Artists and the Path to Peace

Cyprus News – 14.9.09

Last Thursday saw the start of the second round of UN-sponsored peace talks between Cyprus’ President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. Talks between the leaders of the two communities began in September last year to try and find a mutually acceptable solution to reunite the country. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island.

This round of talks was slightly different, however, because amid the diplomacy and the carefully-worded statements from both leaders, a group of distinguished Cypriot artists from both parts of the island quietly began exhibiting some very special works of art.

Part of a rolling exhibition which was inaugurated in July of this year, the art has naturally had Cyprus-related themes and has changed on a monthly basis. The aim is to lend artistic support to the peace process, and has the support of both leaders. Entitled ‘Eyeport’, the work is on display in the grounds of now defunct Nicosia International Airport, inside the UN-controlled buffer zone, in exactly the same place as the peace talks are being held.

Works currently being exhibited are the creation of the art collective known as Two/Four/Two, which includes the artists Costas Mantzalos, Constantinos Kounnis, Emin Cizenel and Anber Onar. Two of the artists, Cizenel and Onar have dressed all 17 windows of the main room where the peace negotiations are taking place with recent photographs of the sunlit faces of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot children.

Alex Downer, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General, said, “I think the works on display are a small indication of the tremendous potential of this island, and I am heartened by the collaborative nature of the exhibition, which is conceived and led by Turkish and Greek
Cypriot artists”.

Following their meeting last Thursday, President Christofias and Mehmet AliTalat went to see the exhibition and meet the artists participating in the show. The President said afterwards that they had talked about art and the role of artists, noting that for “years now artists (from both sides) have reconciled”. What remains, he added, is for us leaders to act and make real the challenge of the artists for peace, for a solution to the Cyprus issue and reunification of our country and people