with the emerging brotherhood of nations 

and the hopeful future to which the European 

Union aspires. 

Two evening concerts were given under the direction 

of Ayis Ioannides and soloists Margarita Elia 

(soprano), Vivien Cooksley (mezzosoprano), Kirlianit 

Cortes (tenor) and Russi Nikoff (baritone). 

The concerts took place on 30 and 31 August at 

the Strovolos Municipal Theatre in Nicosia. The 

first part of the programme comprised work by 

Gustav Holst (1874-1934), Mars, The Bringer of 

8

War (from The Planets), and Krzystof Penderecki 

(1933- ), Lacrimosa (Soprano solo: Margarita Elia). 

The second part of the concert included Beethoven’s 

9 th Symphony in D minor, op. 125 (“Choral”). 

The Programme 

Gustav Holst (1874-1934): Mars, The Bringer of 

War (from The Planets). 

The Planets, a suite for large orchestra with seven 

parts, each dedicated to one of the planets, is the best 

known and most popular work of English composer 

Gustav Holst. Written between 1914 and 1916, it 

begins with quiet march rhythms in the uncommon 

measure of 5/4 and threatening motifs in the wind; 

the composer builds enormous, terrifying climaxes. 

Krzystof Penderecki (1933- ): Lacrimosa. 

Polish composer Krzystof Penderecki is one of the 

most important musical figures of our age. He wrote 

Lacrimosa in 1980 for the unveiling in Gdansk, Poland, 

of a memorial to the victims of the brutal suppression 

of anti-government riots in 1970. The work 

was later included in his Polish Requiem, which is 

dedicated to the heroes and victims of wars throughout 

Polish history. 

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony no. 

9 in D minor, op. 125 (“Choral”) 

Beethoven’s 9 th Symphony, completed in 1824, has 

become a key point in musical history, and not only 

because of its universally familiar choral part. In his 

last creative period, the composer abandoned the 

sharp contrasts typical of his middle period. In the 9 th 

Symphony, drama dissolves into lyricism and cantabile 

melody, with its variations constantly acquiring 

greater significance. Truly majestic from every point 

of view is the first movement, in which Beethoven 

makes a giant leap from his previous symphonies. 

Through his combination of a multitude of related 

motifs and a highly differentiated use of the orchestra, 

Beethoven created music of previously unknown 

texture and rhythmic and structural complexity. For 

the last choral movement, Beethoven sets Friedrich 

Schiller’s (1759-1805) Ode to Joy, a poem originally 

written in 1785 for a plaque in a Masonic lodge in 

Dresden, to music. The text is a hymn to the brotherhood 

of mankind under a heavenly God. Beethoven 

brings both universal dimensions and deep mysticism 

to Schiller’s text. The thematic first stanza was 

adopted in 1972 as the European Anthem. 

The Artists 

Ayis Ioannides – Artistic Director and Conductor 

Ayis Ioannides has conducted a wide spectrum of 

musical genres and has received tremendous critical 

acclaim around the world, both as a conductor and 

as a composer. He was a conductor at various German 

opera houses for 10 years. He has been Chief 

Conductor of the Vaasa City Orchestra in Finland 

and the first Artistic Director of the Cyprus State Orchestra. 

He has also been a guest conductor in many 

European countries, as well as in Australia, Egypt 

and the USA. 

After first obtaining his doctorate in neurophysiology, 

Ioannides studied in London at the Guildhall 

School of Music and Drama and at the National 

Opera Studio, and he participated in master classes 

in Austria, the Netherlands and Germany. Especially 

important was the experience he gained under the 

maestros George Hurst, Vilem Tausky, Helmut Rilling 

and Sergiu Celibidache. His compositional activity 

developed especially in the late 90’s, and some 

of his works have been performed in Cyprus, Egypt, 

Austria, France (International Pablo Casals Festival), 

Germany, Finland, Sweden and the USA. 

Ayis Ioannides 

9

Vivien Cooksley – Mezzosoprano 

Vivien Cooksley studied under mezzo-soprano 

Margarita Lilova at the University of Music and 

Dramatic Arts in Vienna, graduating with a Masters 

in Operatic Singing. She has also worked with 

Frank Fanning, assistant to Herbert von Karajan; 

Walter Berry, baritone; Hans Fuchsberger, head of 

music studies at Vienna National Opera, and famous 

voice coach Carol Blaickner-Mayo. Cooksley 

has appeared in major roles at the Verdi Theatre of 

Trieste and at the International Festival St. Margarethen. 

She has also been very active on the concert 

stage, with performances at the Austria National TV 

Centre ORF, and she is a regular guest at the “Musica 

Sacra” in Salzburg. Her appearances with the 

Cyprus Symphony Orchestra include Mozart’s Requiem 

and Schoenberg’s Lied der Waldtaube. 

Kirlianit Cortes 

Margarita Elia 

Russi Nikoff 

Vivien Cooksley 

Margarita Elia – Soprano 

Moscow-born Cypriot soprano Margarita Elia studied 

at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Debrecen, 

Hungary, graduating with a MMus degree in Vocal 

Performance and Education – she then continued 

her studies in London with New York City Opera 

soloist Arlene Randazzo. She was finalist at La Voce 

International Lied Competition 2005 in Bayreuth, 

Germany. Elia has appeared as an opera soloist and 

has performed with renowned orchestras in Hungary, 

Bulgaria, Israel and Puerto Rico, the Moscow Virtuosi 

under Vladimir Spivakov and the Cyprus Symphony 

Orchestra. She has given many world premieres at 

major contemporary music festivals. 

Kirlianit Cortes – Tenor 

Kirlianit Cortes studied singing at the Great Theater 

of Havana and at the University of Antioquia. In 

1998 he was awarded the first prize in the National 

Arts Competition Universidad del Valle, Mexico. 

Cortes continued his studies at the University of 

Music and Performing Arts of Vienna, where he 

obtained the Magister Artium with mezzo-soprano 

Ks. Marjana Lipovsek – he also studied with Ks. 

Margarita Lilova and Ks. Francisco Araiza. In 2004 

Cortes made his debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus 

and Kammeroper. He has performed major roles 

at the Opera Festival of Schärding (Austria), Teatro 

Lirico di Spoleto, Vest Norges Opera of Norway, 

Opera Szczecin in Poland, Bunka Kai Kan, Tokyo, 

Wiener Musikverein and Vienna Volksoper. In 2009 

he won the second prize in the European Tenor 

Contest-Jan Kiepura in Poland. Cortes’s repertoire 

comprises a wide range of sacred and secular choral 

masterpieces; his recordings include Rossini’s 

Il signor Bruschino and La scala di seta and the J. 

Strauss operetta Die Göttin der Venunft. 

Russi Nikoff – Baritone 

Bulgarian baritone Russi Nikoff graduated from 

the Musical Academy “Pancho Vladigerov” specialising 

in Opera Singing. He also worked with 

Tamara Gorinova and attended master classes at 

the European Opera Center; he also attended master 

classes with Renata Scotto, Costas Paskalis and 

Gena Dimitrova. Nikoff also worked in Vienna, 

Austria, where he established a connection with 

Prof. Marta Lantieri (producer and vocal pedagogue) 

and Ks. Krassimira Stoyanova. During his 

second year of college Nikoff made his debut at the 

Burgas Opera, after which he was appointed soloist 

at the Opera. In the following years he gained 

invaluable experience under the guidance of Prof. 

Ivan Vulpe. He has interpreted major roles in many 

theatres in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, England, 

Portugal, Mexico, Hungary, Japan, Egypt and 

Bulgaria, as well as at opera festivals such as Tibor 

10

Varga, Switzerland, “Sankt Margarethen”, Austria, 

and Festival of the Aegean, Syros. 

Othello’s Tower in Music 

The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra - 4 musical views 

on the Shakespearian drama: Dvorak, Khachaturian, 

Rossini and Verdi 

Under the baton of Loukas Karytinos, the Cyprus 

Symphony Orchestra presented the programme 

Othello’s Tower in Music, with four musical views 

on the drama: Dvorak, Khachaturian, Rossini and 

Verdi. 

The programme, which featured soloists Dimitra 

Theodossiou (soprano), Angelo Simos (tenor) and 

Kyros Patsalides (baritone), included the works: A. 

Dvorak, Concert Overture Othello, Op. 93, B. 174; 

A. Khachaturian, Suite from the Music to the Film 

Othello, Op. 87A, Prologue and Introduction; G. 

Rossini, Sinfonia to the Opera Otello, and G. Verdi, 

excerpts from the opera Otello. The concert took 

place on 13 September 2012 at the Municipal Garden 

Theatre in Limassol and on 14 September 2012 

at the Strovolos Municipal Theatre. 

TOWER OF OTHELLO 

The Legend 

The legendary Tower of Othello, situated in Famagusta, 

is named after Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello 

whose events, it is believed, take place there – Shakespeare 

himself mentions “a harbour in Cyprus”. The 

tower is one among several towers along the imposing 

and picturesque walls of Famagusta, which the 

Venetians built when they took Cyprus in 1489 and 

turned Famagusta into their administrative centre 

and general headquarters of the Eastern Mediterranean. 

The winged lion of St. Mark, symbol of the 

Republic of Venice, is carved over the Tower’s gate. 

In Shakespeare’s play, Othello is a Moorish general 

and the commander of Cyprus, appointed by 

the Republic of Venice. The story of Othello, who 

tragically murders his beautiful and innocent wife, 

Desdemona, after being blinded by jealousy through 

the machinations of the diabolical Iago, has inspired 

composers of the classical repertoire to write intensely 

dramatic music in various genres, such as opera, 

soundtracks and orchestral overtures. The Cyprus 

Symphony Orchestra, together with distinguished 

soloists and maestro Loukas Karytinos, presented 

four different musical views inspired by Othello. 

Loukas Karytinos – Conductor 

Loukas Karytinos studied conducting at the University 

of Arts of West Berlin with H. Alendorf 

whilst also attending conducting seminars at the 

Mozarteum in Salzburg. Between 1981 and 1985 

he worked in Germany as Music Director of the 

Sharlontenburg Chamber Orchestra, Berlin, and as 

Director of the Piccolo Teatro Berolino. Since 1985 

he has been the Chief Conductor of the Greek National 

Opera, where he was appointed Music Director 

in 1992; he was also the Opera’s Artistic Director 

from 1999 to 2005. Karytinos has collaborated 

with opera houses worldwide, including houses in 

Berlin, Barcelona, Cologne, Monte Carlo, Detroit, 

Salzburg, Rome, Catania, Modena and Bilbao. He 

has also conducted at international festivals, including 

the Athens Festival, Epidaurus, Arena di Verona, 

Caracalla in Rome, Puccini “Torre di Lago”, Witten, 

Germany and Las Palmas. He has worked with all of 

the orchestras of Greece, the London Philharmonia, 

Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, RSO-Berlin, 

Loukas Karytinos – Conductor 

11

Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra 

The Age of Now 

Suisse Romande, WDR, Bruckner Orchester Linz, 

Oxford Philomusica, Budapest Radio Orchestra and 

others. Outside Europe, he has performed in Korea, 

the USA, Australia, Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia. He 

has received a number of honourary prizes, including 

the Golden Medal of Honour (1989) from the 

Athens Municipality for his “excellent services” in 

music; the Great Music Prize (2008) from the Union 

of Greek Critics for Drama and Music for his 

general contribution to Opera, and the Apollon Prize 

(2010) from the Association of the Friends of the 

Greek National Opera for his overall contribution to 

music. 

Dimitra Theodossiou – Soprano 

The Greek soprano Dimitra 

Theodossiou is considered 

one of the most exciting 

and important voices 

for Verdi and Belcanto- 

Repertoire. The soprano, 

who is studying with Birgit Nickl in Munich, continues 

to confirm her gift for Verdi and Belcanto interpretation 

and her ability to captivate audiences. 

Theodossiou has interpreted the roles of Norma in 

Athens, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, Kassel, and many 

Italian theatres; Leonora (Il Trovatore) at Teatroalla 

Scala in Milan, Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro 

Comunale di Bologna, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 

Arena di Verona, Opera de Monte Carlo, 

Athens, Baltimore and Copenhagen; Desdemona 

(Otello) at Teatro Municipal de São Paulo in Brazil, 

Gran Teatro La Fenice, Teatro São Carlos in 

Lisbon, Herodius Atticus in Athens, Violetta (La 

Traviata) in Athens, Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, 

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Japan and Seoul 

with the Gran Teatro La Fenice. She has worked 

with world-renowned conductors, including Riccardo 

Muti, Roberto Abbado, Gianluigi Gelmetti, 

Marcello Viotti, Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Chailly 

and Pinchas Steinberg. The soprano has won important 

international competitions, such as “Belvedere”, 

“Operalia”, “Viotti” and “Di Stefano”, 

and numerous prizes, including Best Soprano of 

the Verdi Centenary Year 2002 in Milan. Theodossiou 

has recorded more than 13 operas, including 

I Lombardi alla Prima Corciata, La Traviata and 

Il Trovatore by Verdi; Anna Bolena and Lucrezia 

Borgia by Donizzetti, and Norma by Bellini. 

Angelo Simos –Tenor 

Angelo Simos is the stage 

name of Vaghelis Chatzisimos, 

who was born in Athens, 

Greece. Simos started 

his musical education at 

the Peiraikos Syndesmos 

Conservatory, in the singing class of Thalia Moira, 

and graduated with distinction and 1st prize. After 

graduation he attended master classes and private 

lessons with Ileana Cotrubas, Luigi Alva, Costas 

Paschalis and Arrigo Pola. Since 1995 he has been 

a member of the Greek National Opera Ensemble. 

He collaborates regularly with all the major orchestras 

and conductors in Greece (Loukas Karytinos, 

12

Byron Fidetzis, Mikis Michaelides, Miltos Logiadis 

and Alkis Baltas). Simos appears regularly in European 

Opera Houses (Deutsche Oper am Rhein, 

Oper Frankfurt, Staatstheater Mannheim and Sofia 

National Opera). His career highlights include collaboration 

with artists such as Anna Tomowa Sintow, 

Maria Guleghina and Agnes Baltsa, and with 

stage directors such as Dietrich Hillsdorf, Christof 

Loy, Graham Vick and Giancarlo Del Monaco. Simos 

has recorded music by Massenet, Kalomoiris, 

Karrer, Samaras, Mitropoulos and Theodorakis. 

Since October 2011 he has been the Deputy Stage 

Director of the Greek National Opera. He teaches at 

the Ethnikon Odeion and at the Odeion Athenaeum. 

Kyros Patsalides – Baritone 

The baritone Kyros Patsalides, 

one of the most 

important Cypriot artists 

of his generation, enjoys a 

distinguished international 

career. After completing 

studies in Law at the University 

of Athens, he studied 

Singing in Vienna under the guidance of baritones 

Walter Berry and Gottfried Hornik on a scholarship 

awarded by The Music and Fine Arts Foundation of 

Cyprus. Patsalides also studied Lied and Oratorio at 

the Music Academy of Vienna; he studied operatic 

repertoire with Adalberdo Tonini and singing technique 

with Arrigo Pola and Simone Badi in Milan 

and Modena. In 1995 he won the 1st prize in the International 

Song Competition of the Budapest State 

Opera. Patsalides’s repertoire includes roles from 

classical, romantic and contemporary operas and 

oratorio, and he regularly appears at major theatres 

and international festivals, including Vienna State 

Opera, Teatro Filarmonico dell’Arena di Verona, 

National Opera of Greece, Vienna Musikverein and 

Konzerthaus, Berlin Konzerthaus, Athens and Thessaloniki 

Megaron Halls, Wiener Festwochen, Due 

Mondi-Spoleto, Athens International Festival and 

Wratislavia Cantans (Poland). As a soloist he has 

collaborated with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, 

St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, Virtuosi di 

Moscow, Orchestra dell’Arena di Verona, with all 

of the important orchestras in Greece and with the 

Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. Patsalides has been 

honoured by a number of political and cultural institutions 

for his contribution to musical life in Cyprus. 

Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra 

The Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra was founded 

in 1987 as Cyprus State Youth Orchestra – since 

2007 the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra has 

been managed by the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra 

Foundation. The Orchestra gives concerts in Cyprus 

and abroad and participates regularly at official 

events and anniversaries. The annual International 

Summer Music Academy is an extremely important 

part of the Orchestra’s activities. It takes place 

in Pedoulas village with the participation of young 

musicians and distinguished professors from Cyprus 

and abroad. The final concerts of the Summer Academy, 

in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011, were given as 

part of the International Kypria Festival. In 2010 the 

Orchestra participated with great success in the First 

International Youth Orchestras Festival in Constantinople, 

Cultural Capital of Europe 2010. 

World Youth Choir 

The World Youth Choir (WYC) is original in its 

concept. The Choir brings together talented young 

singers aged 17-26 from all over the world each 

year. Since its establishment in 1989, the WYC has 

established itself as one of the most remarkable musical 

and intercultural experiences offered to young 

musicians; the Choir meets annually for intense rehearsals 

followed by an international concert tour. 

The diversity of the Choir’s conductors and its repertoire 

reflects the cultural diversity of its singers. 

The WYC is a project of the World Youth Choir 

Foundation, which counts among its patrons the International 

Federation for Choral Music, the European 

Choral Association-Europa Cantat and the Jeunesses 

Musicales International. In 1996, UNESCO 

honoured the WYC by naming the Choir an Artist 

for Peace, recognising the WYC’s success as a platform 

for intercultural dialogue through music. The 

WYC participated at the Nobel Peace Prize award 

ceremony on 10 December 2011 and the Nobel 

Peace Prize Concert held in Oslo on 11 December, 

the annual musical tribute to the year’s Nobel Peace 

Prize laureate. 

13

Mapping Cyprus 1191-2012: 

Crusaders, Traders and Explorers 

BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, 22 June – 9 September 2012 

Situated at the crossroads of three continents, the 

location of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean 

and the island’s plentiful natural resources have 

been a mixed blessing since ancient times. The 

easternmost member of the European Union, Cyprus 

has always been strategically important to foreign 

powers wishing to exercise influence or control 

over the Eastern Mediterranean. To a greater or 

lesser extent, all of these powers left their mark on 

the island’s political, social and cultural life. 

A Long and Turbulent History 

The exhibition Mapping Cyprus: Crusaders, Traders 

and Explorers examines a long period in the 

turbulent history of the island of Cyprus. The exhibition 

begins with the occupation of the island by 

Richard the Lionheart in 1191 and concludes with 

the Cypriot Presidency of the EU during the second 

half of 2012: the establishment of the Republic of 

Cyprus in 1960 and the Republic’s accession to the 

EU in 2004 are also featured. 

Traditionally Close Ties with Europe 

Although Cyprus has had a close connection with 

Europe since ancient times, it is nevertheless recognised 

that these relations were reinforced and 

expanded during the late Byzantine period and 

especially during the Middle Ages. The arrival of 

Richard the Lionheart and the occupation of the 

island by his troops, accidentally or not, changed 

the history of the island. In addition to the establishment 

of the Medieval Kingdom of Cyprus, the 

island played a pivotal role in the introduction of 

Western European civilisation to the Middle East 

and beyond. 

The period of Frankish rule (1191-1489) and the 

period of Venetian rule that followed (1489-1571) 

were important stages in the history of the island, 

linking it to a flourishing European civilisation 

without cutting it off from its Greek, Byzantine 

and Eastern roots. During this period, the island 

gained its important role as an economic, cultural 

and geopolitical bridge between East and West. 

Despite the extremely difficult conditions the 

people of Cyprus endured, the cultural synthesis 

that resulted on the island can be seen as an early 

expression of the European spirit and an authentic 

product of the Renaissance. The Lusignans and 

the Venetians left their mark on the art and soul 

of the people; this mark was eventually absorbed, 

giving the country a more cosmopolitan spiritual 

and cultural identity. 

Cypriots and the Island’s Local Character, 

and Its Connection with Europe 

The museological approach of this exhibition is 

based on two main pillars. The first pillar is the 

Cypriot people and the local character of the island, 

visually expressed through magnificent 

Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, most of 

which will be shown in public for the first time, 

and other artefacts. The second pillar is the island’s 

deep connection to Europe since 1191. 

Rare manuscripts and works of art by artists such 

as Titian and Teniers are gathered together for the 

first time to emphasise their historical and aesthetic 

connection to Cyprus. 

A Voyage through Time 

Mapping Cyprus: Crusaders, Traders and Explorers 

is a voyage through time and history, one that 

gives visitors the opportunity to learn, to discover 

and to revise their perceptions of Cyprus. An effort 

has been made to implement and connect all five 

senses with a sensational trip through the island’s 

past. Music from the Lusignan Court of Cyprus 

underscores the religious, mystical importance 

of a Byzantine icon, while the aroma of an olive 

tree takes you deep into the natural beauty and ag- 

14

A view of the Othello Room installation 

The last section of the exhibition with the photo and text related to the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus 

ricultural wealth of the island. Visitors to the exhibition 

revel in the colours and the icons, in the 

photographs and maps that depict and describe the 

“Sweet Land of Cyprus,” that sing of it. As a special 

feature, visitors experience the unique character 

of the art of Cyprus and its people through a variety 

of local publications that have been digitised 

and made available on touchscreens throughout the 

exhibition. 

“Because all is moving and all can be explained,” 

as the 15 th century Cypriot chronicler Leontios 

Machairas wrote, the Government of Cyprus and 

the BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts hosted this celebration 

of the history and culture of Cyprus in 

Brussels, the heart and administrative centre of the 

EU, from 22 June to 9 September 2012, at the BO- 

ZAR Centre. 

Introduction by Curator 

“Because all things pass and all things that happen 

are recounted...” 

The small island of Cyprus at the eastern edge of 

the Mediterranean played an important role in the 

dissemination, exchange and transfer of the civili- 

15

16 th century icons from the Venetian period room 

sation and products of the East to the West, and vice 

versa. Since ancient times, the island’s geographical 

position has been both a curse and a blessing. 

Cyprus has always represented the point where 

East and West meet, recognise and measure themselves 

against each other and exchange influences. 

Those who sought control over the Eastern Mediterranean 

first had to gain control of the island. And 

this is where the history of our exhibition begins. 

For Cyprus, relations with the Byzantine Empire, 

at the administrative level at least, ended in 

the late 12 th century when the island’s Governor, 

Isaac Comnenus, declared himself Emperor of 

Cyprus, thereby cutting off all administrative ties 

with Byzantium. The ostensible chance arrival and 

conquest of the island by the English king Richard 

the Lionheart in 1191 and the subsequent sale of 

Cyprus to Guy de Lusignan took the island’s relations 

with Europe into a new dimension. Cyprus 

was now officially the last bastion of Europe before 

the Middle East, a position it still holds today. 

An enormous responsibility 

I was fully aware of the enormous responsibility 

placed on my shoulders by my country and 

delighted by the unbelievable persistence of the 

director of the BOZAR Centre, when I chose to 

stage an important and unique exhibition about 

the island of Cyprus within the framework of the 

Cyprus Presidency of the EU. From the very first 

moment I felt completely overawed as to how exactly 

we were going to present such a wide-spanning 

period of the island’s history. The exhibition 

is a historical retrospective but also an attempt to 

present Cyprus and its identity, its history and its 

civilisation in Brussels, the heart of the administrative 

centre of the European Union. The exhibition 

covers a broad period, beginning with the 

Crusades and the conquest of the island by Richard 

the Lionheart in 1191 and ending with independence 

and the accession of Cyprus to the great 

European family over which it presided from July 

to December 2012. 

It could be said the Orthodox faith and the island’s 

Hellenic and Byzantine origins, the Byzantine 

and post-Byzantine art of Cyprus, as expressed 

through the icons of the period, are the 

key and the common denominator which open 

the door onto the diachronic history of the island 

and the relations and influences of western 

art in this easternmost corner of Europe. Con- 

16

sequently, the museological approach focused 

on two axes or pillars on which the exhibition 

and its journey through time, space and history 

were defined and built. On the one hand, the local 

element, the Cypriots, is presented through 

the most common characteristics which represent 

them: their education, mentality and 

cultural heritage – a series of Byzantine and 

post-Byzantine icons express the “poor Cypriotes,” 

as the 14 th century Cypriot chronicler Leontios 

Machairas describes them. To this end, 

between 1191 and the present day, the ecclesiastical 

icons represent Cypriot worship and 

veneration; they are tangible manifestations of 

religious devotion and the expression of local 

artists. 

Other objects, such as pottery and metalwork, are 

exhibited together with information and references 

from historical sources, and special reference is 

made to the music of the medieval kingdom of 

the island through a rare handwritten score which 

brings to life the glory and prestige of the royal 

court of the Lusignans. This was the first axis. 

A view from the British period room with the collection of 

Lord Kitcheners Trigonometrical map of Cyprus, the first 

modern map of Cyprus 

How have Europeans viewed 

Cyprus since the Crusades? 

The second axis focuses on the European continent 

and demonstrates the way in which Europeans 

saw Cyprus from the time of the Crusades to the 

present day. Efforts were made to collect objects, 

works of art and information which record the perception 

Europeans had when they first encountered 

Cyprus on the road to Jerusalem; these same Europeans 

later conquered and transformed the island 

into one of the best-known medieval kingdoms of 

Europe. It all began with Melusine, the fairy who 

founded the kingdoms of Europe and sent her children 

to the East to attain wealth and glory and who 

later linked the House of Lusignan with other royal 

families of continental Europe. The story is also 

unravelled by European chroniclers who pay tribute 

to the kingdom and the riches of the Lusignans 

of Cyprus. The last queen of the Medieval Kingdom 

of Cyprus, the daughter of Venice, Caterina 

Cornaro, was painted and glorified by the greatest 

artists of her time, while Cyprus, the jewel in the 

crown of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, enjoyed 

golden days of wealth and glory as recorded 

by contemporary historians. 

Myths and legends 

Myths and legends about the island of Cyprus 

can be found in the writings of foreign travellers 

who visited the island and in Shakespeare, 

whose hero, Othello, the Moor of Venice, spent 

time in Famagusta, the fortified port of the Most 

Serene Republic of Venice in Cyprus. The great 

war of Cyprus, which marked the fall of the last 

bastion of Europe in the Eastern Mediterranean 

and its occupation by the Ottoman Empire, the 

new force in the region, is uniquely described 

by European historians in books and other documents 

selected for display in this exhibition. 

Finally, during the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the 

importance of the island was emphasised in the 

work of European cartographers, while the earliest 

photographs of Cyprus, taken by photographers 

who came to the island at the time of the 

arrival of the British in 1878, record and depict 

the European origins of the island and its bond 

with the continent. These photographs feature 

17

castles and fortifications standing side-by-side 

with Byzantine chapels, large Gothic churches 

(which in Ottoman times, were transformed into 

mosques), and the unique wild natural landscape 

whose sunburnt workers laboured in its fields. 

This is our land, the island of Cyprus, the island 

of Saints, birthplace of Aphrodite, host to Melusine...the 

island was a refuge. It served as a 

springboard for crusaders, traders and explorers. 

A recital of the sweet land of Cyprus 

I hope this exhibition will indeed be a “recital 

of the sweet land of Cyprus” and will give the 

public an understanding of the history of my 

homeland and its unique artistic expression. 

It is a complex and diverse history, a history 

which has brought forth, and continues to bring 

forth, new ideas. Above all it is a melting-pot 

of cultures and peoples who, throughout history, 

whether as conquerors, traders, kings or 

explorers, have offered and received a great 

deal. Since ancient times, and up to 1960, 

Cyprus has always belonged to someone, to 

whomever wanted control over the Eastern 

Mediterranean. Despite this, as if by an unbelievable 

miracle, our island welcomed foreign 

conquerors and, over time, conquered them and 

survived without losing its identity, its Greek 

and Christian origins. It is not by chance that 

our historical exhibition is completed by an exhibition 

of modern Cypriot paintings. The joy 

of independence in 1960 was followed by the 

bitter events of 1963 and 1974 and the current 

conditions of semi-occupation. The desire of 

Cypriot youth to discover their identity – their 

Maps of the Venetian period depicted in the Venetian period room 

An icon dedicated to St Michael – selected in honour of St 

Michel patron Saint of Brussels - from the Treasure room 

patriotism, their anxieties, their thoughts and 

their concerns – is evident in the work of a new 

generation of Cypriot artists. 

I would like to thank all the directors of the museums 

who lent us exhibits. Thanks and gratitude are 

also due to the Church of Cyprus, its primate, Archbishop 

Chrysostomos, and in particular the Bishops 

who gave their blessing and allowed us to present 

Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons of such importance 

and value. Special thanks and gratitude go to 

Porphyrios, Bishop of Neapolis, representative of 

the Church of Cyprus in the EU, without whose 

advice and support none of this would have been 

achieved, particularly in such a short time. 

“Because all things pass and all things that happen 

are recounted,” as Leontios Machairas writes, the 

BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts and the Republic of 

Cyprus invite you to see and hear the recital concerning 

the Sweet Land of Cyprus. 

Loukia Loizou Hadjigavriel 

Curator 

18

Maniera Cypria: Lemesos, Fabula, Historia, Memoria 

Evagoras Lanitis Centre, Lemesos 29 June – 12 August 2012 

The engendering of ancient and medieval collective 

Cypriot memory into contemporary visual 

concepts, materials, forms and media gave rise to 

the exhibition ‘Maniera Cypria,’ which was curated 

and based on extensive research by Dr Nadia Anaxagorou, 

Director of the Cultural Services of the Municipality 

of Lemesos (Limassol). Archaeological 

findings unearthed in Lemesos and its vicinity, from 

the areas of Amathus, Pyrgos, Episkopi, Erimi and 

Kourion, and Byzantine icons from villages in the 

Lemesos district, including Monagri, Koilani, Pelendri, 

Amiantos and Arakapas, were displayed side 

by side in a fascinating discourse with contemporary 

art at the Evagoras Lanitis Centre, Carob Mill, 

Lemesos, from 29 June through 12 August 2012. 

Maniera Cypria was organised by the Municipality 

of Lemesos in collaboration with the Evagoras and 

Kathleen Lanitis Foundation, the Department of Antiquities 

and the Holy Bishopric of Lemesos, under 

the auspices of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council 

of the European Union. Mr Efthemios Flourentzou, 

the Minister of Communications and Works, opened 

the exhibition on Friday, 29 June 2012. 27 Cypriot 

visual artists exhibited at Maniera Cypria, including: 

Angelos Makrides, Helene Black, Nikos Charalambides, 

Savvas Christodoulides, Andreas Chrysochos, 

Marianna Constanti, John Corbidge, Christos 

Foukaras, Demetrakis Gerokostas, Theodoulos 

Gregoriou, Yiota Ioannidou, Elina Ioannou, Kyriakos 

Kallis, Lia Lapithi, Maria Loizidou, Antonis 

Neophytou, Eleni Nikodemou, Lefteris Olympios, 

Stass Paraskos, Kypros Perdios, Christoforos Savva, 

George Skotinos, Socratis Socratous, Rinos Stefani, 

Lefteris Tapas, Susan Vargas and Panayiotis Vittis. 

Comprising paintings, sculptures, ceramics, installations 

and video-art, Maniera Cypria explored 

the penetrating conversation between contemporary 

works that further elaborate and reinterpret 

the Maniera Cypria of the past and delineate the 

Maniera Cypria of today. According to the curator, 

Dr Nadia Anaxagorou: 

“Pagan, mythological and Christian hagiographical 

significations, either in the form 

of ancient ceramic-sculptural idols and vessels 

or in the form of medieval painterly 

representations of saints and angels, extend 

View of the exhibition Maniera Cypria: Lemesos, Fabula, Historia, Memoria. Clockwise from left: Kyriakos Kallis, Bull, mixed 

media. Lefteris Olympios, Dei ex Machina, oil on linen, 200x200 cm. George Skotinos, Afternoon Bombing, acrylic, 165x245 

cm. Clay figurine representing a warrior, Cypro-Archaic II (600-480 B.C.), from Episkopi-Kaloriziki, 13.8x8 cm. Elina 

Ioannou, Everyday objects, composition with stone, wood coated paper on plywood and two drums of limestone from Amathus. 

Kypros Perdios, Horse, bronze, 52x75x20 cm. 

19

Angelos Makrides, Idol-Mother of a Missing Person, mixed 

media, 15x4x4cm 

Antonis Neophytou, Reinterpretation of the relief ornamentation 

of the 13 th century icon of Saint Mamas from Amiantos, copper 

and silver, 32x27cm 

Saints Matthew, Mark and Luke, mid-16 th century, from Panagia Iamatiki, Arakapas, placed next to the work by Angelos Makrides, 

Iconostasis: Three Saints, mixed media, 86x38 cm. 

the analogies of history to the present. In the 

modern art pieces selected for presentation, 

some or many of these analogies are dropped, 

and this absence is often mystified, allowing 

us, thus, to perceive historia (history) as a 

fabula (fable) at once true and imaginary. 

Other analogies are only partially signified, 

relieved of redundant loads of meanings, furnishing 

us with the option of revisiting and 

transcending old notions, of making them 

fabulous, and of going far beyond.” 

Through the succinctly masterful reinterpretation 

of Angelos Makrides, the cross-shaped chalcolithic 

idol from Erimi (3500-2800 B.C.) turns into an archetypal 

and contemporary child-bearing woman, 

a winged creature or the mother of a missing person 

in a series of micro-sculptures that set a landmark 

in the evolution of Cypriot art. The composite red 

vessel of the Early Cypriot III (2100-2000 B.C.) 

from Pyrgos, an impressive creation by a local ceramist 

of antiquity bearing scenes with men and 

animals at their everyday routines (pressing grapes, 

20

working dough for bread, ploughing, etc.), is repeated 

after thousands of years in the expressive 

density of naive ceramic compositions by Demetrakis 

Gerokostas or the painterly figures by Stass 

Paraskos, recorded in static flatness and reduced to 

hieratic, featureless entities. In the work of Nikos 

Charalambides, a Tanagra type of figurine from 

Amathus (310-30 B.C.), probably an Aphrodite, 

is depicted next to Marcel Duchamp, in an oeuvre 

that sweeps away the dividing lines between space 

and time, blurring Hellenistic art with the 20 th century 

avant-garde artistic genres. The tethrippon 

(chariot drawn by four horses) of the Cypro-Archaic 

I-II (650-480 B.C.) from the Sanctuary of Apollo 

Hylates at Kourion becomes an organic part of the 

sculptural installation by Maria Loizidou, whose 

four horses in mixed media represent a visual metonymy 

of the stifled speech (ά-λογον) in estranging 

modern metropolitan societies. 

The 13 th century icon of Saint Mamas, from Amiantos, 

is juxtaposed with the emblematic reduction 

of the ‘White Saint’ by Angelos Makrides, which 

schematically outlines a half-length, frontal depiction 

of any saint’s figure, while the relief ornamentation 

of this icon, with repetitive geometrical patterns, 

is reproduced in the drawing of Antonis Neophytou, 

executed in gesso and plastic and engraved 

on silver-plated copper, in a process evocative of 

the Byzantine technique and the ceremonial rituals 

associated with Orthodox icon decoration. 

According to Dr Maria Hadjicosti, Director of 

the Department of Antiquities, which gave permission 

for the display of all the antiquities as 

requested by the curator of the exhibition, “It is 

very interesting that the same ideas and the same 

artistic expressions in the objects of our ancient 

history reappear today. The exhibition proves that 

cultural life in Cyprus has continued throughout 

history.” Ms Catherine Nikita, Director of the 

Evagoras Lanitis Centre, remarked that “due to 

the materialisation of Dr Nadia Anaxagorou’s 

concept, it is the first time that we have shown 

such a large number of objects from antiquity and 

the Byzantine period together with modern objects, 

covering different phases of Cypriot artistic 

creation.” Last but not least, the Mayor of Lemesos, 

Mr Andreas Christou, stressed that “this exhibition 

marks a culmination in the pioneering 

contribution of the Municipality of Lemesos in 

the field of visual arts.” 

An unguentarium of plain white ware of the Roman period (2 nd -3 rd c. A.D.), from Kourion, Ayios Ermogenis, 12.5 cm., placed in the cube 

of Theodoulos Gregoriou, Cells IV, cement, minerals, copper, oxide and transparent mirror, 75x75x84 cm. 

21

4 th Cypriot Film Directors Festival 

27 – 30 September 2012 

To promote work by Cypriot directors, the 

Cyprus Film and Television Directors Association 

organised the Cypriot Film Directors 

Festival for the fourth consecutive year from 27 

to 30 September. The Festival presented works by 

seven acclaimed film directors. For the first time, 

the screenings took place “under the stars” at the 

Constantia Open Air Cinema. 

The Festival gave audiences the opportunity to enjoy 

short and long films by acclaimed film directors 

Andreas Constantinides, Michalis Georgiades, 

Christos Georgiou, Paschalis Papapetrou, Costas 

Yiallourides and Dervis Zaim. The programme for 

this year’s festival included the films Souvlakia- 

Sheftalia, The Last Mantilaris (Kerchief-maker) of 

Cyprus, Corridors, A Small Crime, Instructions, 

Shadows & Faces, Flights, In Unsung Toil and 

Akamas. 

The festival was inaugurated by the Director of 

Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and 

Culture, Mr Pavlos Paraskevas, on 27 September 

at the Constantia Open Air Cinema. 

On 30 September, the last day of the festival, the 

Cyprus Directors Association honoured Cypriot 

Director Andreas Constantinides for his significant 

contribution to the industry. 

The festival was held under the auspices of the 

Minister of Education and Culture Mr Giorgos 

Demosthenous. 

Cyprus filmmakers state their presence during 

a global economic crisis 

Mr Michalis Georgiades, President of the Cyprus 

Film and Television Directors Association, gave 

the following address to open the festival: 

“During a global and not just economic crisis, the 

filmmakers of small Cyprus are stating our presence 

through our 4 th Festival. After 38 years of 

the Turkish military occupying half of our country, 

and efforts to alter our longstanding culture, 

Michalis Georgiades and his team in action 

22

Souvlakia – Sheftalia (2002) 

Cypriot directors are fighting and resisting. In a 

country where the artist battles alone – yes, alone 

– Cypriot directors continue to create and produce, 

both here in our country as well as abroad. 

This year, the Cyprus Film and Television Directors 

Association is organising the 4 th Cypriot Film 

Directors Festival under our summer sky, in our 

forgotten open air cinema, like the old days...This 

year, we are presenting our long and short films, as 

well as documentaries, by incredible young directors, 

but also older ones. 

This year, it is with great pleasure and emotion that 

the Association honours CyBC Director Andreas 

Constantinides for his contribution to the art of directing. 

First of all, we thank the Ministry of Education 

and Culture for co-organising the festival 

since the year it was founded and for its financial 

and other precious help, without which we would 

neither have films produced, nor the festival, nor 

seminars and workshops the Association organises 

every year. We also thank the CyBC, which helps 

project the Festival. We hope this is the beginning 

of even more substantive support from the CyBC 

for Cypriot film making.” 

Programme 

Paschalis Papapetrou 

was born in Nicosia 

in 1955. He studied 

cinema and television 

directing in Germany. 

From 1991 until 2002, 

he worked at the TV 

station “O LOGOS”, 

then at “Mega”. He has 

directed over 35 documentaries and has collaborated 

with the Cultural Services of the Ministry of 

Education and Culture, with Greek TV, with the 

Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation, with the Cyprus 

Tourism Organisation (CTO) and others. He 

has run his own production company, Anadysis 

Films Ltd, since 2003. 

Papapetrou’s films include: Costas Argyrou 

(1997), Tilemachos Kanthos (1999), The Roots 

23

of the Cyprus Wine (2001), By Hand (2002), The 

Bread of the Cypriots (2006), Miners’ Memories 

(2007), Weaving Ladies of Cyprus (2008), Excavating 

at Salamis in Cyprus 1952-1974, 34 Years 

Later (2009), Troodos...ke egeneto Kypros (2009), 

Kyprion Elea ke Eleon (2010) and The Lefkaritiko 

Embroidery. Before the Memories are Lost (2012). 

Souvlakia – Sheftalia (2002) 

Director: Paschalis Papapetrou 

Writer: Charis Pishias, Paschalis Papapetrou 

Photography: Nicos Avraamides 

Music: Pambos Sakkas 

Actors: Pantelis Klitou, Thanos Pettemerides, 

Michalis Moustaka, Charis Pishias 

Producers: Cinema Advisory Committee, Paschalis 

Papapetrou 

Production Company: A.B Seahorse Film Productions 

Ltd 

Thanasis, a young director, works for a TV station 

where, during filming, a series of unpredictable 

events take place. 

The Last Kerchief-Maker of Cyprus (2004) 

Director: Paschalis Papapetrou 

Writer: Paschalis Papapetrou 

Photography: Nicos Avraamides 

Music: Michalis Mozoras 

Production Company: Anadysis Films 2004 

Among the home industries for which Cyprus 

enjoyed great renown in the 18 th and 19 th centuries 

was the making and dyeing of “pasmades” 

(cotton cloths) by Greek and Turkish artisans. 

The art of the “pasmadjides” was taken over in 

later years by “mandilarides” (kerchief-makers). 

This film tells the story of the very last 

The Last Kerchief-Maker of Cyprus (2004) 

patterned-kerchief workshop, that of the Kakollis 

brothers, through the testimonies of the 

artisans themselves. The film also examines the 

role and use of the kerchief in the everyday life 

and customs of Cyprus. 

Michalis Georgiades 

was born in 1956 in occupied 

Morfou. After 

completing his military 

service, he worked at 

the Cyprus Broadcasting 

Corporation in film 

and montage for 10 

years. 

In 1988, he co-founded 

the film production company LUMIERE and LTV, 

where he worked as a film director for 12 years; 

he has been CEO of the film production company, 

Mediabox Ltd, since 2001. Many of his films, as 

producer and director, have received international 

acclaim and awards, including the London International 

Film Award. In 2012 he received a directing 

award at the International Short Film Festival 

in Limassol for his film, Corridors. 

Georgiades has directed many documentaries: Cyprus, 

for the CTO, for which he won the first prize 

for photography at an international competition for 

tourist films in Italy in 1985; Cyprus Has Always 

Been Europe for the PIO in 2006; Cyprus, Where 

the Byzantine Lives for the CTO in 2009; A Place in 

History: 50 Years of the Republic of Cyprus for the 

PIO in 2010; Returning to Kyrenia for the Kyrenia 

Municipality in 2009; In the Arms of Morfou for 

Morfou Municipality in 2008; Pilgrimage at Pentadaktylos 

for the PIO in 2004; Famagusta, the 

Ghost Town for Famagusta Municipality in 2007; 

Religious Freedom in Cyprus for the PIO in 2005; 

SAVE for the CTO in 2004; Digging the Past, in 

Search for the Future for the Elders in 2010, and 

CYPRUS SAILS for Esimit Europa 2 in 2012. 

Georgiades is also a member of the team that 

worked on founding a museum at Vasa Kilaniou 

village. He is President of the Cyprus Film and 

Television Directors Association and a founding 

member of photography club Fotodos. Georgiades 

has taken part in solo and group exhibi- 

24

The cast from Corridors Small Crime (2008) 

tions in Cyprus and abroad. Along with Anna 

Marangou, he published View of earth, a photo 

album of occupied Cyprus. Now working as a 

freelance professional film director and photographer, 

Georgiades is the founder of the Engomi 

Municipality’s film and photo group, where he 

gives photography lessons. 

Corridors (2009) 

Director: Michalis Georgiades 

Writer: Charis Pishias 

Photography: Vladimir Subotic 

Montage: Kyros Papavassiliou 

Music: Jean Paul Sacy 

Actors: Marinos Hadjivassiliou, Elena Demetriou 

Production Company: MEDIABOX LTD 

Co-producers: Cyprus Ministry of Education and 

Culture 

Pavlos and Maria have been married for a few 

years. After experiencing difficulties having a 

child the natural way, they resort to extracorporeal 

fertilisation, but it fails and becomes a strain, psychologically 

and financially, and the most severe 

consequences concern their interpersonal relationships. 

At some point they decide to adopt, and 

hence begins a new battle. 

Christos Georgiou 

Christos Georgiou was born in London in 1966 to 

Cypriot parents – he was raised and completed his 

basic education in Cyprus. Georgiou studied Film 

and Literature at the University of Warwick in England 

(Bachelor of Arts Joint Honours), Directing at 

the Northern Film School in Leeds, England (Master 

of Arts) and Directing, Producing and Writing 

at the National Film School in Lodz, Poland, on a 

European scholarship (Tempus). He has worked in 

the film and cinema industry in Greece, Cyprus and 

England. His first long film won him the Prix De 

Montreal, the best film award in the 2001 Montreal 

World Film Festival. Small Crime is his second 

long film. His other films include Under the stars 

(2001) and Children of the Riots (2011). 

Small Crime (2008) 

Director: Christos Georgiou 

Writer: Christos Georgiou 

Photography: George Giannelis 

Montage: Isabel Meier 

Costumes and Set Designer: Michalis Samiotis 

Music: Thanasis Papaconstantinou, Constantis Papaconstantinou 

Actors: Aris Servetalis, Vicky Papadopoulou, Rania 

Economidou, Antonis Katsaris, Eleni Kokkidou, 

Vangelio Andreaki, Errikos Litsis, Dimitris 

Drosos. 

Producers: Thanasis Karathanos, Constantinos 

Moriatis, Christos Georgiou 

Production Companies: Twenty-Twenty Vision, 

Lychnari Productions, Bad Movies S.A. 

Leonidas, who has just graduated from the Police 

Academy, is transferred to a beautiful yet isolated 

island in the Aegean. His professional challenges 

are initially restricted to placing “No Nudism” 

25

Small Crime (2008) Instructions (2008) 

signs on the island’s deserted beaches, but when 

he discovers the dead body of old Zacharias below 

a cliff, duty spurs him into action. Was it an accident 

or, as his instincts tell him, things are not 

that simple? In his effort to find answers, Leonidas 

will follow an unorthodox investigation, meet all 

the island’s residents and fall in love. He will develop 

a very special relationship with the island, a 

relationship that will eventually help him solve the 

mystery surrounding Zacharias’s death. 

Costas Yiallourides studied 

Cinematography at 

the Northern Film School 

in Leeds, England. He 

graduated with the short 

surrealistic film Ink Control, 

which was entered 

in many international film 

festivals and shown on the 

BBC Film Network. 

His next film, Instructions, received significant acclaim, 

including first prize at the Cyprus Short Film 

and Documentary Festival, the Greek Association 

of Film Critics Award at the Drama Festival and 

international awards at the Trieste, Tangier and Damascus 

festivals. He has also participated in the official 

programme of many important international 

film festivals and was profiled on the French television 

programme Cine Cinecourts. He also participated 

in the seventh talent campus of the Berlin 

Festival. His films include: The 5 th Floor (2006), 

Ink Control (2006) and Instructions (2008). 

Instructions (2008) 

Director: Costas Yiallourides 

Writer: Andrew Yerlett 

Photography: Zita Karath 

Montage: Dimitris Tolios 

Set designer: Olga Leontiadou 

Sound: Dimitris Rallis, Yiannis Photiades 

Music: Giorgos Christianakis 

Actors: Alexandros Logothetis, Stefania Yiolioti, 

Stephanos Laopodis 

Producers: Diomides Nikitas, SEKIN, Greek Film 

Centre. 

A new modular bed brings two very different people 

together, a man enclosed in an invisible square 

box and a woman who lives in a room at the centre 

of town. The woman will use her ingenuity to 

communicate with the man. 

Andreas Constantinides 

was born in 1944. He 

graduated from Kykkos 

Pancyprian Gymnasium 

and left Cyprus for Athens 

to study Cinematography, 

Theatre and Radio Studies, 

with a specialisation 

in directing for television. 

While studying he worked as a member of the di- 

26

ector’s crew on several Greek productions. Constantinides 

returned to Cyprus and, after the completion 

of his military service, he was hired by the 

CyBC productions department for TV, where he 

worked for 34 years. 

Constantinides has directed a great number of 

TV programmes, documentaries, theatre plays 

and TV series. Many of his documentaries regarding 

the Cyprus Problem have been used by 

the state for educational purposes, and some 

of his TV series have enjoyed great success, 

namely The Teacher, The Grey Sky, Peter A’, 

Krisos and the Artist, The Church of Cyprus, 

History and Civilization, and Argaki, A Cypriot 

Village Before and After the Turkish Invasion. 

Several of his films were official entries from 

Cyprus in a number of international festivals: 

Constantinides won the Bronze Agrino Award 

at the Commonwealth Movie Festival for Akamas, 

and Cyprus, the Island That Nobody Forgets, 

won the Prize of the Nations at both the 

Rome and London Movie Festivals. 

Constantinides was one of the founding members 

and the President of the Cyprus Movie Club, the 

Nicosia Movie Club and the Cyprus Film Library. 

He is a member of the Film Classification Board 

and was also a member of the Sciences, Arts and 

Letters Committee. In 2004 he was appointed 

by the Council of Ministers as a member of the 

Cyprus Radio Television Authority. He teaches 

History of Cinema at the Vladimiros Kafkaridis 

Drama School. 

Flights (1969) 

Director: Andreas Constantinides 

Writer: Andreas Constantinides, Dimitris Andreou 

Photography: Doros Partasides 

Montage: Andrew Trillides 

Sound: Thrassos Malas 

Actors: Spyros Stavrinides, Dimitris Andreou, 

Laika, Totos 

An experimental film about the environment and its 

destruction, Flights shows the extent of the destruction 

of beaches as a result of the erection of apartment 

buildings. The film combines cartoons with cinematic 

images. The late painter, Mikis Phinikarides, designed 

the graphics and wrote the screenplay. 

In Unsung Toil (1992) 


Writer: Andreas Constantinides 

Photography: Evangelos Hadjikyriakos 

Montage: Yiannakis Ioannides 

Sound: Charis Mylonas 

Music: Eleni Karaindrou 

Script interviews: Costis Achniotis 

Narrator: Andreas Koukkides 

Special Adviser: Pantelis Varnava 

A documentary dedicated to the unsung strangers 

who sacrificed themselves for our country’s 

workers’ conquests. The film’s subtitle is Before 

May Day. 

Akamas (1988) 


Writer-Narrator: Michalis Attalides 

Photography: Dimitris Pavlides 

Montage: Yiannakis Ioannides 

Sound: Andros Chrysostomou 

Music: Ross Daly 

Special adviser: Symis Shukuroglu 

A documentary about the Akamas Peninsula, 

the last natural haven of Cyprus. The film aspires 

to portray the ecological significance of 

the area. It also examines the villages of Akamas 

and the difficulties and problems faced by 

their residents. 

Flights (1969) 

27

4 th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival 

9 – 29 September 2012 

he Festival had an impressively interna- 

outlook and provided a rare op- 

«Ttional 

portunity to sample contemporary composition 

beyond the well-trodden paths.» 

Tim Rutherford-Johnson (Guardian, Tempo, The 

Rambler) 

Having established itself as one of the most cuttingedge 

and innovative annual events in the Eastern 

Mediterranean, the International Pharos Contemporary 

Music Festival is now in its fourth year. The 

Festival is dedicated to the promotion of new music, 

both the established masterpieces of the contemporary 

music literature of the 20 th century and a 

great number of premieres by leading young composers 

from all over the world who have been commissioned 

by the Pharos Arts Foundation to write 

new works especially for the Festival. The Festival 

provides a forum for composers and performers 

to advance and develop new projects and explore 

new worlds of sound in chamber music settings. Its 

other objective is to bring contemporary music to 

general audiences in Cyprus and elsewhere, as this 

is the music of our times – it is directly linked to 

many forms of visual and creative arts, and science. 

It is intimate with the modern human spirit. 

The 4 th International Pharos Contemporary Music 

Festival was a thrilling experience. It presented a 

number of exciting events, from 9 until 29 September 

2012, including a seldom heard repertoire 

for strings, winds, voice, percussion and harp. Six 

of the finest contemporary ensembles in the world 

presented classical contemporary masterpieces 

by composers such as Schönberg, Stockhausen, 

Xenakis and Ligeti while joining forces with more 

than 20 young, internationally acclaimed composers 

from all over the world. Each of these composers 

wrote a newly-commissioned work that was 

given its world premiere during the Festival. 

There were concerts by the Arirang Wind Quintet 

& Marios Nicolaou/percussion; Quartetto Prometeo; 

The Nieuw Ensemble; Ensemble Aleph; El 

Perro Andaluz, and the Kairos String Quartet. A 

screening of Towards of Beyond was offered, and 

the Kairo String Quartet and El Perro Andaluz 

hosted workshops. 

The Venues 

The Shoe Factory is situated in Old Nicosia, near 

the UN buffer zone. With the Shoe Factory, the 

Pharos Arts Foundation is revitalising this beautiful 

and historic section of the capital by attracting 

a wide and diverse younger audience. All concerts 

at the Shoe Factory are characterised by a unique 

intimacy, and the music is performed in an exceptionally 

inspiring setting. The Shoe Factory is a 

modern venue decorated with contemporary art by 

mainly local artists and offers audiences the unique 

opportunity to sit within an amazing proximity to 

world famous artists and experience performances 

in a space like no other. 

28

The Olive Grove is a world-class, open-air concert 

venue. It is relaxed and informal, promoting 

a palpable intimacy between the artists and the 

audience. The venue is surrounded by the idyllic 

forest of Delikipos and is adorned with wooden 

decks, shallow pools of water, Zen landscaping and 

uniquely atmospheric lighting. Audience members 

can relax on chairs, blankets and pillows and enjoy 

a glass of wine while listening to world class 

musical performances. The Foundation’s vision for 

the Olive Grove is to make contemporary art less 

intimidating by creating innovative events that are 

fun and appealing without compromising the quality 

and vision of the musical performances. 

Arirang Wind Quintet 

Leonie Wolters / flute 

Jörg Schneider / oboe 

Steffen Dillner / clarinet 

Sebastian Schindler / horn 

Christoph Knitt / bassoon 

& Marios Nicolaou / percussion 

Established ten years ago, Arirang Wind Quintet is 

a product of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, one 

of Germany’s leading orchestras. The orchestra 

comprises more than 100 of the finest international 

musicians selected from more than 25,000 students 

in the 24 music conservatories in Germany. The 

orchestra maintains its high performance standards 

through rigid auditions. 

Arirang Wind Quintet’s repertoire includes classical, 

romantic and contemporary music, as well 

as several works that were given their world premiere 

by the Quintet. After a successful debut at 

the Bochum theatre, Arirang Wind Quintet was 

selected by Jeunesses Musicales Germany from 

amongst a great many chamber music ensembles 

to represent Germany in the International Showcase 

of Young Musicians 2004 in Croatia. The 

Quintet’s performances have included the Northern 

Lights Festival/Tromsø, Semanas Musicales 

de Frutillar/Chile, the Vendsyssel Festival in Denmark, 

the Bach Fest Leipzig and the Festival Aixen-Provence. 

Having been awarded 2 nd prize at the International 

Chamber Music Competition Schwerin in 2004, 

the Quintet was invited on a concert tour to Vienna, 

Brünn and Prague (Prague Spring Festival). In 

2005, the Quintet was awarded 2 nd prize at the International 

Wind Quintet Competition Henri Tomasi 

in Marseille and 2 nd prize at the Osaka International 

Chamber Music Competition. After its successful 

participation in the German Music Competition 

in 2007, Arirang Wind Quintett won a Deutscher 

Arirang Wind Quintet 

29

Quartetto Prometeo 

Kairos String Quartet 

Musikrat scholarship. Having received an invitation 

from the Goethe Institute, Arirang Wind Quintet 

has given concerts in North and South America, 

Pakistan, Yemen, Latvia, Angola, India, Dubai, 

Kuwait and Azerbaijan. The Quintet’s members 

are also members of major symphony orchestras in 

Germany and Switzerland. 

Marios Nicolaou was born in Limassol in 1974. He 

studied at the Athens Conservatory (class of D. Marinakis) 

and at the Hochschulefür Musik Köln with C. 

Caskel and C. Tarcha, graduating with “Auszeichnung.” 

Nicolaou has also worked with P. Sadlo and 

Rainer Seegers in master classes and private lessons. 

In 2005 he took part in the International Ensemble 

Modern Academy (Schwaz/Austria). He has also 

been a holder of the “Alexandra Trianti” scholarship 

of the “Friends of Music Society.” 

In 2000 Nicolaou appeared as a soloist on the Timpani 

with the Cyprus State Orchestra, performing 

the Concertino for Timpani, Percussion and Strings 

by A. Panufnik. He has worked with many orchestras 

in Germany, such as the Gürzenich Orchester- 

Kölner Philharmoniker, the Neues Rheinisches 

Kammerοrchester and the Kölner Jugendorchester. 

Since 2003 he has been collaborating with most of 

the orchestras of Greece (Athens State Orchestra, 

Radio Symphony Orchestra, Camerata, and Orchestra 

of Colors). As a chamber musician, Nicolaou 

has worked with H. Lachenmann, P. Eötvös, 

F. Ollu, D. Bouliane, the Ensemble neue music 

Koln and the Ensemble disson Art. He has taken 

part in festivals such as the Pierre Boulez zum `75 

(in Cologne Philharmony) and at the Minimal Music 

Kassel, and he performed the Sonata for two 

Pianos and Percussion by B. Bartók at the Klavier 

Festival Ruhr. Since 2009 he has been a member of 

the Ergon Ensemble. 

Programme 

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 – 2007) Zyklus for 

solo percussion (1959) 

Christian Mason’s World Premiere 

Ioannis Xenakis (1922 – 2001) Rebonds for solo 

percussion (1989) 

Interval 

Peteris Vasks “Bläserquintett No.2” Music for a 

Deceased Friend (1982) 

Isang Yun (1917 – 1995) Woodwind Quintet 

Gyorgy Ligeti (1923 – 2006) Six Bagatelles for 

wind quintet (1953) 

Quartetto Prometeo 

Giulio Rovighi / violin 

Aldo Campagnari / violin 

Massimo Piva / viola 

Francesco Dillon / cello 

Quartetto Prometeo performed a musical dramatisation 

of Dante’s Divine Comedy featuring twelve 

30

world premieres by composers from all over Europe, 

the result of a collaboration between the San 

Fedele Foundation and the Pharos International 

Contemporary Music Festival. Dante Alighieri – 

Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral 

philosopher, and political thinker – is best known 

for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later 

named La divina commedia. The Divine Comedy, 

one of the great works of medieval literature, 

is a profound Christian vision of man’s temporal 

and eternal destiny. On its most personal level, it 

draws on the poet’s own experience of exile from 

his native city of Florence; on its most comprehensive 

level, it may be read as an allegory, a journey 

through hell, purgatory and paradise. 

Quartetto Prometeo won the 50 th Prague Spring 

International Music Competition in May 1998, as 

well as the competition’s Special Bärenreiter prize 

for Best Performance of Mozart’s Quartet K.590 

(according to the original score), the City of Prague 

prize as best quartet and the Pro Harmonia Mundi 

prize. Quartetto Prometeo was designated resident 

group at the Britten Pears Academy (1998) in Aldeburgh 

and was awarded the Thomastik Infeld 

prize at the Internationale Sommer Akademie Prag- 

Wien-Budapest 1999 for outstanding performance 

of a chamber music work; the Quartet also won 

the second prize at the Concours International de 

Quatuors in Bordeaux. In 2000, the Quartetto Prometeo 

was awarded the Special Bärenreiter Prize 

at the renowned ARD Münich Competition. Since 

its inception, the Quartet has received important 

scholarships from the Scuola di Musica of Fiesole 

and from the Accademia Chigiana of Siena, where 

in August 1995 it won the prestigious diploma of 

honour. Beginning in 2013 through 2015, Quartetto 

Prometeo will be quartet-in-residence at the 

prestigious Accademia Filarmonica Romana. 

Quartetto Prometeo’s brilliant international career 

includes performances at some of the most important 

music festivals and venues in the world, including 

Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Aldeburgh 

Festival, Wexford Festival, Prague Spring Festival, 

Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Roma, Théâtre in 

Bordeaux, Auditorium Musée d’Orsay in Paris and 

tours in South America and in the Netherlands. 

One of the characteristics of Quartetto Prometeo is 

the research they devote to putting together their 

repertoire, which includes the new musical expressions 

of our time. Their close collaboration 

with the acclaimed composer Salvatore Sciarrino 

inspired him to dedicate two pieces to the Quartet, 

Esercizi di trestili and his latest, Quartet No.8, 

which was commissioned by the Società del Quartetto 

Milan, MaerzMusik Festival Berlin, Ultima 

Festival Oslo and Aldeburgh Festival; Quartet 

No. 8 was recently recorded, along with his latest 

works for string quartet. Since performing the Italian 

premiere of Târ, Quartetto Prometeo continues 

its collaboration with Ivan Fedele, and in 2011 

they premiered Moiroloja Kai Erotikafor string 

quartet and voice, which was commissioned by 

Accademia Filarmonica Romana for the Quartet. 

The Quartetto Prometeo performance included 12 

world premieres: Vito Zuraj (Slovenia), Manuel 

Rodriguez (Spain), Antonin Servière (France), 

Carlo Ciceri (Italy), Franco Venturini (Italy), Aurélien 

Dumont (France), Mirtru Escalona (Venezuela/ 

France), Antonio Covello (Italy), Roberto Vetrano 

(Italy), Vittorio Montalti (Italy) Evis Sammoutis 

(Cyprus) and Pasquale Corrado (Italy). 

Kairos String Quartet 

Wolfgang Bender / violin 

Stefan Häussler / violin 

Simone Heilgendorff / viola 

Claudius von Wrochem / cello 

Berlin’s Kairos Quartet was founded in 1996 and 

debuted at the Darmstadt International Holiday 

Courses. The Quartet promotes new music from 

the second half of the 20 th century to the present, 

thus landmark compositions since the 1950s and 

world premieres are at the heart of the Quartet’s 

activity, which also includes samples of the Western 

musical tradition, music from non-Western cultures, 

and compositions created with other media 

(electronics, video and speech). 

Kairos (Caerus - Καιρός) is the god of the auspicious 

moment in Ancient Greek mythology. He was recognised 

as the youngest son of Zeus by the poet Ion 

of Chios (490 - 421 B.C.). Depicted by the sculptor 

Lysippos as a youth with winged shoes and a long 

31

lock of hair hanging in front of his forehead, he symbolises 

opportunity. The juxtaposition of Kairos with 

Chronos (measured time - Χρόνος) illustrates a concept 

of time that is intimately linked to human experience. 

As a musician, one can feel “Kairos” when 

perfect harmony is achieved. These rare and magical 

moments are the ultimate goal of all artists. 

The Kairos Quartet takes great care in the selection 

and combination of pieces, sometimes curating even 

their own concert series, as was the case with the 

concert and conversation series Five Windows onto 

the String Quartet Since 1950, which took place at 

the Kulturbrauerei Berlin in 2001 and 2002 – the 

Quartet presented composers such as Ferneyhough, 

Lachenmann and Lucier. The Quartet has also developed 

close professional relationships with the 

composers Haas (Austria), Estrada (Mexico), Netti 

(Italy), Newski (Germany/Russia) and Lim (Australia). 

The Kairos Quartet reaches out to music 

students and the general public through workshops, 

master classes and lectures on new music and performance 

practice as part of festivals or at music 

schools. These workshops, master classes and lectures 

have so far taken place in Austria, Germany, 

Mexico, Norway, Poland and Switzerland. 

The Quartet has been invited to numerous international 

festivals, including Ultraschall and MaerzMusik 

(both in Berlin), Eclat Stuttgart, Huddersfield, 

Berliner Festwochen, Wien Modern, Salzburger 

Festspiele, Klangspuren/TransArt, Warsaw 

Autumn, Ljubliana Festival, Festival d’Automne 

and the Festival de Cervantino. Kairos Quartet has 

been recorded live by most major German radio 

stations and by the BBC, DRS, ORF and RAI. The 

Quartet’s CDs have populated various best-of lists 

and the German Record Critic’s Award (1/2005). 

In 2001, Kairos was the first ensemble to become 

fellows at the Academy Schloss Solitude. 

The many artistic partners of the Kairos Quartet 

include baritone Dietrich Henschel, Mayumi Miyata 

(sho), the sound poets Valeri Scherstjanoi and 

Michael Lentz, actress Martina Gedeck, the Schlagquartett 

Köln and the Vokalsolisten of the SWR. 

Programme 

Toshio Hosokawa (b. 1955) Landscape I (1992) 

Ioannis Xenakis (1922 – 2001) ST/ 4 (1962) 

Giacinto Scelsi String Quartet No.3 (1963) 

Interval 

Evis Sammoutis (b.1979) Rhymes 

Georg Friedrich Haas (b.1953) String Quartet No. 

2 (1998) 

A workshop with the Kairos String Quartet with 

the participation of young Cypriot instrumentalists 

and composers included a demonstration of extended 

instrumental techniques for strings as they 

appear in innovative key repertoire works for string 

quartet. The workshop was aimed at composers 

and performers and was jointly presented with the 

Goethe Institute Cyprus. 

Towards and Beyond - A screening of Barrie 

Gavin’s documentary about the British Composer 

Jonathan Harvey 

Born in 1939, composer Jonathan Harvey studied 

with Erwin Stein in Cambridge, after whose 

death he studied composition and analysis with 

Hans Keller, obtaining a PhD. At Cambridge, he 

was preoccupied with mystical ideas while becoming 

acquainted with procedures in medieval and 

renaissance music that later influenced his own 

compositions. During the 1960s Harvey composed 

freely, responding to a wide variety of musical and 

religious experiences in his settings of medieval 

texts. Schoenberg, Berg, Messiaen and Britten 

were also early influences, and Hans Keller helped 

to broaden Harvey’s list of influences. In 1964 Harvey 

joined the Music Department of Southampton 

University. It was at this time that the power of 

Stockhausen’s music first had a profound effect 

on Harvey, inspiring him to explore and develop 

his own complex and personal musical language 

– he later came into contact with Milton Babbit. 

In the early 1980s, Harvey was invited by Boulez 

to work at IRCAM, a position that has resulted in 

many new commissions in recent years. Harvey’s 

works are now being increasingly played all over 

the world. The transcendental quality of his music 

does not lose its force when he focuses on the more 

intimate genre of chamber music. 

British Director Barrie Gavin studied history at the 

University of Cambridge from 1954 to 1957 and 

32

British Composer Jonathan Harvey 

Nieuw Ensemble 

joined the BBC as an assistant film editor in 1961, 

where his fascination with contemporary music 

brought him into contact with Pierre Boulez. Over 

the next 40 years they collaborated on a series of 

analytical documentaries on the founding fathers 

of 20 th century music: Schönberg, Berg, Webern, 

Bartók, Stravinsky, Ives, Varese, Messiaen and, of 

course, Boulez himself. From the 1970s until the 

end of the 20 th century Gavin specialised in portraits 

of contemporary composers: Berio, Luigi 

Nono, Stockhausen, Takemitsu, Birtwistle, Peter 

Maxwell Davies, Mark-Anthony Turnage and 

many others. In 1977 Gavin was invited to Germany 

to make a film about Kurt Weill. This marked 

the beginning of a long association with German 

television, resulting not only in many adventurous 

documentaries but also in a new area of work for 

Gavin, directing concerts for television. To date he 

has been responsible for some 250 televised productions 

of concerts and operas. 

The vast majority of Gavin’s work has been about 

music, but he also produced a series on classic 

film directors in 1967 and a number of films about 

literature and the visual arts, including Sir William 

in Search of Xanadu (Award of Montreal Festival 

of Films on Art, 1984) and Images - A History of 

Early Photography (Award of New York Festival 

of Films on Art, 1989). 

Nieuw Ensemble 

Ernest Rombout / oboe 

Ernestine Stoop / harp 

Angel Gimeno / violin 

Frank Brakkee / viola 

Jeroen den Herder / cello 

The Nieuw Ensemble was founded in 1980 in 

Amsterdam. It has a unique instrumental structure, 

combining plucked instruments such as mandolin, 

guitar and harp with wind, string and percussion. 

The lack of literature for this group makes it dependent 

upon composers, as composers have always 

been upon musicians. The Nieuw Ensemble 

has thus set out to build its own repertoire, encouraged 

by continuous contact with composers from 

different cultures, countries and generations, and 

by long-term workshops for young composers. 

More than 500 pieces have been written for the 

ensemble. Ed Spanjaard has been its principal conductor 

since 1982. 

The Ensemble has been widely praised for its innovative 

programming. Its programmes have been 

those dedicated to the work of a single composer, 

33

such as Berio, Boulez, Carter, Donatoni, Ferneyhough, 

Kagel, De Leeuw, Kurtág, Loevendie and 

Nono. The Ensemble has initiated festivals such 

as Complexity (1990); Rules & Games (1995); 

Improvisations (1996); the Multi-Cultural Festival 

of Plucked Instruments (1998); The Refined Ear 

(2003), on microtonality; Inspired Time (2004), 

on rhythm; Open Music (2005-2006) on computer 

aided composition, and Orientations (2006-2007) 

on western and non-western instruments. 

In 1998 the Nieuw Ensemble and its artistic director, 

Joël Bons, were awarded the Prince Bernhard 

Fund Music Prize for their “markedly lively and 

adventurous programming, which can be described 

as ground-breaking, both in the literal and figurative 

senses of the word.” Since 1991, programmes 

featuring new works written especially for the ensemble 

by Chinese composers such as Tan Dun, 

Qu Xiaosong, Xu Shuya, Chen Qigang and Guo 

Wenjing have attracted wide attention. In 1997, 

2008 and 2010 the group performed concerts in 

Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing. 

The Nieuw Ensemble now enjoys a firm international 

standing – the Ensemble has performed in festivals 

such as the Venice Biennale, Settembre Musica, Ars 

Musica in Brussels, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Musica 

Strasbourg, Holland Festival, Warsaw Autumn, 

Huddersfield Festival, Agora, Stockholm New Music, 

the Festival d’Automne à Paris, Lincoln Center 

Festival and Sadler’s Wells in London. 

The Ensemble has released compact discs of Donatoni, 

Carter, Ferneyhough, Gerhard, Loevendie, 

Poulenc, Honegger, Guo Wenjing, Kagel, Tsoupaki 

and Chinese composers, and has produced documentary 

films about Boulez Eclat and about five 

Chinese composers. The Nieuw Ensemble also 

participates in the Atlas Ensemble, a unique chamber 

orchestra uniting thirty brilliant musicians from 

the East, the Near East and Europe. 

Programme 

Tasos Stylianou World Premiere 

Arnold Schönberg (1874 – 1951) String Trio, Op. 

45 (1946) 

Musheng Chen World Premiere 

Interval 

Anton Webern (1883 – 1951) String Trio, Op. 20 

Ensemble Aleph 

(1927) 

Jonathan Harvey (b. 1939) Death of Light/Light of 

Death for oboe, harp, violin, viola, cello (1998) 

Ensemble Aleph 

Dominique Clément / clarinet 

Sylvie Drouin / piano 

Monica Jordan / vocals 

Christopher Roy / cello 

Created in 1983, Ensemble Aleph is a collective of 

associated soloists, a set of performers and composers, 

a formation of variable geometry in search 

of new possibilities in relationships between sound 

and text, movement and music. 

With nearly 250 creations, Ensemble Aleph has established 

itself as a major relay of musical innovation. 

A laboratory dedicated to creation, Ensemble 

Aleph invites eligible young composers to benefit 

from its experience in a spirit of sharing and exchange, 

particularly through the International Forum 

for Young Composers, a project selected in 

2000 by the European Commission Program “Culture 

2000”, with 61 composers from 26 countries 

(the 7 th Forum will take place in 2014). 

Ensemble Aleph enriches its practice by working 

with jugglers, VJ’s, choreographers, directors, writers 

and actors. For almost 30 years, the Ensemble 

has been developing collective projects, pooling 

efforts and sharing practices across more than 900 

concerts. In 2008, Ensemble Aleph created LIEU, 

34

El Perro Andaluz 

European Instrumental Laboratory, which brings 

together musicians, ensembles and composers 

around musical creation. This will become a platform, 

“Live in Lieu,” in 2013. 

Programme 

Christina Athinodorou World premiere 

Dominique Clément (b. 1959) Poème incorrect II 

for voice, clarinet and piano(1988) 

Tomi Raisanen World premiere 

Ioannis Xenakis (1922 – 2001) Nomos Alpha for 

cello (1966) 

Interval 

Evis Sammoutis (b. 1979) Ghost Shadows for 

soprano and piano 

Helmut Lachenmann (b. 1935) Allegro Sostenuto 

for clarinet, cello and piano (1986-1988) 

John Cage (1912 – 1992) Aria, solo for voice (1958) 

El Perro Andaluz 

Albrecht Scharnweber / clarinet 

Yuri Matsuzaki / flute 

Torsten Reitz / piano 

Seong-Ryeom Lee / percussion 

Emily Yabe / violin 

Jakob Andert / cello 

Lennart Dohms / conductor 

Arising out of a 2007 project with composer Brian 

Ferneyhough in Dresden, the ensemble El Perro Andaluz 

quickly became one of Germany’s most exciting 

young ensembles for contemporary music. The 

Ensemble is famed for the cultural background of 

its members and for its partnerships with composers 

such as H. Lachenmann, R. Saunders, A. Hölszky, 

V. Tarnopolski, H. Hellstenius, G. Katzer and others. 

The Ensemble’s vision, to emphasise the position 

of New Music in society, is pursued through a wide 

range of musical activity, including installations, opera 

productions, concerts and educational projects. 

El Perro Andaluz was awarded the Kulturförderpreis 

of the city of Dresden in 2011. Alongside its projects 

in Germany, 2012 has seen the Ensemble invited 

to Spain, England and Austria, where this season it 

holds the position of Ensemble in residence at the 

University Mozarteum Salzburg. 

Programme 

Ivan Fedele (b. 1953) Immagini da Escher (2005) 

Sophia Serghi World premiere 

Ioannis Xenakis (1922-2001) Plekto for sextet (1993) 

Interval 

Thomas Simaku (b. 1958) A2 for violin & cello 

(2008) 

Brian Herrington World premiere 

Nicolaus A. Huber (b. 1939) La force du vertige 

for flute, clarinet, violin, cello & piano (1985) 

Pharos Arts Foundation 

Tel.: +35722663871 

www.pharosartsfoundation.org 

35

16 th International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama 

As it does every year, the month of July 

welcomed theatre friends from around the 

world to the Pafos Ancient Odeon, the Curium 

Ancient Theatre in Limassol and the Makarios 

III Amphitheatre in Nicosia for the 16 th International 

Festival of Ancient Greek Drama 2012. 

The Festival was presented under the auspices 

of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the 

European Union and was organised by the Cyprus 

Centre of the International Theatre Institute 

in cooperation with the Cultural Services of the 

Ministry of Education and Culture and the Cyprus 

Tourism Organisation. The Festival programme 

was selected by the Festival Selection 

Committee. 

Agamemnon’s Children 

The Festival opened with a production of Agamemnon’s 

Children by the Hessian State Theatre 

of Wiesbaden, Germany. The adaptation combined 

Euripides’ Iphigeneiain Aulis, Orestes and 

Iphigeneia in Tauris, and Sophocles’ Electra into 

a single storyline. The synthesis of these four 

plays narrates the lives of Agamemnon’s children 

from different points of view. Their actions 

and their destinies make them both perpetrators 

and victims in the vicious cycle of violence endemic 

to Atreides’ myth. 

Direction: Konstanze Lauterbach 

Set design: Karen Simon 

Costumes: Hannah Hamburger 

Music: Achim Gieseler 

Cast: Doreen Nixdorf (Iphigenia), Sybille Weiser 

(Electra), Michael von Bennigsen (Orestes), Susanne 

Bard (Clytaemnestra), Michael Günther Bard 

(Agamemnon, Thoas), Michael von Burg (Pylades), 

Uwe Kraus (Menelaus), Jörg Zirnstein (Servant, 

Messenger, Phrygian, Apollo, Arcas), Magdalena 

Höfner (Hermione) 

Chorus: Evelyn M. Faber, Magdalena Höfner, Franziska 

Werner 

Agamemnon’s Children 

Electra and Orestes, the Trial 

Electra and Orestes, the Trial 

The Cyprus Theatre Organisation’s production, 

Electra and Orestes, the Trial, is an adaptation based 

on Sophocles’ Electra, Euripides’ Orestes and Aeschylus’ 

Eumenides. Both the adaptation and the direction 

are by Israeli stage director Hanan Snir and 

are based on the technique of a “play within a play”. 

The outer play deals with Electra and Orestes on trial 

at the Supreme Court for the crime of matricide. In 

court, the events that led to the murderous act are 

presented against the backdrop of a contemporary 

refugee camp. 

Translation: Vayos Liapis 

Adaptation/Direction: Hanan Snir 

Set Design-Costumes: Melita Couta, Harris Kafkarides 

Music: Demetris Zavros 

36

Bacchae 

Choreography: Fotis Nicolaou 

Lighting Design: Giorgos Koukoumas 

Assistant Director: Egli Spyridaki 

Cast: Thanasis Drakopoulos (Herald), Andreas 

Tsouris (Farmer), Lea Maleni (Electra), 

Nektarios Theodorou (Orestes), Andreas Tselepos 

(Pylades), Niovi Charalambous (Chrysothemis), 

Andreas Vasileiou (Pedagoge), Annita 

Santorineou (Clytemnestra), Neoklis Neokleous 

(Aegisthus), Giorgos Mouaimis (Apollo), 

Stela Firogeni (Athena) 

Chorus: Anna Yiagiozi, Niki Dragoumi, Elena Efstathiou, 

Iliana Kakkoura, Zoe Kyprianou, 

Ermina Kyriazi, Andri Kyriakou, Mara Constantinou, 

Christiana Larkou, Anna Papageorgiou, Kynthia 

Pavlidou, Christina Christofia 

Musicians: Alkis Agathocleous, Korina Vasiliou, 

Petros Giorkatzis, Evripides Dikeos, Mitko Topalov 

Bacchae 

With the production of Euripides’ Bacchae, the Mitos 

Theatre Group, Cyprus, concluded its innovative 

work on Euripides’ Bacchae that began in July 2009. 

The Group examined the conflict between King 

Pentheus and Dionysus and used the reality of our 

current situation to contextualise it. Poor Pentheus: 

his disrespect toward Dionysus and his punishment 

for it makes him a prominent figure among the 

tragic figures of Greek mythology. This new King 

of Thebes stands for moderation and self-restraint, in 

juxtaposition with Dionysus, who protects the vital 

acceptance of instinct. The Chorals were interpreted 

in ancient Greek and followed the rules of Prosody. 

Direction: Lucas Walewski 

Adaptation/Dramaturgy: Elena Agathokleous and 

Rania Iacovou 

Observer: Spyros Charalambous 

Voice couching in open space: Diomedis Koufteros 

Couching classical Indian music: Ravi Saundankar 

Choir leader: Lefkios Demosthenous 

Movement: Lucas Walewski 

Set construction: Giorgos Mavrogenis, Menelaos 

Papagiorgis 

Cast: Elena Agathokleous (Pentheus, Agaue, Messenger), 

Lucas Walewski (Leader of the Chorus, 

Cadmus), Diomedis Koufteros (Tiresias, Attendant, 

37

Messenger) 

Chorus: Nikolas Arkadiou, Giorgos Onisiforou, 

Ravi Saundankar, Lefkios Demosthenous, Konstantinos 

Melides 

The Festival presented two more productions connected 

to the legend of the Atridae which were not 

adaptations, Sophocles’ Electra and Aeschylus’ The 

Eumenides. 

Electra 

Electra was presented by the Greek Theatre Company 

‘Morphes Ekphrasis’. The performance paid 

homage to Dimitris Rondiris on the occasion of the 

30th anniversary of the passing of the great director 

and teacher. Electra strives to continue her life after 

her mother murders her father, but she is obsessed 

with taking revenge. Her brother Orestes and his 

friend Pylades return to Argos to avenge Agamemnon’s 

murder. Orestes kills his mother, Clytaemnestra, 

and her lover, Aegisthus. 

Translation: Ioannis Griparis 

Direction: Thomas Kindinis 

Set design-Costumes: Anna Sevasti Tzima 

Music: Pan Kaperneka, Constantinos Roumelis 

Cast: Thomas Kindinis (Tutor to Orestes), Giannis 

Costaras (Orestes),Constantinos Roumelis (Pylades), 

Zoi Nalmpanti (Electra), Vlasia Ververi and 

Kleoniki Karachaliou (Chrysothemis), Elena Orfanidou, 

Sofia Lymperi (Clytaemnestra), Thomas 

Kindinis (Aegisthus) 

Chorus: Anna Sevasti Tzima, Vlasia Ververi, Kleoniki 

Karachaliou, Nancy Klampatsa, Evgenia Papadaki, 

Elena Orfanidou, Mikaela Zannou, Polina 

Lamprianidou, Sofia Lymperi, Angeliki Pardalidou, 

Eleana Finokalioti, Chrisi Gerardi, Foteini Kapellaki, 

Chrysa Pyli, Asteropi Charitidou, Paraskevi Politi 

The Eumenides 

The Ruth Kanner Theatre Group, an Israeli company, 

presented The Eumenides, by Aeschylus, based 

on the magnificent translation by poet Ted Hughes. 

The Eumenides is the third play in the trilogy Oresteia: 

the first two are Agamemnon and Libation Bearers. 

Supernatural powers, the Furies, chase Orestes, 

who has killed his mother. He takes refuge in the 

temple of the goddess Athena, who founds the first 

court of justice. Orestes is acquitted of the murder 

of his mother, Clytaemnestra, who had murdered 

his father, Agamemnon, and the vindictive Furies 

are convinced to give up their pursuit of vengeance. 

The danger of inflamed violence is real and aweinspiring 

in context of our modern world. Athena’s 

warnings are particularly relevant, as if they had 

been uttered today: “Do not madden our young men, 

with the hiss of the whetstone, and the dream of the 

plunging blade…” 

Director: Ruth Kanner 

Music: Mika Danny 

Lighting Design: Shaked Vax 

Cast: Ronen Babluki (Orestes), Assaf Degani (Apollo), 

Milli Ravid (Athena), Sharron Harnoy (The 

ghost of Clytaemnestra), Neta Nadav (Priestess) 

Chorus of the Furies: Shirley Gal Segev, Tali Kark, 

Adi Meirovitch, Sharron Harnoy, Neta Nadav 

Musician: Avshalom Ariel 

The Assembly Women 

Two comedies by Aristophanes, The Assembly 

Women and Frogs, blew a fresh breeze toward festival 

goers who came to enjoy ancient Greek comedy 

under the starry Cyprus sky. The Assembly Women 

was presented by the Neos Cosmos Theatre, Greece; 

the performance was based on a free translation of 

the original text by Vassilis Mavrogeorgiou. What 

would happen in a city if all citizens had communal 

property rights and a “communal bed”? Would a law 

which demands that no man may sleep with a pretty 

young woman, unless he first sleeps with an ugly old 

one, be fair? The women of Athens, under the leadership 

of Praxagora, certainly thought so! Disguised 

as men, they appear in the Assembly, where they 

support the transfer of power to women. They win, 

and hence everything seems possible! 

Direction: Vangelis Theodoropoulos 

Free Translation: Vasilis Mavrogeorgiou 

Music: Thanos Mikroutsikos 

Set Design-Costumes: Angelos Mentis 

Choreography: Angeliki Stellatou 

Lighting design: Sakis Birbillis 

Music instruction: Thanasis Apostolopoulos 

Cast: Daphne Lamprogianni (Praxagora), Kostas 

Koklas (Blepyrus), Giorgos Pyrpasopoulos (Young 

38

The Eumenides 

Antigone 

man), Pantelis Dentakis (Chremes), Nikos Kardonis 

(First man), Stratos Christou (Second man), Georgia 

Georgoni (Young woman) 

Chorus: Mary Saousopoulou, Ntini Renti, Polyxeni 

Aklidi, Eirini Georgalaki, Maria Georgiadou, Georgia 

Georgoni, Andri Theodotou, Katerina Maoutsou, 

Sotiria Rouvoli, Eirini Fanarioti, Elena Hatjiafxenti 

The Frogs 

The Frogs was presented by Magdalena Zira and 

Fantastic Theatre, her theatre company. Zira adapted 

the play using Vayos Liapis’s new translation and 

combined innovative and traditional elements with 

music by Lefteris Moumtzis. Using the text as a 

foundation and inspired by the similarities between 

the play’s social framework and that of modern society, 

the direction and adaptation recasts The Frogs 

to reflect our current reality. The Frogs is a delightful 

comedy in which the god of drama himself, Dionysus, 

appears. 

Translation: Vaios Liapis 

Direction/Adaptation: Magdalena Zira 

Set Design: Demetris Alithinos 

Costumes: Elena Katsouri 

Composer: Lefteris Moumtzis 

Choreography: Chloe Melidou 

Music supervision: Sophronis Sophroniou 

Cast: Valentinos Kokkinos (Dionysus), Demetris 

Antoniou (Xanthias, Aeschylus), Michalis 

Sophocleous (Heracles, Pluto), Marinos Konsolos 

(Leader of the Chorus, Aeacus, Maid), Marina 

Vronti (Charon, Euripides, Plathani) 

Chorus of Frogs: Demetris Antoniou, Michalis Sophocleous, 

Marinos Konsolos, Marina Vronti, Andrea 

Demetriou, Marcos Ioulios Droushiotis, Maritsa 

Elia 

Antigone 

The Festival closed with Tommaso Traetta’s opera, 

Antigone, presented by Skull of Yorick Productions, 

UK. Antigone was directed by Zamira Pascieri and 

Kassandra Dimopoulou. Based on Sophocles’ tragedy, 

the work of the Italian composer Tommaso 

Traetta is presented in a new, groundbreaking production. 

Traetta’s music is delivered in a contemporary 

performance that blends modern sounds with 

Baroque music and the music of the ancient world. 

Antigone represents an innovative step for opera by 

combining traditional, classical and electronic instruments. 

Creon, king of Thebes, prohibits the burial of Polynices, 

who rose against Thebes, the city of his birth, 

and tried to conquer it. His sister, Antigone, convinced 

to follow divine law rather than arbitrary 

state law, secretly buries her brother and is sentenced 

to death. Not even Haemon, the son of Creon, who 

loves Antigone and protests against his father’s decree, 

manages to save her. 

Directors: Zamira Pasceri – Kassandra Dimopoulou 

Costumes/Set Design: ARTLUXE 

Orchestration: Philip Modinos 

Cast: Jenny Drivala (Antigone), Philip Modinos 

(Creon), Kassandra Dimopoulou (Iseme), Louisa 

Petais (Haemon),Marios Andreou (Priest/Guard) 

Chorus: Depi Mavropoulou (leader), Panikos Loizou, 

Marios Fylakoudias, Andreas Fylakoudias, Andreas 

Stylianou, Konstantinos Stylianou, Dimitris 

Nikoloulopoulos, Panagiotis Nikoloulopoulos, Frixos 

Nikoloulopoulos, Antonis Eyripidou, Giorgos Proto- 

39

papas, Kostas Konstantinou, Aris Giannakas, Giannis 

Buhayar, Argyris Makris, Antreas X Stefanou, 

Giannos Xristofi, Giorgos Charalambous, Andreas 

Vasileiadis, Nikolas Neofytou, Andreas Kestas, Stella 

Kyriakidou, Anthi Kyriakidou, Eirini Charalambous, 

Natassa Athanasiou, Sabrina Leonidou, Ceca Varda 

Launch of the International 

Festival of Ancient Greek Drama 

By Neophytos Neophytou 

The launch of the International Festival of Ancient 

Greek Drama 16 years ago was a decision by the 

Board of Directors of the Cyprus Centre of the International 

Theatre Institute (I.T.I.), following a suggestion 

by then director Nicos Shafkalis. The motivation 

was to give ancient Greek drama a wider presence in 

the theatrical activities of the island. What has established 

the Festival as a distinct cultural event is its 

international character. The performances, many of 

which are original in their approach, cover the whole 

month of July every year now, but when the Festival 

commenced 16 years ago at the Pafos Ancient Odeon, 

it lasted one week. At the time, the Festival was 

organised by the Cyprus Centre of the I.T.I. and was 

subsidised by the Ministry of Education and Culture’s 

Cultural Services, with support from the Pafos 

Municipality. Today the Festival is co-organised by 

the Cyprus Centre of the I.T.I., the Cultural Services 

of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Cyprus 

Tourism Organisation, with additional support 

from the Pafos Municipality and some other small 

organisations. The Festival now takes place at the 

Pafos Ancient Odeon, at the Curium Ancient Theatre, 

Limassol, and at the Makarios III Amphitheatre, 

Nicosia. 

The performances project the uniqueness of ancient 

Greek drama but also bear the intense colouring of 

the culture of the country they come from. Thus the 

audiences, which are international, as they comprise 

not only Cypriots but foreign visitors as well, 

have the unique opportunity of experiencing ancient 

Greek drama from different cultural perspectives 

– this affirms both its specificity and its universality. 

All foreign language performances are subtitled 

in English and Greek, and all Greek performances 

have English subtitles. 

The Centre has always believed that ancient Greek 

Electra Morfes Ekfrasis 

drama, which is the wellspring of contemporary European 

drama and a core element of the world’s cultural 

heritage, has direct relevance to today’s world. 

Rapid technological development makes it even 

more crucial for us to find ways of using the capabilities 

presented by the open Ancient Greek mind to 

reflect on our current reality. 

The International Festival and the International Symposium 

on Ancient Greek Drama and their combined 

international repute strengthen the position of 

Cyprus on the global cultural map and contribute to 

intercultural dialogue. This dialogue helps preserve 

cultural identity and promotes respect for diversity, 

both of which are threatened by globalisation. 

The philosophy behind these activities comprises 

three goals: (a) the study of ancient drama as text 

and discussion of stage approaches to ancient drama 

in the context of contemporary reality; (b) the stage 

performance of ancient drama, and (c) ancient drama 

as a vehicle for theatre education. 

The first of these goals has been achieved by the International 

Symposium on Ancient Greek Drama, 

which was first established in 1990, but symposia 

are restricted to a limited number of people – one 

must be equipped with special qualifications to attend 

them. Dramatic texts, however, valuable though 

they may be as literature, cannot fulfil their purpose 

completely unless they reach the wider public. And 

this can be achieved only if they are translated during 

stage performances. Therefore, the need to make 

ancient drama accessible to the wider public was 

fulfilled with the establishment of the International 

Festival of Ancient Greek Drama. 

Our goal is to continuously upgrade the Festival 

to bring our audiences performances of the highest 

quality. 

40

The Cyprus Medical Museum 

A dentist in the old days 

Reconstruction of child birth 

25 years of Planning and the First Donations 

When the Committee of the Limassol Medical Association 

announced its decision to create a medical 

museum 25 years ago, not many people took 

it seriously. It was well known that such a project 

required a significant effort, and it was believed 

few doctors were very enthusiastic about historical 

medicine and old fashioned equipment. 

So we were surprised to receive our first valuable 

donations from doctors and their families in 

Nicosia. These donations were soon followed by 

donations from the families of well known physicians 

in Limassol, some of whom had preserved 

heavy and complicated equipment left behind by 

the deceased. Soon thereafter, we received obsolete 

equipment and instruments from practicing physicians, 

which they donated to our museum, rather 

than disposing of it. We were ultimately able to accumulate 

an enormous collection of valuable medical 

artefacts. 

A Difficult Road 

The construction of the museum was approved in 

2001, and it was officially registered in 2003. The 

road to the success of the museum was a difficult 

one, however, and there were many obstacles. It 

was difficult to find storage space, and efforts to 

convince both state and municipal authorities to 

provide us with an appropriate location to establish 

the museum failed. A notable example is the famous 

abandoned Tritoftidis Clinic at the centre of 

Limassol, which was eventually demolished, while 

other buildings were used by the Limassol municipality 

for the establishment of other museums. 

In the midst of our frustration and disappointment, 

the mayor of Kato Polemidia, George Georghiou, 

informed us his council was willing to offer us a 

unique old building in the historical sector of Polemidia 

which was slated for renovation under 

the supervision of the Department of Antiquities. 

We were delighted by and thankful for Mayor 

41

Georghiou’s generosity, and we were quite pleased 

that the age of the building was in harmony with 

most of our exhibits. 

Important decisions by the Committee 

The Museum Committee immediately made a 

number of decisions. First, the exhibits were going 

to be grouped in eight entities of related specialties. 

With the use of lighted platforms and life-sized 

models, we would bring the operating, delivery 

and examining rooms of the previous century to 

life. Well known architect and set designer George 

Papadopoulos undertook this project. 

Another important decision was the creation 

of an electronic infrastructure, a database and 

a website. We decided to install touch screens 

throughout the museum, so that visitors could 

access information about each exhibit, including 

the period, the location where the items in the 

exhibit were used, how the items were used and 

who donated them to the collection. This project 

was undertaken by surgeon Marios Karaiskakis, 

whose hobbies include electronic structuring 

and Web design. 

Finally, the selection, transfer and description 

of the museum’s exhibits was overseen by Chris 

Messis, who was assisted by Michalis Korais. The 

translation of all museum information into English 

will soon be available on the website. 

The Museum’s Contents 

The Cyprus Medical Museum today houses 160 

exhibits donated by 32 doctors and their families. 

The exhibits are grouped in eight units, all of them 

supported by touch screens. 

Some of the special items on exhibit in the 

museum include medical equipment used 

for the first time in Cyprus. This includes an 

electrocardiograph belonging to the late Mikis 

Constantinides from Nicosia (1940) and the 

first haemodialysis machine that was used privately 

by Greek and Turkish Cypriot patients 

in Limassol around 1970. Other impressive exhibits 

feature the delivery and care of a baby in 

1930, surgery with general anaesthesia in 1950, 

ENT surgery in 1950 and orthopaedic surgery 

in 1960. 

The museum also features an impressive exhibit 

devoted to the outpatient performance of radiological 

procedures in the 1940s, including all 

the necessary protection used by the physician 

and the patient and film development equipment. 

Another interesting section of the museum 

comprises neurological equipment used on 

the island in the 1960s for electroencephalography 

(EEG), Electromyography (EMG) and 

electroconvulsive (ECT) treatment. Antiquated 

dentistry equipment, from the 1950s, is accompanied 

by a caricature by dentist and artist Stathis 

Economides. 

Former Health Minister Stavros Malas inaugurates the 

Cyprus Medical Museum 

Head of the Cyprus Medical Association, Dr Andreas 

Demetriou 

42

Mr Kyriakos Yiannopoulos Secretary of the Cyprus Medical 

Museum 

Dr Christodoulos Messis the museum’s Vice President, shows 

Stavros Malas the exhibits 

Database, Touch Screens and Website 

A wealth of information is available on the museum’s 

website, www.cyprus-medical-musem. 

org, including photographs from medical meetings 

from all over Cyprus going back 60 years and videos 

from congresses and other events going back 

40 years. Photos of our donors with their exhibits 

and photos from a number of functions held prior 

to the completion of the museum are also available 

on our website. 

Library 

Our collection of books and other writings on Cypriot 

medicine are meticulously preserved in the 

museum’s small library, although protocols and 

other historic documents are on exhibit at the entrance 

to the museum. 

Botanical Garden with Medicinal Plants 

A small botanical garden in the museum yard is 

home to medicinal plants used in Cyprus for therapeutic 

purposes. The garden was created with love 

by Dr John Ioannides. 

Antiquities 

Unfortunately, our initial desire to include ancient 

medical equipment found at various excavations in 

Cyprus, or identical copies, has gone unfulfilled, as 

our request was denied by the Department of Antiquities. 

We hope this decision will change in the 

near future, so our visitors will have the opportunity 

to compare 19 th and 20 th century medicine to 

that practiced millennia ago. 

Cost and Further Needs 

Thanks to volunteer work undertaken by members 

of the Cypriot medical community, we were able to 

establish the museum for approximately €100.000. 

We received generous contributions from physicians, 

pharmaceutical companies and other 

sources. We are expecting financial support from 

the state and elsewhere, so that we can expand and 

enrich our educational programs. 

Visitors 

We are welcoming professionals and students 

from the medical and paramedical sector, as 

well as primary and secondary school students. 

We also hope to welcome people from all over 

Cyprus to visit a unique museum where they 

can learn about the history of Cypriot medicine 

and the progress of medical technology, where 

they can compare the practice of medicine in 

the 19 th and 20 th centuries to the medicine of 

the 21 st . 

Dr Marios Philippou MD 

(President of the Museum Committee) 

and Dr Chris Messis MD 

(Vice President and Curator of the Museum) 

43

Pafos Aphrodite Festival 2012 

The 14 th Pafos Aphrodite Festival raised its curtain 

this year on the Slovak National Theatre’s 

performance of Verdi’s Otello. The Festival was 

held on 7, 8 and 9 September at the Medieval Castle 

of Pafos, in Pafos Harbour. The performance 

was supertitled in Greek and English. 

The Plot 

An adaptation of one of William Shakespeare’s 

four great tragedies, Otello is set at the Castle of 

Famagusta in the 15 th century, where Othello, governor 

of Cyprus, returns victorious from the war 

unaware that two of his men, Iago and Rodrigo, 

are plotting to destroy him. Iago, wishing to satisfy 

his own ambitions, defames Otello’s wife, Desdemona, 

convincing Otello that she was unfaithful to 

him with his Captain, Cassio. Blinded by jealousy, 

Otello kills Desdemona, but he soon finds out the 

truth of Iago’s treachery. Unable to bear the burden 

of her murder, he stabs himself and dies. 

Cyprus Presidency of the Council 

of the European Union 

Due to the symbolic connection of this opera with 

the occupied city of Famagusta, coupled with continued 

international acknowledgment of the Pafos 

Aphrodite Festival, this year’s Festival was held 

under the auspices of the Cyprus Presidency of the 

Council of the European Union, which enhanced 

the prestige of the Festival and brought it extra recognition. 

Pafos Aphrodite Festival Cyprus – 

A Historical Overview 

The Company Pafos Aphrodite Festival Cyprus 

was founded in 1998 by the Municipality of Pafos, 

the Municipality of Geroskipou, the Municipality 

of Pegeia, the Pafos Chamber of Commerce and 

Industry and the Cyprus Hoteliers Association (Pafos 

District Committee). These five organisations 

formed the Company to promote Pafos as an international 

centre for high profile cultural events and 

to contribute to the international promotion and 

advancement of Cyprus in the cultural and tourist 

sectors. The Company is a non-profit organisation 

that organises and manages the Pafos Aphrodite 

Festival and other cultural events in Pafos District. 

A Success, Despite Being Deemed Unfeasible 

Prior to 1998 it was considered unfeasible for Cyprus 

to host a world renowned opera festival. Today, 

thanks to the hard work of people with vision 

and a passion for cultural development, as well as 

the decisive support of the state and the public and 

private sectors, the Pafos Aphrodite Festival has 

emerged as an institution of international scope, 

44

one that occupies a significant place on the European 

cultural map. Even more important is the 

confidence the Cypriot public has in the Festival, 

combined with the number of foreign visitors who 

return year after year to attend the performances. 

After 14 years of contributing to the cultural development 

of Cyprus, the Festival has helped to increase 

awareness of the arts and has contributed to 

shaping Cyprus into a vibrant melting pot of people 

and cultures. This goal was achieved after painstaking 

efforts to promote the Festival abroad as a 

tourist destination via tourism trade fairs; partnerships 

with overseas tour operators; advertisements 

in the international press and on radio and TV stations; 

press conferences; direct invitations to government 

officials in various countries, and contacts 

with global opera companies, as well as outreach 

to embassies and institutions in Cyprus and abroad. 

Up until three years ago, the number of foreigners 

attending the Festival outnumbered Cypriot attendees 

60 to 40. The increased participation of Cypriot 

soloists in the productions, and the publication of 

programmes and the implementation of supertitles 

in Greek and English, has helped draw more Cypriots 

to the Festival. 

The Pafos Aphrodite Festival is already in search 

of the next producer and in consultation with various 

agencies, as proper planning is essential to cooperation 

with world renowned opera companies. 

Fortunately for the Festival, many famous directors 

of large production houses have been inspired by 

the breathtaking setting of the Medieval Castle of 

Pafos. Although every year the Festival encounters 

a number of difficulties arising from staging a large 

production in the open area of the square, it is a 

unique performance space, one that draws opera 

companies from all over Europe. 

The organisation of the Festival is a flurry of yearround 

activity, including design (cultural policy, 

strategy, structure and function); enrichment of 

the product; sourcing and managing sponsorships; 

marketing and public relations, and the overall organisation 

of all activities related to the Festival. 

The Pafos Aphrodite Festival Company evaluates 

statistical data, delivers measurable results and 

assesses the company and its operations once the 

Festival has concluded – the Company undertakes 

analysis and prediction, including market research 

and evaluation, in tandem with product development 

and design. 

An underlying objective of the Pafos Aphrodite 

Festival Cyprus is to increase cultural awareness 

in Cyprus, thus the Company directly associates its 

activities with education and training and plans to 

Act 1 of the performance at Pafos Castle 

45

Act 4 of the performance at Pafos Castle (past September) 

fold workshops, seminars, school lectures, master 

classes and music competitions into its programme 

going forward. The Company is also looking to 

stage co-productions, both in Cyprus and abroad, 

with renowned lyrical organisations. 

Funding 

The Company is largely and mainly supported by 

state sponsorship, by private sponsors and by ticket 

sales. Unfortunately, private sponsorships are an 

inconsistent source of funding, as private companies 

are always subject to national and international 

economic conditions. 

The path the Festival has taken has resulted in 

its significant presence on the contemporary arts 

scene. Its success speaks for the continued growth 

of the Festival and its contribution to contemporary 

artistic creation. Developments in the international 

arena, as well as modern approaches to cultural 

events, require the Pafos Aphrodite Festival Company 

to continually adjust its trajectory and develop 

new structures. It is crucial for the Company to 

remain true to its vision and strategic goals. 

Synopsis of the Opera 

Act One 

The people of Cyprus anxiously watch as a storm 

rages on the sea and the ship carrying Otello, the 

hero of the military expedition against the Turks, 

desperately tries to make it into port. The storm settles, 

the ship anchors safely and cheering Cypriots 

welcome the hero (Otello’s triumphant ‘Esultate!’). 

Only Ιago, the ensign, does not cheer. Since Otello 

promoted Cassio to captain over Iago, Iago hates 

Otello and plots revenge. Iago encourages Cassio 

to court Otello’s wife, Desdemona, and urges him 

to drink (Iago’s ‘brindisi Qua, ragazzi, del vino!’). 

Cassio gets drunk and engages in a quarrel with 

the former Cypriot governor, Montano. Otello arrives 

and recalls Cassio’s recent promotion. Night 

descends, and Otello and Desdemona recall their 

courtship under the starry sky. 

Act Two 

Iago suggests that Cassio ask Desdemona to talk 

to her husband about his demotion, in the hope 

46

y defending Cassio. Iago tricks Cassio into 

speaking with him while Otello, hidden nearby, 

listens, and Iago manipulates the conversation 

in a way that convinces Otello of Desdemona’s 

guilt. Otello has no doubts about Desdemona’s 

guilt once he sees Cassio with Desdemona’s 

handkerchief – he doesn’t know Iago tossed 

it through a window into the room prior to his 

meeting with Cassio. 

Otello is in deep despair. An envoy arrives 

from Venice. The Doge has summoned Otello 

to Venice and appointed Cassio as general. 

Otello is enraged. He insults Desdemona in 

front of the assembled court and collapses to 

the ground. Everyone leaves the room. Iago 

puts his heel to Otello’s forehead in triumph. 

Τhe performance at Pafos Castle showing Otello and Desdemona 

that Cassio’s conversation with Desdemona will 

make Otello jealous. Iago’s desire to destroy 

Otello is devilish; his creed is the essence of 

malice and nihilism. With cunning intrigue, he 

succeeds in convincing Otello that Desdemona 

and Cassio have become lovers. 

One of Iago’s tricks is to obtain Desdemona’s 

handkerchief, which had been a gift to Desdemona 

from Otello – Iago acquires the handkerchief 

with the help of his wife, Emilia, Desdemona’s 

attendant, who is unaware of her husband’s 

plan. Otello’s jealousy is inflamed, and 

Desdemona’s pleas on Cassio’s behalf only enrage 

him. To fan the flames, Iago insinuates that 

he once heard Cassio speak lovingly of Desdemona 

in his sleep. He then produces the handkerchief, 

which he alleges Desdemona gave to 

Cassio. Otello becomes desperate and swears he 

will have vengeance. 

Act Four 

In her chamber, Desdemona is tormented by 

her husband’s behaviour and reminisces about 

life in her native town. She prays and falls 

asleep. Otello enters, wakes her and accuses 

her of infidelity. He strangles her. Alarmed by 

the noise, Emilia runs into the room and announces 

that Cassio has killed Rodrigo. She 

reveals Iago’s intrigues and, together with 

Cassio, explains how Iago obtained Desdemona’s 

handkerchief. Iago escapes. Otello stabs 

himself and drags himself to Desdemona’s 

body, dying after a final kiss. 

Act Three 

Otello accuses Desdemona of infidelity. She 

unwittingly enrages her husband even more 

Performance of Otello at the Slovak National Theatre 

47

Terra Mediterranea–In Crisis Programme 

4 July – 30 December 2012 

Τerra Mediterranea–In Crisis is a contemporary 

art program organised by the Nicosia 

Municipal Arts Centre and the Pierides Foundation 

under the auspices of the Cyprus Presidency 

of the Council of the EU. Aside from the Terra 

Mediterranea–In Crisis contemporary art exhibition, 

curated by Yiannis Toumazis at the Nicosia 

Municipal Arts Centre [Old Power House], the 

project includes a second contemporary art exhibition, 

[at Maroudia’s], curated by the Re Aphrodite 

team at the Ethnological Museum–House of 

Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios. An educational and 

academic programme accompanies the two exhibitions. 

The project also includes a special edition 

of the journal The Cyprus Dossier, a monthly series 

of social and food events and interventions in 

public spaces. 

Terra Mediterranea–In Crisis 

Curator: Yiannis Toumazis at the Nicosia Municipal 

Arts Centre [Old Power House] 

Terra Mediterranea–In Crisis, at the Nicosia Municipal 

Arts Centre, attempts to detect, investigate and 

present contemporary artists’ reflections on today’s 

universal economic, political, religious and social 

scenes, in tandem with a deep existential crisis. 

The Mediterranean is both an enclosed sea and, 

in essence, a political space. It has operated as a 

conduit for “transferring energy” from the Orient 

to the Occident and from the Occident to the 

Orient since ancient times. This transfer has included 

peoples, innovative ideas and ideologies, 

in times of war and peace. Our current global 

economic crisis is recognised as having a universal 

effect on socio-political, economic, ethnic 

48

and cultural structures worldwide. In addition, 

and to a very significant degree, the contemporary 

post-colonial realities of the Eastern Mediterranean, 

an area with a long colonial past and a 

charged political fate, contribute to the evolution 

of East-West relations. 

A dynamic group of 41 artists from Cyprus, the 

surrounding area and beyond (Bulgaria, Egypt, 

Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey 

and the United States) will scrutinise our current 

global turbulence through “Mediterranean” 

eyes from promontories both political and poetic. 

Within the framework of the exhibition, some of 

the participating artists will collaborate with the 

Research and Restoration Centre of the Museums 

of France housed at the Louvre Palace. They will 

produce new works inspired by their research at 

the Louvre. 

[At Maroudia’s] Exhibition 

Curators: Group Re Aphrodite (Evi Tselika & 

Chrystalleni Loizidou) at The Ethnological Museum 

- House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios 

Another part of the Terra Mediterranea–In Crisis 

programme is the collaboration of the Nicosia 

Municipal Arts Centre, the Pierides Foundation 

and the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus with 

Group Re Aphrodite, a curatorial and research 

group devoted to exploring of art and difference. 

Re Aphrodite will curate an exhibition for the 

Ethnological Museum–House of Hadjigeorgakis 

Kornesios entitled [at Maroudia’s] with 27 artists 

participating. 

The exhibition and an affiliated series of events 

comprise existing and new contemporary art 

works, as well as research. The exhibition presents 

the unwritten histories of Cypriot women. It makes 

use of the layered history of the house to challenge 

old myths and narratives and develop new 

ones, while reflecting on a number of real and perceived 

crises. The exhibition touches upon social, 

educational and ethical concerns around sexuality, 

gender issues and conflicts. The works of art are 

concerned with the effects of tourism on tradition, 

heritage and nationhood; the body (its portrayal, 

beauty, mortality and sexuality); the trivial and the 

kitschy, as well as more general issues of difference. 

A number of performances and critical workshops 

will be held within the museum space. 

49

Educational and Academic Events 

Developed by the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre 

and Re Aphrodite 

The two exhibitions will be accompanied and united 

by an educational program. This programme 

features workshops and academic roundtables for 

students, professionals and the wider public. 

The Cyprus Dossier (Publication Project) 

Aside from the exhibition catalogue, a special issue 

of the critical magazine The Cyprus Dossier will be 

published. The theme is crisis, and it will include 

texts by eminent academics and researchers from 

Cyprus and abroad. 

Editors Peter Eramian, Entafianos A. Entafianos 

and Marios Menelaou issued an open call for cooperation: 

Crisis has come to define the post 9/11 era. It has 

become so central to our thinking and language 

that we hear it uttered in the media almost every 

day. But what does it mean? From politics and 

the economy to identity and consciousness, crisis 

has become an everyday existential historical 

reality we take for granted. There is an urgency 

to understand crisis more critically. When is it 

used to oppress, when is it a device for legitimisation, 

and when can it provoke resistance? 

Social Ride 

242 art group 

Old Powerhouse Restaurant 

Second Tuesday of every month 

Another unique dimension to the Terra Mediterranea–In 

Crisis project has been contributed by 242 art 

group and will take place in The Old Power House 

restaurant of the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre under 

the general title Social Ride. Costas Mantzalos 

and Constantinos Kounnis, together with the curator 

of the exhibition and a group of individuals from the 

arts and design industry, will convert the restaurant to 

welcome and accommodate 24 people from marginalized 

social groups, including financial immigrants, 

prisoners and people with addictions. The selection of 

the guests will be decided after consultation with Ms 

Andrea Athanasiou of the Social Work Department 

of Frederick University and through various state 

and non-governmental bodies such as KISA, the Red 

Cross, the Welfare Office and others. The process will 

initially involve a guided tour to the Nicosia Municipal 

Arts Centre and will conclude with a dinner, which 

will be designed and prepared especially by the 242 

art group and their Social Ride collaborators. Each 

month the entire event will be different. 

Something Feasible 

Phanos Kyriacou 

Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre (19, PaliasIlekrikis 

Street) 

Corner of Stasinou Avenue & Aigeos Street 

(opposite Caraffa Bastione, Famagusta Gate) 

Old GSP Stadium (Corner of Evagorou & Gregori 

Afxentiou Avenue) 

Three “urban” installations at public spaces in Nicosia. 

As the artist says, his aim is to create “places 

of socio-political commentary and reaction in our 

space and time proposing a historically and aesthetically 

detached landmark, a landmark capable 

of operating as a core of probability, encounter and 

communication.” 

Participating Artists 

Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre 

Klitsa Antoniou 

Katerina Attalidou 

Banu Cennetoğlu 

Savvas Christodoulides 

Kyriaki Costa 

Joseph Dadoune 

Tom Dale 

Peter Eramian 

Sumer Erek 

Theodoulos Gregoriou 

Elizabeth Hoak-Doering 

50

Mustafa Hulusi 

Pravdo Ivanov 

Lamia Joreige 

Constantinos Kalisperas 

Stelios Kallinikou 

Stefanos Karambabas 

Gülsün Karamustafa 

Susan Kleinberg 

Servet Kocyigit 

Glavkos Koumides 

Νikos Kouroussis 

Phanos Kyriacou 

Yannis Kyriakides 

Michel Lasserre 

Υοussef Limoud 

Maria Loizidou 

Martin Meason 

Panayiotis Michael 

Panagiotis Mina 

Demetris Neocleous 

Erkan Özgen 

Vicky Pericleous 

Yorgos Sapountzis 

Andreas Savva 

Efi Savvides 

Socratis Socratous 

Constantinos Taliotis 

Paola Yacoub 

Akram Zaatari 

242 art group 

The Ethnological Museum 

House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios 

Αntonis Antoniou 

Christos Avraam 

Yiannis Christofides 

Daphne Christoforou 

Melita Couta 

Özge Ertanin 

Alkis Hadjiandreou 

Christos Hadjichristos 

Mayia Hadjigeorgiou 

Yioula Hadjigeorgiou 

Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee 

Katerina Iacovides 

Alana Kakoyiannis 

Orestis Lambrou 

Lia Lapithi 

Latiterranean 

Pembe Mentesh 

Maria Papacharalambous 

Despo Pasia 

Haris Pellapaisiotis 

Νikos Philippou 

Mary Plant 

Rozy Sarkis 

Vasso Sergiou 

Elena Stylianou 

Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert 

Natalie Yiaxi 

Social Ride 

10 July 2012: Maria Anaxagora and Christophoros 

Charalambous 

11 September 2012: Maroula Antoniadou and Erotokritos 

Antoniades 

10 October 2012: Elma Panayidou and Elena Parouti 

13 November 2012: Marika Ioannou and Andreas 

Coutas 

11 December 2012: Melina Shukuroglu 

18 December 2012: Myrna Pattichi 

51

Painting and Photography Exhibition 

by Cypriot Armenian Artists 

Τhe European Presidency has inevitably drawn 

much attention to the Republic of Cyprus, 

and the Armenian Community took this wonderful 

opportunity to display a small fragment of the 

multicultural mosaic of what we describe as the 

civilisation of Cyprus. This civilisation comprises 

various ethnic and religious groups, all of which 

serve our homeland in their own way. Thus the 

Armenian Representative, Vartkes Mahdessian, 

organised a unique exhibition within the framework 

of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of 

the European Union featuring work by nine Armenian 

painters and six Armenian photographers. 

On 16 July, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, 

Mr Demetris Christofias, inaugurated the exhibition 

– the event was attended by ambassadors, 

consuls, representatives of political parties and 

permanent secretaries of ministries. The exhibition 

was housed in the superb Casteliotissa Hall 

and remained open until 31 July. The photographs 

on display took visitors on a trip through time to 

the idyllic Cyprus of the mid-20 th century, while 

the paintings provided a glimpse of the richness 

of Armenian culture and heritage. The entire twoweek 

exhibition was a tremendous success. 

Artist Biographies 

Garbis Bezdikian was born in Cairo in 1923. After 

graduating from the Melkonian Educational Institute, 

he worked as a graphic designer, a cartographer 

and a comic artist, but his chief occupation was as a 

music producer for Turkish radio programmes at the 

CyBC. He was a member of the Chamber of Fine 

Arts, as well as a member of the Artists’ International 

Association and an honorary President of the Selftaught 

Artists of Cyprus. The subjects of his paintings 

were always life and people. He passed away in 

2009, leaving behind works full of life. 

Sossee Eskidjian Nikolaides was born in Nicosia 

in 1969 and received her BA in Fine Arts from 

Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She 

has been working as a set and costume designer 

and an art director, having directed a number of 

President Christofias poses with some of the participating artists 

52

Painting and Photography Exhibition by Cypriot Armenian Artists - at the superb Castelliotissa Hall 

TV commercials and launching events in Cyprus 

and abroad. Her art is influenced by her long experience 

in costume and stage design, and the materials 

she chooses include threads, fabrics, pins, 

wires and various metals, components which no 

longer have a utilitarian value but which have accrued 

emotional substance and artistic importance. 

She had her first solo art show in 2009. 

Tatiana Ferahian was born in Lebanon in 1970 

and fled to Limassol during the Lebanese Civil 

War. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from Empire 

State College and an MA in Liberal Studies from 

the University of Denver. A well-known cartoonist, 

her work explores local standards and the 

boundaries imposed by our current cultural, religious 

and political milieu, with the intent of raising 

awareness and interest. Tatiana has exhibited 

locally and has represented Cyprus in numerous 

exhibitions and Biennales in Europe, Egypt, Turkey, 

Korea, China and the USA. She is currently 

an art teacher at Nareg Armenian Schools. 

John Guevherian was born in Ethiopia in 1948. 

After graduating from the Melkonian Educational 

Institute, he received his BA in Architecture from 

the American University of Beirut. An architect by 

profession, he has distinguished himself by participating 

in Pancyprian competitions and winning 

several first prizes – he also designed the Armenian 

Genocide monument in Nicosia. Guevherian’s 

nostalgia for his homeland is apparent in his 

paintings of ancient Armenian churches, while the 

Cyprus landscape and Greek mythology also inspire 

him. He maintains a steady presence in the 

art world, which includes 11 solo exhibitions and 

more than 30 group exhibitions. He is actively involved 

in the Armenian community. 

Sevan Malikyan, of Armenian-Cypriot parentage, 

was born in London in 1972. He received his BA 

Hons in Fine Arts from the Bath School of Art and 

Design and is considered one of the outstanding 

young artists of London, where he has exhibited 

work at various venues. His extensive portfolio 

demonstrates a dramatic and inventive technique 

which documents sensation through the use of 

colour. His work, which is rife with social and personal 

drama, can be found in private collections in 

53

President Demetris Christofias inaugurates the exhibition 

Cyprus, England, Barcelona and Tunisia. 

Aznive Papazian was born in Larnaca in 1956. 

She graduated from the Melkonian Educational 

Institute, where she also taught. Papazian studied 

painting, drawing, engraving and mosaic art, 

as well as wood and small-scale clay sculpture. 

She also worked with the painter Raphael Atoyan 

in Armenia for two consecutive summers. Papazian’s 

art exists within the sphere of figurative 

and abstract expressionism – the two-way interplay 

between man and the world is the inspiration 

for Papazian’s work and its main axis. Her interests 

are portraits, landscapes, still life, compositions 

featuring the human figure and life drawing. 

Papazian has had solo exhibitions in Armenia and 

in Nicosia and has also taken part in a number of 

group exhibitions in Cyprus. 

Nanor Tashdjian was born in Nicosia in 1974. 

She holds a BA in Graphic Arts from Frederick 

University in Nicosia and an MA in Fine Arts 

from the University of Wales in Cardiff. She loves 

experimenting with different arts and crafts by 

combining different colours, media and materials 

in her paintings – she also works with glass fusing 

and framework. The ocean is a prevalent theme in 

her work. Tashdjian is an accomplished artist who 

has presented her work in many solo and group 

exhibitions in Cyprus, the UK, Sydney and Bangkok. 

She lives and works in Cardiff, Wales. 

Vartan Tashdjian was born in Lebanon in 1941. 

Visitors had the opportunity to enjoy artwork by Armenian 

painters and photographers 

After graduating from the Melkonian Educational 

Institute and the American University of Beirut, he 

settled in Nicosia. Today Tashdjian is one of the 

most important contemporary artists in Cyprus. 

His paintings are a celebration of the beauty of nature 

and life – the diverse landscapes of Cyprus are 

one of his primary inspirations. An internationally 

renowned artist, he has had 47 solo exhibitions in 

Cyprus and abroad, as well as group exhibitions 

in various cities. His work can be found in public 

and private collections all over the world and at his 

gallery in Nicosia. Tashdjian is actively involved 

in the Armenian community. 

Hourig Torossian was born in Nicosia in 1967. 

She holds an Honours BA from the Wimbledon 

School of Art and an MA in Fine Arts from the 

Royal College of Art. Since graduating in 1994, 

she has been an active artist, exhibiting in Cyprus, 

Greece and the UK. In 2005 she represented Cyprus 

in Austria in an exhibition highlighting artists 

from the ten countries that joined the EU in 2004. 

Torossian’s large-scale colour paintings on canvas 

are essentially transformed from monochromatic 

imagery. The raw materials for her figurative work 

come from old family photographs or from decorative 

iron window guards. Hourig is currently an 

Assistant Professor in the Applied Arts Department 

of Frederick University in Nicosia. 

Georges Karnig Der Parthogh was a veteran 

journalist, an international news photographer and 

54

an active member of the Armenian community. 

Born in Ethiopia in 1923, Georges came to Cyprus 

with his family in 1935, where he attended the 

English School and served with the Air Ministry. 

He then joined the Times of Cyprus (1955-1959) 

and later worked as a correspondent for Reuters 

(1959-1963) and UPI (1963-1979), covering wars 

and civil commotion in Cyprus, Malta, the Middle 

East, Iran and East Africa. In 1979 he co-founded 

the Cyprus Weekly, and beginning in 1989 he 

served as a correspondent for Azg newspaper in 

Yerevan and for the Armenian Mirror-Spectator 

in Boston. Georges actively supported photography 

– he encouraged young photographers and received 

several awards as a member of the Cyprus 

Photographic Society. He passed away in 2008. 

Veronica Mahdessian was born in Nicosia in 1968. 

She holds an MA in Photography from the London 

College of Printing and Distributive Trades. She 

has had one solo exhibition in Beirut, in 1997, and 

she has participated in numerous group exhibitions 

in Cyprus and London. Amongst her awards is the 

third prize for photojournalism at the 25th Dunhill 

Pancyprian Photographic exhibition, which was 

organised by the Cyprus Photographic Society in 

1995. Veronica lives and works in Thessalonica, 

Greece, where she and her husband own and operate 

Kalfayan Galleries, a well-known familyowned 

gallery that organises art exhibitions in Athens, 

Thessalonica and worldwide. 

Haigaz Mangoian was born in Adana, Cilicia in 

1907. Having suffered persecution by the Ottomans 

and the Young Turks, he and his large family 

arrived in Cyprus in December 1920. After Mangoian 

graduated from the American Academy in 

Larnaca, he and his brother, Levon, started a photographic 

studio, the first in Larnaca. They then 

opened a photographic studio, briefly, in Famagusta, 

before settling in Nicosia. Their Nicosia studio 

developed successfully, particularly after World 

War II. In 1947, together with Levon, Mangoian 

published a travel guide, The Island of Cyprus. 

Mangoian continued with his photography, both in 

the studio and beyond it, where he photographed 

the places and faces of Cyprus, the country he 

came to love, until his untimely death in 1970. 

Edward Voskeritchian was born in Zeitoun, 

Cilicia in 1902. His family witnessed the tragic 

Genocide of the Armenian people, during which 

they were forced to abandon their hometown for 

the nearby island of Cyprus. Kyrenia offered its 

hospitality to the Voskeritchian family, and after 

a short stay, they left for Nicosia. Life proved 

difficult there, so the large family moved to Larnaca, 

where they opened a photo shop which soon 

closed. In 1920, well-known businessman Movses 

Soultanian encouraged Voskeritchian to move to 

Limassol to apprentice with photographer John P. 

Foscolo. Voskeritchian established his own business, 

Edward’s Photo Studio in 1926. He loved 

Limassol and lived there until his death in 1990. 

Sebough Voskeritchian was born in Limassol in 

1975. The fourth generation of this talented and 

pioneering photographic family, Voskeritchian 

blends the acutely sensitive and artistic side of his 

late grandfather, Edward, with the advanced technical 

knowledge of his late father, Albert. Voskeritchian 

pushes the boundaries of photography into 

the realm of modern-day art and multimedia. He 

has taken part in many international group exhibitions 

and has won numerous photographic awards 

– he has also had a solo exhibition in Cyprus. 

Voskeritchian’s keen eye is unparalleled, and his 

application of mixed media has made him one of 

the most exciting and talented young photographers 

in Europe. 

Giragos Zartarian was born in Adana, Cilicia 

in 1915. In 1921, due to the political situation in 

Cilicia, in which the region’s Christian population 

faced continuous threats from the Turks, Zartarian 

and his family immigrated to Cyprus. After graduating 

from the Melkonian Educational Institute, 

Zartarian established his own photographic studio 

in Nicosia in 1935 and for some years was an official 

photographer for the colonial government. 

He is considered to be a prominent publisher of 

postcards of Cyprus; his postcard images capture 

the landscape of Cyprus during the middle of the 

20 th century. After losing his wife in 1957, Zartarian 

closed his studio. In 1959 he and his family 

immigrated to England, where he died tragically 

in 1962 of a heart attack. 

55

United States of Europe (U.S.E) 

A travelling exhibition about European identity and today’s Europe 

Opening from 17 September until 14 October 2012 

Do you feel European? Does Mr O’Keeffe in 

Ireland feel more or less European than Mrs 

Stylianou in Cyprus? And if so, why? What is the 

idea behind Europe and do Europeans feel included? 

Do Europeans trust their leaders? Maybe 

there are as many different answers to these questions 

as there are citizens in Europe. 

The artistic project United States of Europe 

(U.S.E) deals with these questions in the context 

of a travelling exhibition through ten European 

countries. The exhibition opened in Lodz, Poland, 

in November 2011; the second destination was 

Helsinki, the third was Vilnius and the fourth was 

Guimarães. In September the exhibition opened 

in Nicosia, as part of the cultural programme of 

the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European 

Union. 

United States of Europe (U.S.E), a large-scale collaboration 

project about European identity, will 

also be presented in public spaces, galleries and 

museums in Germany, Bulgaria, France, Ireland 

and Belgium until spring 2013. 

The concept 

U.S.E is not propaganda for a federal Europe. It 

aims to create commitment in the Europe in which 

we live and to function as a communication platform 

for people living in Europe. The exhibition 

offers a lot of different interpretations on European 

identity through diverse disciplines and from different 

angles. 

U.S.E comprises four dimensions: 

1. Artists interpretations: Curators and artists 

have been invited to give their interpretations of 

European identity through photos, multimedia, 

video and other installations. 

2. Sociological studies: 50 people from 10 different 

countries have been interviewed. The result is 

video-recorded interviews that give comparable results 

of a potential belonging to a European entity. 

3. An interactive laboratory: This is a place in the 

exhibition where the artistic and sociological parts 

are combined. The laboratory is a creative environment 

for real-time exchanges about Europe today. 

56

4. A series of debates: Several aspects will be discussed: 

“What does it mean to be European and 

how is contemporary art dealing or not with that 

question?” and “Europe, its politicians and the people 

– about confidence and commitment today”. 

Johanna Suo (Sweden/France/UK) has initiated the 

project and created the exhibition concept. 

The artists 

Diversity, which is the core of the U.S.E., is embodied 

by the artistic team. 

Three curators, Ryszard W. Kluszczyński (Poland), 

Anna Bitkina (Russia) and Sinziana Ravini 

(France) have each selected a group of artists. The 

chosen artists have international and multicultural 

backgrounds, and they all deal with identity questions. 

U.S.E presents works by Luchezar Boyadjiev 

(Bulgaria), Anna Konik (Poland), Gerda Lampalzer 

(Austria), Maria Lusitano-Santos (Portugal), 

Deimantas Narkevicius (Lithuania), Artur Zmijewski 

(Poland), Jean-Charles Hue (France), Kaarina 

Kaikkonen (Finland), REINIGUNGSGESELLS- 

CHAFT (Germany), Tanja Muravskaja (Estonia), 

Kennedy Browne (Ireland), Apostolis Polymeris 

(Belgium), Kyriaki Costa (Cyprus) and Anu Pennanen 

(Finland). 

The multimedia artist and researcher Jānis Garančs 

(Latvia) created the interactive laboratory. In the 

lab you can see interviews with people from all 

over Europe, you can interact and share your points 

of view, and you can view 3D visualisations. 

The sociological core team includes Professor Andrzej 

Piotrowski (University of Lodz), Dr Tomasz 

Ferenc (University of Lodz) and Dr Lyudmila 

Nurse (Oxford XXI, UK). Ten local sociologists 

conducted five interviews in each participating 

country. 

The U.S.E in Nicosia 

In Nicosia a walk was organised through the city: 

“Discover your city and discover Europe.” 

Several different venues were included to open the 

exhibition to a wide audience. Among the presentations 

of the interactive laboratory was an interview 

with the former Mayor of Nicosia, Eleni Mavrou 

(visual-audio). The artist Kyriaki Costa presented 

brand new work created for the U.S.E exhibition 

at the new Loukia and Michael Zampelas Art Museum. 

The exhibition in Nicosia was organised by the 

Pharos Arts Foundation, in collaboration with the 

Goethe-Institut Paris, the Goethe-Institut Cyprus, 

Loukia and Michael Zampelas Art Museum, Institut 

Français Cyprus, the Embassy of the Republic 

of Poland in Cyprus, Nicosia Municipality, Classic 

Hotel, Temporary Space, Ledra Properties, The 

European University Cyprus, Cyprus Theatre Organisation 

and the Cyprus Presidency of the Council 

of the European Union. 

Your participation 

U.S.E is a project for citizens by citizens, and it 

aims to work as a communication platform. On the 

57

21st century Iconoclasm by Kyriaki Costa 

website http://www.go-use.eu, as well as in the laboratory 

on site, visitors are encouraged to express 

themselves and share their experiences in the form 

of photos or stories on the theme “My Europe”. 

Look for the headline “Participate” and “Stories 

from Europe” on the website. Information is also 

available in the exhibition passport. 

The Pharos Arts Foundation was pleased to collaborate 

with the Goethe-Institut in Paris and 

with a number of organisations in Cyprus for the 

exhibition. 

United States of Europe - Artists’ Presentations 

REINIGUNGSGESELLSCHAFT 

(Artist duo: Henrik Mayer, born 1971 & Martin 

Keil, born 1968, Germany) 

Risk Society 

Projection and flat screen 26: 15 min, HDV 16:9 

2011, loop 

This project examines the prospects and life perspectives 

of young people in today’s Germany. 

They inherit the legacy of a society that is aware 

that economic growth and consumption won’t provide 

the determinant odds for development. The 

sociologist Ulrich Beck described the sociological 

change from wealth production towards risk production 

with the term Risk society in his book of 

1986, Risk society. This transition takes place on 

the micro level of people as well as on the macro 

level of corporate and global changes. It comprises 

Lab Presentation 

social, economic and political dimensions. In the 

exhibition, these young students have their say 

about their plans and expectations. 

REINIGUNGSGESELLSCHAFT (which could be 

translated with “Cleaning Service” or “Purification 

Society”) is an artists’ project group that works at the 

point of intersection between art and social reality. 

A Connection (2011) 

Kaarina Kaikkonen (born 1952, Finland) 

Site-specific public space installations 

For the United States of Europe exhibition the artist 

presents new site-specific installations related to 

the space and to present day Europe. In each city 

her work is adapted to a venue and the site. One of 

the new pieces that Kaarina creates for the exhibition 

is called A Connection, shirts in many colours 

and sizes represent connections between people 

and countries. The work has been presented once 

in Lodz, Poland, where the shirts were attached to 

a long pipe running from a walking zone in the city, 

leading the visitor to the main exhibition space in 

an old textile factory. 

Kaarina has so far created one more work for 

U.S.E., “Where is my home?”, a house made of 

bags and luggage of different kinds. It can be seen 

as a small house that is collapsing or that isn’t completely 

constructed. The piece tells a story about 

different kinds of people and states trying to live 

together, but it’s difficult...The work was installed 

at Helsinki Main Railway station and at Vilnius In- 

58

ternational Airport. 

Kaarina Kaikkonen is known for her large installations 

made from men’s jackets, ladies’ shoes, 

shirts and found objects exhibited in different spaces, 

both indoors and outdoors. She has participated 

in numerous international exhibitions, most recently 

in the Cairo Biennale 2009, the Liverpool Biennale 

2010, the Vancouver Biennale 2010 and the 

Venice Biennale Collateral Event, 2011. At the moment 

Kaarina is working on several projects, one in 

Italy and one in Chile. She recently did an installation 

at Art Miami. 

the leaders removed and sent “On Vacation”. This 

is a symbolic unification by liberating the public 

space from its past and opening it up for the future. 

Luchezar’s work has been presented widely and 

internationally, both in solo and group exhibitions. 

Luchezar is also active as a curator, and 

he has organised numerous lectures and presentations. 

His work can be found at the CAMK 

(Contemporary Art Museum of Kumamoto, Japan), 

the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, 

USA, the National Art Gallery, Tirana, 

Albania and elsewhere. 

On Vacation (2004-2011) 

Luchezar Boyadijev (born 1957, Bulgaria) 

On-going cycle of 15 digital prints, each one 53 x 

73 or 73 x 53 cm 

On vacation is a funny series, but at the same time 

it undertakes in a serious way the problem of histories 

of particular countries and the role these histories 

play in the process of political and cultural 

integrations of European countries and societies. 

Boyadjiev began discussions of European identities 

in 1997 at the Documenta X, when he proposed 

the concept of overlapping identities. Images 

from On vacation represent equestrian monuments 

from various European countries, with figures of 

Lab Projections 

Winter by Juha Niemi 

Thoughts Are Free (2011) 

Gerda Lampalzer (born 1959, Austria) 

Video projection, 3 minutes, loop 

This single channel video installation examines 

the relations between different European countries 

with regard to languages. This examination looks 

at problems other than language barriers, however 

– Lampalzer’s work looks at how people from different 

European countries observe each other; what 

sort of relations are created at the governmental 

level; to what extent their relation to power shapes 

the way people experience their belonging to any 

community and how it affects the way they build 

their collective identities. 

The video addresses the lack of linguistic exchange 

between Austria and its so-called “former eastern 

European” neighbours. The borders have been 

open for years, but even now hardly any Austrians 

speak these languages. In the video the texts 

of four people speaking Czech, Slovak, Hungarian 

and Slovenian are cut apart and reconstructed 

into the German phrase “Die Gedanken sind frei” 

(Thoughts are free). This technical trick is an ironic 

comment on the situation, especially because 

“Thoughts Are Free” is often associated with liberation 

movements, which are re-uniting Europe as 

it should have been. 

Gerda Lampalzer has worked since 1980 as the executive 

of the Medienwerkstatt Wien. Since 1987, 

she has been teaching for Applied Arts in Wien. 

She is active professionally as a media artist, lecturer 

and curator. 

59

Uprooting: The story of our grandfathers (2011) 

Apostolos Polymeris (born 1984, Belgium) 

Video installation, 2:32 minutes, loop 

This installation tells the very personal and moving 

history of the artist’s grandfather and his immigration 

to Belgium in 1972. The video is shown in a 

very impersonal archive environment that makes 

Kafkaesque associations with the big archives that 

house stories of uncountable numbers of people. 

One of these stories is brought to life in the artist’s 

video. 

“In the building of the archives in Brussels, in a 

small room with hundreds of lists with names of 

foreigners who had moved there until the middle 

of the 1970’s, I found my grandfather’s name. He 

and his family immigrated to Belgium in 1972. The 

video illustrates the difficulties they faced in Istanbul 

and how they decided to move to a new country, 

hoping for a better life.” Apostolos Polymeris 

Apostolos is an artist and graphic designer born 

in Brussels but with roots in Greece. In Brussels 

he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. His 

main fields are poster and book design, illustration, 

animation and film. 

The Lord’s Ride (2010) 

Jean-Charles Hue (born 1968, France) 

Feature film: 1h 24 min 

The film is about the life of a Roma family, thus 

presenting a living symbol of a constant metamorphosis 

of identity. Jean-Charles Hue searches for 

his origins. He spent some time with the Dorkels, 

a Gypsy/Yeniche family on the outskirts of society 

in the north of France, and filmed their daily life. 

This film recounts the search for origins in these 

marginalised worlds, worlds that prefer to remain 

separate rather than integrate. The film relates the 

events that punctuate a nomadic life spent in caravans: 

poaching, a strange conversation, a quest for 

redemption...This unconventional reality seems 

fictional to the viewer, as the events are so foreign 

to normal life. The camera records everything, 

even the explosion of a bullet a few inches from 

the artist one drunken night. 

Jean-Charles Hue is an artist and video filmmaker 

who specialises in documentary films. Jean- 

Charles’s grandfather was Yenniche, giving him a 

blood tie to this people. In 2009, Hue also explored 

the life in marginal areas together with the inhabitants 

of Tijuana, a border city between Mexico and 

the United States, in his film, Tijuana Carne Viva. 

Lab touchscreen and projection background 

In the Middle of the Way 

(work in progress, 2001-2007) 

Anna Konik (born 1974, Poland) 

Seven-channel video installation, loop 

In this seven-channel video installation, Anna 

Konik presents a very personal narrative about 

the lives of several people living in different cities. 

They are homeless, marginalised people, but at the 

same time full of dignity. The artist follows them in 

their everyday activities, giving them a chance to 

present themselves in very different ways. At the 

same time, Konik reflects on her own nomadic way 

of living, which she does between three cities and 

two countries (Dobrodzien and Warsaw in Poland 

and Berlin in Germany). The issue of home and its 

role in the process of forming identity is the very 

60

focus of the installation. 

“The mobility of Tadeusz, Herman, Svetlana, Gerard, 

Hans-Dieter, Jana & Pele and Anna opens up 

a dialogue in which geographical boundaries and 

nationalities are not important. Instead, their individual 

stories, experiences and dreams build their 

unique identities and confirm their differentness in 

a world where nationalities are fluid. Every person 

I met dreams of a better life, of respect and freedom, 

they are all trying to find their way in the new 

reality of the EU.” - Anna Konik 

Konik makes video installations, and her practice 

combines video semi-documentary, installation, 

performance and sculpture. She has been exhibiting 

widely and internationally since 2000. 

21st century Iconoclasm 

Kyriaki Costa (born 1971, Cyprus) 

Video stills, 6 photos, 24x30cm 

The project is a ‘visual sequence’ of six photos 

of significant monuments (i.e., sites and personalities) 

of both European and non-European origin, 

all placed around the Athenian Acropolis, a symbol 

(par excellence) of democracy. Initially, the 

viewer’s eye is puzzled as to whether these images 

speak of symbiosis or disorder. Ultimately, the 

answer to this dilemma brings us to the concepts 

of fluidity and mobility. In this photo series, the 

artist has allowed herself to mix monuments as a 

‘virtual place’ (in her mind? in her heart?) where 

everything fits; a (peaceful or restless?) dream is 

born. 

Just as in everyday life, the triptych of history, 

experience and memory is always an issue of 

boundaries (their acceptance or negation): What 

do we perceive as ‘reality’ or ‘dream’? How do we 

understand ‘fact’ or ‘fiction’? Where does ‘sense’ 

end and ‘nonsense’ start? How do we draw the line 

between ‘emotion’ and ‘logic’? Finally, how does 

Europe fit in all this? Are we or are we not ‘Europeans’? 

Should we speak of belonging or fragmentation? 

Are we ‘at home’ or ‘homeless’? At the onset 

of the 21 st century, these are absolutely crucial 

questions that spark artistic creativity, especially in 

countries at the outskirts of Europe, like Cyprus. 

Estonian Race (2010) 

Tanja Muravskaja (born 1978, Estonia) 

Digital C-type photograph, 92x68cm, 68x50cm, 

12 photos in series 

The aim of this portrait series of strong Nordic 

faces was a portrayal of a modern post-Soviet 

state developing in the mono-national way. There 

is no such race as an Estonian race. This project 

asks us to reflect on historical mistakes, on dominance 

of the “main” nation, tolerance – all of the 

issues which are still relevant in the new European 

countries. The photo series addresses one 

of the “elementary particles” of nationalism as 

an ideology - race. Muravskaja is using encyclopaedic 

thoroughness to find the most typical, the 

“purest Estonians” among Estonian people, turning 

to academic authorities for help and portraying 

the young men who have no names or social 

security numbers, let alone life stories or identities 

in the exhibition hall, but who obviously have a 

nationality, at least within the framework of this 

visual story. This artistic search could also lead 

us to a question about a “pure European identity.” 

Can we possibly define it? What does it mean to 

be a European nowadays? 

Tanja has previously worked on the subject of 

identity – her work, ‘Positions’ (7 photos in series, 

2007), is part of the collection of the Tartu 

Art Museum. ‘Positions’ was the artist’s first work 

on the subject of contemporary Estonian identity 

and opened a period of four years dedicated to it. 

Works reflecting modern Estonia, the elite of the 

Russian speaking minority in Estonia, and the recent 

Soviet past followed this series. 

61

Ausgeträumt (2010) 

Deimantas Narkevičius (born 1964, Lithuania) 

Music video installation, 5:30 minutes, loop 

The title could be translated into English as a 

state between dream and reality on the cusp of 

waking up, or it could simply mean the dream 

is over. Sometimes one has to approach a theme 

through a beautiful and meditative film, rather 

than with a strong message. Ausgeträumt shows 

a bunch of young men playing in an empty cafeteria 

– they have just started a band. They look 

beautiful but sad. The video is about their vision 

of their future, their reflections on their political 

or, more importantly, their unsatisfying cultural 

environment. 

Outside they are surrounded by a snowy landscape. 

Now and then a car drives through a city 

and onto a road leading nowhere. The scene is 

filmed in Lithuania. What is the future in this 

country, for this generation? For the young boy 

who happens to be the son of the artist? Where 

will these snowy roads lead them? Ausgeträumt 

approaches the notion of cultural identity in the 

most simple and fascinating way. 

Narkevičius is one of the most consistent and widely 

recognised Lithuanian artists on the international 

scene. He represented his country at the 49 th Venice 

Biennale in 2001 and exhibited at the 50 th Venice 

Biennale in 2003 in “Utopia Station.” 

The Laboratory 

Please enter the United States of Europe laboratory… 

Find out what, for instance, Maria from Cyprus 

thinks about European unification, or how John 

from Ireland perceives European citizenship. In 

these videos you can watch interviews with citizens 

from ten different European countries, which 

form part of the U.S.E project’s sociological study. 

It is here, in ‘the Lab’, where sociology meets art. 

A work in progress, the ‘Lab’ is being developed 

by the Latvian multimedia artist Jānis Garančs 

who, together with other international collaborators, 

will advance the laboratory further over the 

whole series of the travelling exhibitions to come. 

The ‘Lab’ is a feedback/communication platform 

for you, the visitor, where you can talk about your 

ideas. You can submit ‘your European story’ or 

photos, check out a quiz, answer a questionnaire or 

just get in touch by visiting the online guestbook. 

All these can be found on the website www.go-use. 

eu, where people will be able to read your thoughts 

and follow your feedback. 

The Laboratory 

By Jānis Garančs* 

As Europe can mean so many different things from 

the perspective of political powers, business “markets,” 

large and small countries, nationalities and 

families and individuals, the approach in the Laboratory 

is to explore the complexity of European 

identities as an interplay of historical, demographic, 

geopolitical, economic and cultural concepts. 

I encourage the interpretation of the project’s title 

not only through its politically-coloured meaning 

(a state as a country), but also through its more abstract 

meaning, at least in English – i.e., a state as a 

condition/status. 

The workshop participants, on-site as well as online, 

can submit their reflections as text messages, 

images and even video sequences. The Laboratory 

will feature several interactive screens and projections, 

webcams and computer terminals for short 

text input. It will act as a temporary virtual embassy 

of the United States of Europe, connecting U.S.E 

exhibition venues with satellite events and locations. 

Thus, the Laboratory works as a ‘processing device’ 

– that travels from place to place and adapts 

accordingly – that will collate the co-creators’ and 

visitors’ input and manifest itself as a self-organizing 

map or overview, offering multiple layers for 

exploration, and becoming, through immersive 

3D visualisations and sonifications (also featuring 

computer generated stereoscopic projection and 

multi channel audio), an evolving multimedia artwork 

itself. 

*Multimedia artist and researcher, Riga, Latvia 

62

Christos Bokoros - “Odos Eleftherias” 

Exhibition at The Office Gallery 

The Office Gallery is tucked deep within 

the Venetian city walls of Nicosia, having 

taken root at the edge of town but standing at 

its innermost centre. Located on the eerie and 

removed Kleanthi Christofidi Street, at number 

32, it walks a tightrope over the divide of history. 

Before it became a war zone, Kleanthi 

Christofidi was an industrious street lined with 

stable shops – now time is imprinted in disintegration 

and rust on the shuttered storefronts 

standing in an almost military formation along 

this narrow, high street. To look down Kleanthi 

Christofidi is to trigger a visceral connection to 

history, to implicitly feel its former crowdedness. 

It is a place both disconcerting and intriguing. 

It is open to redefinition. 

An evocation of the craftsmen of old Nicosia 

The Office Gallery was deliberately conceived in 

this setting in an attempt to shake the foundations of 

conventional urban living in Nicosia, to stimulate 

its nervous system from the centre. The premises of 

the Office Gallery were used for over half a century 

as the workshop of shoemaker Andreas Matsas and 

even today the space is home to the aura Matsas 

created; his signature is visible in the space, an evocation 

of the craftsmen of old Nicosia. 

National Memory by Christos Bokoros 

Candles (at the memory front) 

63

Candle in the Trench 

If, as Seferis reminds us, “the strong craftsman is 

one of the most responsible individuals born in 

this world,” then the Office Gallery maintains and 

upholds that sense of responsibility. As a place of 

“handcrafted” ideas, the Office Gallery continues 

the heritage of the handmade, while at the same 

time refining and redefining craft, demonstrating 

a postmodern willingness to pose tradition against 

the new, to draw from and blend both the dark and 

bright sides of all traditions. 

How does the Office Gallery function? The Office 

Gallery serves as a meeting place for “handcrafted” 

ideas through thematic exhibitions. It 

hosts the work of the niche fashion designer 

Carol Christian Poell and functions as a personal 

and professional escape for writer Tassos A. 

Gkekas. The Office Gallery stands as a triptych 

comprising three separate yet linked functions: a 

meeting place for the Handmade, escape and professional 

lieu. Each of its functions is autonomous 

and distinct but, much like a Francis Bacon triptych 

that acts as a single indivisible entity narrating 

a particular story, the functions of the Office 

Gallery meet and complement each other. Like the 

unifying flow of mercury, dialectics and discourse 

connect its three facets. 

“Odos Eleftherias” by Tassos A. Gkekas, 

Director of The Office Gallery 

With the launch of the series of paintings titled 

“Odos Eleftherias,” Christos Bokoros attempts 

a direct conversation with spaces, buildings and 

roads which are adjacent to or which lead to the 

Green Line in Nicosia. Many of these buildings 

are damaged and worn. One could say that they, 

in turn, create the second crack 

next to that of the Green Line. 

Amongst these trenches, the 

artist has installed his own 

paintings, planting his own 

“Freedom Street,” in the hope 

that he will offer new fruits 

and joyful vibrations to the 

centre of town, quietly and 

humbly “conspiring” with 

all the domestic rejuvenating 

powers. Bokoros’s flames: small, genuine carriers 

of “Romiosini” (Greekness), of sorrows and of desires, 

in their own way warm up a vital part of the 

town within the walls. The artist communicates 

directly with the spaces and monuments which remain 

the birthplaces of Hellenism; he rekindles the 

interest centres in the heart of the capital. As long 

as Bokoros sows his rogue paintings as “signals” 

at the “border” points in the trenches of old Nicosia, 

he continues to remind us that broader parts 

of our country, the very ends of our state, when illuminated 

sufficiently, emerge gleaming and alive. 

In the Artist’s Words 

“I use surfaces damaged by previous organic uses 

to incarnate my pieces, aside from the theme and 

any representational skill, as a constant reminder of 

a collective time and place from which my reasoning 

originates, which I address in the final outcome 

of my craft. I select my subjects on the basis of 

recognition, both as native signals and as universal 

symbols of communication between people and the 

ineffable intimacy of the mystery which surrounds 

the material objects around us. The process of preparation 

and painting leads me, at times of concentration 

and discipline, to unexpected realizations of self 

and conciliation with our common condition, the 

accomplished world. There, the surface of beauty 

is revealed, and exceeded eternity and truth come 

together. I yearn for these clearings, and these are 

what I work for. I speak words, and painting moves 

further, as if the matter and spirit it embodies is always 

elsewhere, away from the images and their descriptions. 

It holds a distance, however close. In this 

distance, the aura preserves the secret and saves us.” 

64

The World Youth Choir in Cyprus 

For the first time ever in Cyprus, we got 

the chance to enjoy concerts by the World 

Youth Choir. The choir performed three a cappella 

concerts of works by F. Poulenc, B. Britten 

and others, under the direction of conductor 

Cecilia Rydinger Alin. There were performances 

across the island: on 16 August in Pedoulas, 

on 18 August in Paphos and on 19 August in 

Ayia Napa. 

The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation invited 

the choir to Cyprus, and the choir gave a series 

of concerts with the Cyprus Youth Symphony 

Orchestra as part of the 2012 Kypria International 

Festival, two evening concerts titled “Towards a 

Europe of Peace” under the direction of Ayis Ioannides. 

To prepare for the 2012 Kypria International Festival 

programme, the choir, which comprises 60 

members, participated in the International Summer 

Music Academy of the Cyprus Youth Symphony 

Orchestra. This year, like every year, the International 

Summer Music Academy took place in 

the mountain village of Pedoulas from 20 August 

until 2 September 2012. 

World Youth Choir 2012 

An original concept, the World Youth Choir 

(WYC) brings together talented young singers 

aged 17 to 26 years old from all over the world. 

Managed by the World Youth Choir Foundation, 

WYC was founded by three organisations: the International 

Federation for Choral Music, the European 

Choral Association-Europa Cantat, and the 

Jeunesses Musicales International. Its principal office 

is at the World Forum in The Hague, Netherlands. 

Since it was founded in 1989, the WYC has 

established itself as one of the most remarkable 

musical and intercultural experiences available to 

young European musicians. 

Every summer the World Youth Choir, made up of 

half new, half re-invited singers, meets in a different 

country for two weeks of intensive rehearsal 

of a new repertoire with two different conductors 

with contrasting programs. This is followed by a 

two-week tour of the host country and neighbouring 

countries – the choir performs in major concert 

halls and prestigious cultural centres. During the 

tour, the choir fulfils its social and pedagogical 

mission by interacting with local schools, choirs 

and music lovers, through master classes, workshops 

and clinics. 

Regardless of political or cultural differences, 

thanks to the WYC up to 100 young people with a 

common passion for music and a love of singing 

share a month of their lives together, a month of 

work, play, conversation and debate. This creates 

a genuine spirit of friendship, helping the group 

cohere and imbuing it with a unique brightness 

which amazes those who attend WYC concerts. 

Without any speeches or banners, the World Youth 

65

Choir brings with it on tour beautiful music and, 

with its presence, a message of international peace, 

brotherhood, and the vitality of life itself. This is 

why UNESCO has named the project “Artists for 

Peace” in honour of its social and artistic mission. 

The diversity of the World Youth Choir repertoire 

reflects the cultural diversity of its members. Over 

the past 23 years, the choir has had the privilege 

of performing beneath the baton of a number of 

world renowned conductors. Its annual sessions 

have thus far taken the choir to more than 30 

countries around the globe, including 16 European 

countries, South Africa, the Far East, the USA, 

Canada and Latin America. The choir performed 

at the Olympic Gala in Barcelona in 1992, at the 

opening ceremonies of the Olympic Equestrian 

Games in Hong Kong in 2008, and at the Nobel 

Peace Prize award ceremony on 10 December 

2011. On 11 December 2011, the choir performed 

at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, the annual 

musical tribute to the year’s Nobel Peace 

Prize laureate. 

Cecilia Rydinger Alin – Conductor 

Cecilia Rydinger Alin is a leading figure in Swedish 

musical life. Her wide range of activities encompasses 

orchestral concerts, opera, choral conducting 

and teaching, in addition to her regular 

appearances with Swedish and other Scandinavian 

symphony orchestras. She was the principal conductor 

of the Wermland Opera in Karlstad from 

1994 until 1998; she has also conducted opera 

productions at the Royal Swedish Opera and at 

Denmark’s Jyske Opera, as well as highly regarded 

Wagner productions at the Dalhalla limestone 

quarry. 

From 1988 until 2009, Cecilia Rydinger Alin was 

the artistic director of the mixed choir Allmänna 

Sången. She won a number of international choral 

competitions while at the helm of Allmänna Sången, 

including the 2005 European Choral Grand 

Prix in Varna, Bulgaria. In the autumn of 2008 

she was elected conductor and artistic director of 

male-voice choir Orphei Drängar in Uppsala. Ms. 

Rydinger Alin is Professor of Orchestral Conducting 

at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, 

and during the 2012-2013 academic year she will 

serve as deputy Principal at the Royal College of 

Music. 

Cecilia Rydinger Alin has been a member of the 

Royal Swedish Academy of Music since 2004. 

She was awarded the medal ‘Litteriset Artibus’ 

by King Carl Gustaf XVI for her contribution to 

Swedish musical life in 2005, and she received the 

Swedish Choral Society’s Choral Conductor of the 

Year award in 2009. 

66

Volume L, No 3, July-September 2012 - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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