Minister urges people to view historic Cyprus artworks

Education Minister Prodromos Prodromou on Tuesday called on the public to visit an art exhibition showing works returned to the Greek Cypriot community after 46 years.

The Rebirth exhibition at the State Gallery of Contemporary Art SPEL will present these works until August 1.

“It is worth it for all Cypriots to view these 219 pieces of art,” Prodromou said.

The works were returned to the Greek Cypriot community as part of a confidence-building measure between the two leaders last year for the exchange of artworks. As part of the agreement, the Greek Cypriot community delivered to the Turkish Cypriots audio and visual archives of state broadcaster CyBC from the pre-1963 period, which are related to the history of the Turkish Cypriot community.

The exchange was facilitated by the bi-communal Technical Committee on Culture.

“Even though these artworks come from one specific place, Famagusta, they are a symbol of the cultural stigma of the country,” the minister said.

During the visit to the exhibition on Tuesday, the minister was given a tour of the gallery by curator Yiannis Toumazis.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.