By Maria Gregoriou
Thursdays are normally dedicated to college students and their night out, to some casual drinks between friends and maybe getting some shopping done as it is the day when most supermarkets get in their fresh fruit and veg, but lately it has also become the day when exhibitions make their grand openings.
Tomorrow is no different. There are two very different exhibitions starting in Nicosia. The first is a solo poetry and sculpture exhibition by Robert Montgomery entitled All Kingdoms Smashed and Buried in the Sky, and the second is a solo drawing exhibition by Lola Giannakou under the title Creating in the Later Years.
Scottish artist and poet Montgomery will showcase six of his latest works at The Office in Nicosia. Two of these works were created specifically for the site, considering that the street where the office is located shares borders with the buffer zone and is interrupted by it.
The artist starts out with his own poetic text and then makes sculptures using forms that normally apply to other species and forms of speech, but not necessarily poetry. So text may be presented under the form of an advertising poster or a billboard. By using commercial forms of speech to illustrate his poetry, Montgomery makes his text more vivid and accessible because, as we all know, poetry is not considered to be for everyone.
These sculptures of words will be exhibited on the street and become part of the building’s architecture, becoming a part of history while also commenting on the future in a direct dialogue with the location and the socio-political state of the island today.
The title of the works on display is quite apt for the location and Cyprus, as our island has been home to many conquerors and it is also where a number of kingdoms have dissolved through time.
The rest of the artworks are presented in the three interior spaces of the gallery and here the text maintains a more internal nature, like a series of watercolours in smaller dimensions. Montgomery has described his watercolours by saying “even though they are drawings of text I see them as traditional landscape paintings, like all those paintings of sunsets over the sea or sunsets over ruined buildings that we, in Britain, have always been obsessed with. “
He goes on to say “I look forward to a future beyond countries, beyond Empire and beyond oppression, therefore I keep my belief in the European project alive and I believe that Europe can work.”
The second exhibition moves showcases the work of a 94-year-old Cypriot woman who is mainly self-taught.
This exhibition is not only extraordinary because of the artwork on display but because of Giannakou’s story. She has been exiled from her tome twice during her 94 years on the island and even though she faced a number of hardships along the way, has managed to take some of that negative energy and mould it into creativity.
Although Giannakou is mostly taught herself the art of drawing, she has had drawing lessons offered by the government, during which she found an outlet for her feelings.
All Kingdoms Smashed and Buried in the Sky
Solo exhibition by Robert Montgomery. Opens December 18 at 8pm, until January 17. The Office, 32 Kleanthis Christofides Street, Nicosia. Tuesday – Saturday: 11am-8pm. Tel: 99-848495
Creating in the Later Years
Drawing exhibition by Lola Giannakou. December 18. Melathron Ilikimenon Egomis, Makedonitissa 21, Engomi, Nicosia. 6.30pm. Tel: 22-476000
