Exhibition duration: 23.11 2024 – 09.03 2025

This exhibition is the outcome of the recent ‘Call for Art – Contemporary Art Competition’ held by the A. G. Leventis Gallery. Cypriot artists were asked to propose works of art (completed or new ideas) reflecting on or marked by the historical and cultural memory of the tragic events in Cyprus’s colonial and post-colonial history that led to the division of the island.

These works were to explore the many repercussions of this partition, while also considering the country’s complex cultural identity in terms of conflict, war, peace, borders, migration, displacement and cultural transformations over the past half century. The aim was to make the parameters of the call as broad as possible to allow the nuanced, entangled history of the island to present itself in its multiplicity of voices.

Drawing on the perspective of postmemory, which explores the relationship between the ‘generation after’ and the personal, collective and cultural trauma of ‘those who came before’, this exhibition featuring the nine chosen artists aspires both to present and open further avenues for understanding Cyprus’s difficult past. The artworks are interspersed within the existing museum narrative and are juxtaposed with the Gallery’s temporary exhibition 'Kanthos: The Sharp Edges of History', which concerns itself with similar themes as explored through the eyes of Telemachos Kanthos, a pioneering Cypriot artist.

It is hoped that this contemporary art exhibition will inspire viewers to reflect on what they think they know and encourage them to open themselves up to considering renewed experiences of history and identity.

Artists:
Alev Adil
Andreas Kalli
Andrea Zachariou
Argyro Nikolaou & Kika Ioannidou
Eleni Mouzourou & Natis - Hasan Aksaygin
Eleni Odysseos
Petros Kourtellaris
Marina Genadieva
Michael Papamichael

Curators:
Katerina Stephanides
Mytro Hatzaki
Loukia Loizou Hadjigavriel

Committee:
Harry David, Collector
Nicos Pattichis, Collector
Thereza Lanitis, Art Historian
Umit Inatci, Artist and Art Critic
Daphne Nikita, Art Historian

From the A. G. Leventis Gallery:
Loukia Loizou Hadjigavriel, Director
Katerina Stephanides, Deputy Director
Myrto Hatzaki, Curator of the Paris Collection
Theodora Demetriou, Head of Education