Volume LII, No 3, July - September 2014

Cyprus
TO D AY
Vo l u m e L I I , N o 3 , J u l y - S e p t e m b e r
2014
Contents
Editorial...........................................................................................2
18th International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama....................4
Cyprus and Geology. Science-EnvironmentCulture.................12
16th Pafos Aphrodite Festival.......................................................14
Lekfara lace embroidery course by UNESCO..........................17
13th International Countryside Animafest Cyprus.....................23
1st Apollon International Chamber Music Festival....................28
9th Lemesos International Documentary Film Festival.............35
6th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival.............42
George Philippou Pierides...........................................................54
Painting the Divine icon exhibition............................................56
Summer Music Academy............................................................59
My London Renos Lavithis.........................................................60
The Howa Jani Project.................................................................64
Volume LII, No 3, July - September 2014
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
[email protected]
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Editorial Assistance:
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Design: GNORA COMMUNICATION CONSULTANTS
Printed by: Printco Ltd
Front cover: The animation This is not a time to lie by Lei
Lei, presented at the 13th International Countryside Animafest
Cyprus
Back cover: Aeschylus’ The Libation Bearers (Photo by Franca
Centaro), as performed at the 18th International Festival of
Ancient Greek Drama
PIO 238/2014 - 7.000
ISSN (print) 0045-9429
ISSN (online) 1986-2547
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Editorial
I
t is safe to say that this past summer was uncharacteristically mild for our beloved island’s
standards, though you would be hard pressed to hear any complaints! And many would agree that
one of the plus sides of this beautiful summer was that it created the ideal setting for an abundance
of festivals.
Festivalgoers were indeed spoilt for choice, and they still have the International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival, now in its sixth edition, to look forward to in October, as well as the first ever
Apollon International Chamber Music Festival in November. Readers can find out more about those
in this issue of Cyprus Today.
We also present a selection of our other favourite festivals, including the 18th edition of the increasingly popular International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama and the equally loved Pafos Aphrodite
Festival, which presented opera lovers with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte.
Our issue takes a look at a very special village in Cyprus – Lefkara - and its trademark embroidery
Lefkara lace. One of Cyprus’ most distinctive types of traditional needlecraft, the Lefkaritiko is
honoured to be on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Read our specially-dedicated feature to find out how UNESCO’s week-long embroidery course
faired.
The Howa Jani Project (page 64)
Ecclesiastic art lovers will enjoy reading about the icon-exhibition Painting the Divine: Trends and
influences in church painting of Cyprus during the 19th and 20th century and the role of the Modern
Greek state, which explores the relations between the newly-founded Greek state (1830) and Cyprus
under British rule in the field of painting.
George Philippou Pierides is considered one of the most prominent figures of the Letters in Cyprus,
having written – and won State Prizes for – a number of acclaimed works, most famously his Tetralogy of the Times. To mark the 110th anniversary of the late writer’s birthday, the Cultural Services of
the Ministry of Education and Culture organised a workshop during which publications by academics and eminent scholars, who have studied and analysed the writer’s work, where presented and
discussed
International Festival
of Ancient Greek Drama (page 4)
International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival (page 42)
And, of course, our issue is laced with beautiful artwork, just to satisfy those visual senses! Cyprus
Today was excited to hear about an exhibition by one of our much-loved artists living in London,
Renos Lavithis. My London by Renos was presented at the prestigious Gallery in the Crypt at St
Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and did a good job of promoting our island’s talent further afield.
Finally, Cyprus Today follows the Howa Jani Project from Jerusalem, which has gained much recognition in recent years and represents the new generation of Israeli musicians. In three concerts in
Cyprus in July, the Howa Jani Project, led by Neta Elkayam, revisited in their own distinct way the
traditional music of North Africa with emphasis on the music of the Moroccan Jews.
Enjoy!
2
My London by Renos Lavithis (page 60)
International Countryside Animafest Cyprus (page 23)
3
18th International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama
T
heatre lovers were certainly not disappointed
with this year’s Festival of Ancient Greek
Drama on 4 July 2014, which is already in its 18th
year. The audience enjoyed ancient Greek drama
performances from Croatia/Slovenia, Belgium,
Italy, Greece and Cyprus at Pafos Ancient Odeon,
Curium Ancient Theatre in Limassol and Makarios
III Amphitheatre in Nicosia.
Organised by the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Cyprus Centre
of the International Theatre Institute and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, this year’s festival
was no mean feat.
came, offering the public a multicultural entertainment of high aesthetic standards.
However, even in the midst of an unprecedented
economic crisis, the Festival’s organisers remained
true to their goal of presenting performances that
were chosen for the originality of their approach.
While preserving the uniqueness of ancient Greek
drama, the performances also bore the distinctive cultural traits of the country from which they
One of the best works of the great ancient Greek
writer Euripides, Medea, a story about love, envy,
greed for fame and revenge, a co-production by
the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, Pandur.
Theaters, Slovenia and the Dubrovnik Summer
Festival, Croatia, opened the 18th International
Festival of Ancient Greek Drama on 4 July 2014
Medea by Euripides
This year all the performances of the International
Festival of Ancient Greek Drama are also included
in the official events programme of the Organisation European Capital of Culture – Pafos 2017.
Meanwhile, the organisers significantly reduced
the price of entry tickets, to move with the difficult
financial times.
This year’s performances
Medea by Euripides
ETHAL (Limassol Theatre Development Company) in cooperation with Technodromio,
Cyprus and Pera Theatre, Greece, presented Sophocles’ tragedy Philoctetes
at the Pafos Ancient Odeon. Medea, directed by
the internationally acclaimed Tomaž Pandur, was
presented in Croatia and Slovenia, and recently
at the Iberoamerican Theatre Festival 2014, in
Colombia. The direction, along with the spectacular acting of Alma Prica in the leading role, has
been highly praised in many countries.
According to the plot, Medea, daughter of Aietes,
king of Kolchis, and granddaughter of the Sungod, leaves her father and murders her brother to
help Jason take her family’s treasure, the Golden
Fleece. In addition, she has remained a faithful
wife to him and has born him two sons. Nevertheless, he betrays her and wrongs her. He decides to
abandon her for the daughter of Creon, King of
Corinth. Moreover, Creon orders her banishment
from the country. After an outburst of despair, she
manages to convince Creon to let her stay in the
country until the next day. In vain Jason tries to
convince her that what he is doing is for her own
good and the good of their children. She then proceeds deliberately to destroy Jason and all who are
connected with him: Creon’s daughter, Creon himself and her two children. And when Jason swears
4
vengeance against her and tries to force through
the doors of the house, Medea suddenly appears
above, borne on a fiery car sent by her grandfather,
the Sun-god.
Cast and crew
Adaption from Euripides: Darko Lukić; translation: Lada Kaštelan; Director: Tomaž Pandur;
Screen play by Tomaž Pandur, Livija Pandur;
Dramaturge: Livija Pandur; Set design: Sven
Jonke for NUMEN; Costume designer: Danica
Dedijer; Music: SILENCE; Video design: Dorijan
Kolundžija / Galerija 12+; Light designer: Andrej Hajdinak; Language advisor: Đurđa Škavić;
Photographer: Aljoša Rebolj; Assistant director: Paolo Tišljarić; Assistant dramaturge: Mirna
Rustemović; Assistant to costume designer: Zjena
Glamočanin; Stage manager: Roko Grbin.
Medea: Alma Prica; Jason: Bojan Navojec; Keeper of the Golden Fleece: Livio Badurina; Pheres:
Ivan Glowatzky; Mermeros: Romano Nicolić; Aegeus: Damir Markovina; The Argonauts: Kristijan
Potočki, Andrej Dojkić, Petar Cvirn, Tomislav
Krstanović, Jure Radnić, Ivan Magud, Adrian
Pezdirc, and Ivan Ožegović.
5
Philoctetes by Sophocles
ETHAL (Limassol Theatre Development
Company) in cooperation with Technodromio,
Cyprus and Pera Theatre, Greece, presented
Sophocles’ tragedy Philoctetes, translated by
the awarded Greek poet Giorgos Blanas and
directed by the Artistic Director of ETHAL,
Minas Tigkilis. This was ETHAL’s first participation in the Festival.
Philoctetes, son of Poeas, in the first year of the
Grecian expedition to Troy, was bitten by a venomous serpent, the guardian of the shrine, while
visiting the temple of the goddess Chryse. His
incurable wound aroused so much revulsion
among his former comrades that the Atreides,
Agamemnon and Menelaos, asked Odysseus to
abandon him in a desolate island and Odysseus
chose to banish him to the uninhabited island
of Lemnos, where he eked out a wretched life
during the ten years of the Trojan War. In the
tenth year, an oracle informed the Greek leaders that Troy could only be taken with the help
of the invincible bow and arrows of Heracles,
and these were in the possession of Philoctetes,
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
who helped Heracles end his sufferings while
dying and was given them in return.
Odysseus and his obedient accomplice Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, are sent to carry
Philoctetes back to Troy. Odysseus’ plan is to
use Neoptolemus as bait to cheat Philoctetes
into giving away his arrows, since the oracle
pointed out that the arrows should be used by
Neoptolemus. Neoptolemus is reluctant to deceive Philoctetes and even though at some point
he is persuaded, Philoctetes’ misery makes him
defy Odysseus and decide to help Philoctetes
return home.
Philoctetes is unwilling to make peace with
those who treated him so cruelly and only by
the intervention of the deified Heracles is he
persuaded to help the Greeks to victory. Philoctetes is a tragedy about human pain, abandonment and the association between conscience
and politics, honour and duty.
Cast and crew
Translation: Giorgos Mplanas; Direction: Minas
Tigkilis; Set and costume design: Edouardos
Georgiou; Lighting design: Vasilis Peteinaris;
Original: Giorgos Kolias; Movement: Chloe
Melidou; Assistant Directors: Panayiota Papageorgiou & Elena Meletiou; Set designer assistant: Thelma Cassoulidou; Musical coaching
of the Chorus: Nicos Vihas (Famagusta Choir);
Chorus: Christos Christofides, Costas Mpafas,
Iacovos Kantounas and Giorgos Diamantides.
Cast: Philoctetes: Eftyhios Poullaides; Odysseus: Costas Kazakas; Neoptolemus: Constantinos Gavriel; Sailor man: Alexandros Parisis;
Chorus: Coryphaeus A: Yiannos Antoniou; Coryphaea B: Panayiota Papageorgiou; Coryphaeus
C: Michalis Christou; Euripides Dikeos, Stefani
Nerou, Zacharias Iordanides and Andreas Daniel; Musician: Theodoros Polykarpou.
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
Medea, a story about love, envy, greed for fame and revenge
6
Highway Productions in cooperation with
Giorgos Lykiardopoulos’ NPO Lykofos, in a
co-production with the Municipal Regional
Theatre of Agrinio, presented the most popular and most frequently staged comedy of
The Fondazione Instituto Nazionale Del Dramma Antico – INDA, Italy, based in
Syracuse, Sicily, presented The Libation Bearers (Photo by Franca Centaro)
Aristophanes, Lysistrata, under the Lithuanian
director Cezaris Grauzinis.
sistrata (411 BC) has shone down the millennia
as a hymn to peace, love and womanhood.
Twenty years after the Peloponnesian War began, the situation in Athens has become so difficult that one woman, Lysistrata, decides to
take matters into her own hands. Her plan is to
force the men to negotiate through the denial
of their conjugal rights. To this end, she organises a secret meeting of women from Athens
and the other warring city states and convinces them to refuse all sexual contact with their
husbands and lovers.
Cast and crew
Lysistrata and the other Athenian women then
occupy the Acropolis, where the state treasury
is located, so that the men will lack the funds
to continue the war. The scheme is quick to
produce results, not only in Athens but in the
enemy states as well. Envoys from the Spartans
and the Athenians appeal to Lysistrata to compromise, and peace is secured with the help of
a beautiful young woman, Reconciliation, and
concessions are made on both sides.
Written with Aristophanic sparkling humour in
the darkest days of the Peloponnesian War, Ly-
Translation/Adaptation: Spyros Α. Evangelatos; Direction: Cezaris Grauzinis; Set/Costumes: Giorgos Patsas; Music: Dimitris Theocharis; Lyrics: Giorgos Mpakolas; Movement:
Dimitra Kritikidi; Text Edit: The translator and
the actors/actresses; Lighting: Sophia Alexiadou; Production: Giorgios Lykiardopoulos,
Highway Productions, NPO Lykofos, in a coproduction with the Agrinion Municipal Regional Theatre, Greece
Cast: Lysistrata: Maria Gkavogianni; Calonice:
Kaiti Konstantinou; Myrrhine: Nantia Kontogeorgi; Lampito: Margarita Varlamou; A Boeotian Woman: Maria Philippou; A Corinthian
Woman: Jinie Papadopoulou; An Eleusinian
Woman: Elina Malama; Magistrate: Antonis
Loudaros; Cinesias: Thanasis Tsaltampasis; A
Spartan Ambassador: Thanasis Kourlampas;
Chancellor: Dimitris Papanikolaou; A Spartan
Herald: Thomas Gkagkas; Athenian A: Vasilis
Poulakos; Athenian B: Gerasimos Skafidas.
7
“The Furies are terrible, supernatural, and relentless and they
chase Orestes who killed his mother” - The Eumenides (Photo
by Franca Centaro)
sistance for his revenge, Electra and the Chorus
arrive to ask for her father’s assistance as well.
As she sees the signs on the grave she suspects
that Orestes is there and indeed he appears and
they recognise each other. They lay out the plan
of their revenge and they execute it. They enter
the palace announcing Orestes’ supposed death
to Clytemnestra and she calls Aegisthus. Orestes
kills him and then comes face to face with his
mother. He hesitates to kill his own mother but
after Pylades’ urging he murders her. He then
dresses as a supplicant and starts out for the Oracle to conjure the blood from his hands, while
the Furies are hunting him.
The Eumenides
The Furies are terrible, supernatural, and relentless and they chase Orestes who killed his
mother. He takes refuge at the temple of goddess Athena who founded the first court of justice. Orestes is pronounced not guilty for the
murder of his mother Clytemnestra, who had
murdered his father Agamemnon. The vindictive Furies are transformed into blessed favourable Eumenides.
Cast and crew
The Eumenides (Photo by Franca Centaro)
Oresteia: The Libation Bearers and
The Eumenides by Aeschylus
The Fondazione Instituto Nazionale Del
Dramma Antico – INDA, Italy, based in Syracuse, Sicily, an institution that has been serving ancient Greek tragedy and comedy for a
century now, presented the two tragedies of
Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy: The Libation
Bearers and The Eumenides. The production
had its first performance on 9 May 2014 at the
Greek Theatre in Syracuse, directed by Daniele Salvo with Francesco Scianna, Francesca
Ciocchetti, Marco Imparato and Elisabetta
Pozzi in the leading roles.
The Libation Bearers
Orestes and Pylades return to Argos after Agamemnon’s assassination. As he secretly offers
libations at his father’s grave, asking for his as8
Translation: Monica Centanni; Direction: Daniele
Salvo; Assistant Director: Emiliano Bronzino; Set
and Costume design: Arnaldo Pomodoro; Music:
Marco Podda.
Cast: Orestes: Francesco Scianna; Pylades:
Marco Imparato; Electra: Melania Giglio;
A male Servant: Alessandro Romano;
Clytemnestra: Elisabetta Pozzi; Nurse of Orestes: Carbonetti Antonietta; Aegisthus: Graziano Piazza; A Male Servant of Aegisthus:
Alessandro Romano; The Pythian Priestess:
Clara Galante; Apollo: Graziano Piazza; The
Ghost of Clytemnestra: Elisabetta Pozzi; Athena: Paola Gassman; Leaders of the Chorus: Simonetta Cartia, Francesca Ciocchetti, Marcella
Favilla, Clara Galante, Silvia Pietta and Elena
Polic Greco; Chorus: Claudia Benassi, Rosy
Bonfiglo, Clio Cipolletta, Giulia Diomede, Giuliana Di Stefano, Carmelinda Gentile, Paola
Giglio, Viola Graziosi, Jin Liyu, Doriana La
Fauci, Francesca Maria, Valeria Perdono, Silvia
Pernarella and Elena Aimone.
Oedipe by Sophocles
(Olivier Kemeid adaptation)
The famous Mexican director and choreographer
José Besprosvany participated in the Festival for
the second time, presenting Oedipe, a Compagnie
José Besprosvany/IDEA asbl production, co-produced with the Theatre Royal du Parc in Brussels
and the Theatre d’Ivry Antoine Vitez, Paris.
In this faithful take on Sophocles’ tragedy by
writer Olivier Kemeid, José Besprosvany once
again sets out to enrich the stage through his company’s hallmark juxtaposition of text, music, and
dance. Oedipe was highly praised in Belgium and
France.
Oedipus grows up in the court of Polybus, King of
Corinth, as his son. One day someone tells him that
he is not Polybus’ real son. Polybus’ assurances
are not enough to convince Oedipus who seeks
the truth at the Oracle of Delphi. The oracle that he
gets is terrible. He is told that he will kill his father
and marry his mother and have children with her.
This is enough for him to forget his previous problem and take the decision to leave Corinth. On his
way he gets into a fight with a man and kills him.
He continues his journey until he reaches Thebes.
There he solves the riddle of the Sphinx, saves the
city from its sufferings and marries queen Jocasta
and has four children with her.
Prosperity does not last long for Thebes is struck
by plague. Oedipus takes action to save his city
again. In his effort to discover the murderer of the
previous King, Laius, he discovers that he is his
son, that he killed him, married Jocasta, his mother
and had children with her. Thus the ancient prophecy has been fulfilled in all its dreadful detail.
Jocasta in her horror hangs herself and Oedipus
plucks out his eyes. Then he imposes on himself
the penalty of exile which he had promised for the
murderer of Laius.
Cast and crew
Script: Olivier Kemeid, adapted from Sophocles; Direction, choreography: José Besprosvany;
Video: Yannick Jacquet; Music, sound design:
Koenraad Ecker; Costume design: Bert Menzel;
Lighting design: Marc Lhommell; Assistant Visual Designer, Assistant Dramaturg: Francois Prodhomme; Assistant Set Designer: Richard Klein;
Assistant on tour: Martin Coiffier; Video technician and general coordination: Yannick de Coster;
Light technician: Caspar Langhoff; Sound technician: Cédric Chotte.
Cast: Oedipus: Gauthier Jansen; Jocaste, the
Sphinx: Isabelle Roelandt; Creon: Georges Siatidis; The young man: Toussaint Colombani; The
old man, Tiresias, Laios, Polybus: Charles Cornette; Dancers: Mylena Leclercq, Fernando Martín, Yann-Gaël Monfort, François Prodhomme and
Louis Richard.
Oedipe – “The oracle that he gets is terrible. He is told that he will
kill his father and marry his mother and have children with her”
9
Cast and crew
Alcestis by Euripides
Adaptation and stage direction: Michalis Pieris; Music: Evagoras Karagiorgis; Set and costumes: Christos Lysiotis, Eliana Chrysostomou;
Movement coaching: Michalis Pieris; Choreography: Elena Christodoulidou; Lighting: Giorgos Koukoumas; Sound supervision: Stamatia
Laoumtzi; Technical support: Kyriakos Kakoullis; Production manager, assistant director:
Stamatia Laoumtzi.
Cast: Lysistrata: Christina Pieri; Magistrate: Dimitris Pitsilis; Myrrhine: Myria Hadjimatthaiou;
Cinesias: Stavros Aroditis; Coryphaeus of Old
Men: Michalis Yangou; Coryphaeus of Women:
Eftychia Georgiou; Lampito: Miranda Nychidou;
Calonice: Angela Savvidou; Old Man: Chariton
Iosifides; Old Woman: Michalis Michael; Chorus
of Old Men / Chorus of Women: all members of
THEPAK.
Director’s note
By Michalis Pieris
Alcestis by Euripides
Amfiktio Theatre closed the 18 International
Festival of Ancient Greek Drama with Euripides’
tragedy Alcestis, the symbol of self-denial and
wifely devotion, directed by Nicos Charalambous.
th
With Apollo’s assistance, Admetus, King of Pherae, has secured an unusual privilege: when his
time comes to die, he will be spared, provided he
can find someone to take his place in the Underworld. But who loves Admetus enough to give up
their life for him?
In the end, no one volunteers to die on his behalf except for his young wife, Alcestis, who
bids farewell to life and embarks on a journey
to the Underworld. Everyone in the palace
mourns the loss of their devoted queen, who
only a hero can return to life by taking on Death
and besting him.
Euripides’ oldest surviving play combines the
form and characteristics of tragedy with comedic
elements, irony and an optimistic ending.
Cast and Crew
Translation: Makis Antonopoulos; Direction,
10
dramaturgy: Nicos Charalambous; Set designer:
Lakis Genethlis; Music: Nikolas Leventis; Movement: Nataly Amman.
Cast: Apollo: Marios Kakoullis; Death: Julie Tsolka; Maidservant: Anna Yiangiozi; Alcestis: Maria
Michael; Admetus: Simos Tsiakkas; Heracles:
Manos Galanis; Pheres: Neophytos Neophytou;
Leaders of the Chorus: Nataly Amman and Panayiotis Grigoriou.
“Working with this masterpiece of a text, we discovered new virtues of the Cypriot dialect; we
tasted the rare literary juices of Costas Montis’
creativity, and enjoyed the flexibility and adaptability that characterise this beautiful dialect of
the Greek language. But above all, we saw in
practice how vigorous Aristophanes’ Lysistrata
is as a theatrical text, but also how powerful is
its translation into modern Cypriot dialect by the
most prominent contemporary poet of Cyprus. So
powerful, yet so effortless that it breathes with the
breath of the people of Cyprus.
Thus, the director’s approach was based on the
understanding that Montis’ Lysistrata should be
staged in the context of the demotic and folk tradition, not least because the Cypriot poet’s language
and choices point to this precise direction. However, we set on ourselves two conditions. First: not
to interfere in any way with the meaning and the
dramatic structure of the ancient text (which Montis fully respected); and second, not to fall into
the trap of turning the play into a parody by overemphasising folk elements. With these thoughts
in mind, I asked my collaborators to enter into a
creative dialogue with the timeless values of the
rich Cypriot tradition in all aspects of stage realisation: articulation, music, costumes, movement and
dance. We sought to identify elements of the ethos,
which characterised the traditional Cypriot society, that we believed had survived, albeit partially,
in modern times, we studied them carefully, and
we tried to benefit from them without resorting to
slavish imitation.
Costas Montis’ adaptation of Lysistrata, translated into Cypriot dialect by Cyprus’
most prominent contemporary poet, was presented by THEPAK
Lysistrata by Aristophanes,
adapted by Costas Montis
The 18th International Festival of Ancient Greek
Drama commemorated the great Cypriot poet
Costas Montis by presenting his adaptation of
Aristophanes’ Lysistrata in a parallel event, as part
of the “Costas Montis’ Year” celebrations.
Costas Montis’ adaptation of Lysistrata, translated
into Cypriot dialect by Cyprus’ most prominent
contemporary poet, was presented by THEPAK
(Theatrical Workshop of the University of Cyprus)
and directed by Michalis Pieris at the Archontiko
of Axiothea.
11
Cyprus and Geology. Science-Environment-Culture
F
ollowing an enthusiastic response by the
art-loving public, the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation decided to extend its exhibition
Cyprus and Geology. Science-Environment-Culture until August 31, 2014.
The exhibition presented the genesis and the
emergence of the island of Cyprus. With the use
of photographs and diagrams the visitor learned
about the geological processes which gave birth
to an island with unique geology, topographic
features, microclimatological conditions and fertile soil covered with thick forest and a great variety of flora and fauna, and with abundant water
and mineral resources as well as hydrocarbons.
All these elements together with its geographical
position at the crossroads between three continents formed the basis for an excellent habitat
for people and of a ten thousand-year long history of art and civilisation.
The exhibition was not only for geoscientists but
also for many other scientists such as historians,
archaeologists, agronomists, mining and civil
engineers, hydrologists, doctors for the evolution of medicine and pharmacology in Cyprus,
teachers and professors for teaching purposes as
well as for everyone who wants to know Cyprus.
Publication and educational programme
The exhibition was accompanied by a publication
entitled Cyprus and Geology, by authors George
Constantinou and Ioannis Panayides. It also included the educational programme Geology and
Cyprus. A Journey in Time, which the visitor
could participate in, either with the help of an
animator or with help from an “educational kit”
which could be acquired from the exhibition.
About The Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation
Since its establishment in 1984, the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation has developed a wealth
12
The exhibition presented the genesis and the emergence of the island
of Cyprus
of activities, in keeping with the objectives originally delineated for the Cultural Foundation by
the Bank of Cyprus.
The Foundation’s main strategic aims are to encourage the research and study of Cypriot civilisation in the fields of archaeology, history, art and
literature as well as to preserve and disseminate the
cultural and natural heritage of Cyprus, with a particular emphasis on the international promotion of
the island’s centuries-long Greek civilisation.
The Cultural Foundation is housed in the old
administrative building of the Bank of Cyprus,
which was built in 1936 and is situated in the historical centre of Nicosia near Faneromeni Church.
The Foundation keeps five Cyprological collections: Coins - Maps - Rare Books & Manuscripts, Engravings, Old Photographs & Watercolours - Contemporary Cypriot Art and the
Archaeological Collection.
Further, the Cultural Foundation curates two
museums: the Museum of the History of Cypriot Coinage and the Archaeological Museum of
George and Nefeli Giabra Pierides (donated by
Clio and Solon Triantafyllides).
The Cultural Foundation Collections have been
enriched over the years by a number of donations:
The Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation opens its exhibition Cyprus and Geology. Science-Environment-Culture
Exhibits included native copper (bottom left), copper oxides (bottom
right) and copper rich ore
Covered with thick forest and a great variety of flora and fauna, Cyprus
has abundant water and mineral resources as well as hydrocarbons
In 2008, by the archive of photographs of Μanuel
Baud-Bovy and Aristea Tzanou Baud-Bovy, in
1999, by the Archaeological Collection of George
and Nefeli Giabra Pierides, donated by Clio and
Solon Triantafyllides, in 1993, by the Map Collection of Antonakis and Laura Georgiades, in
1988, by the Map Collection of Mikis and Agnes Michaelides, in 1987, by fifty-one of Elektra
Megaw’s watercolours under the general theme
“Wildflowers of Cyprus”.
One manner by which the Cultural Foundation
achieves its objectives is the publication of books
and folios that pertain to archaeology, history,
art, literature and the environment. This is precisely why the Foundation periodically organises
exhibitions, lectures and scientific conferences
devoted to these areas. In addition, the Cultural
Foundation has expanded its activities overseas,
collaborating closely with major organisations
and museums, both in Cyprus and abroad.
Since its inception, it has held more than fortyfive exhibitions in Cyprus, in Greece, and in a
number of European cities. In February 2000
it opened a branch in Greece. Both Cypriot
and foreign institutions have recognised the incessant, multifaceted activities of the Cultural
Foundation. Some of the awards garnered by the
Foundation are indicative of its recognition:
The Republic of Cyprus “Archaeology Award”
(2008); Benaki Museum (2007); The Historical
and Ethnological Society of Greece (1991); and
The International Map Collectors’ Society – IMCoS (1990)
13
16th Pafos Aphrodite Festival
T
he outstanding and cheerful opera Così Fan
Tutte (So do all Women), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, marked the 16-year old success story
of Pafos Aphrodite Festival, which once again presented an artistic performance of international scope.
The spectacular performance of Mozart’s great romance, which took place on the enchanting stage
of the Medieval Castle of Pafos on 5-7 September
2014, was a co-production between Pafos Aphrodite Festival Cyprus and Opera Futura from Verona with the participation of the Cyprus Symphony
Orchestra.
Così Fan Tutte
Così Fan Tutte narrates a very daring (for that
time) story of exchanging lovers. Despite an
enthusiastic response by the Viennese audience
when it premiered in 1790, producers avoided
staging this opera for one and a half centuries,
or altered it by staging a more censored version.
However, during the 1950s, Così Fan Tutte regained its place in the operatic repertoire and
since then, it has been and still is, one of the most
famous and anticipated operas.
The opera consists of two acts – written on a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte – and it is considered characteristic of opera buffa, the Italian comic opera.
Love and unfaithfulness, emotion and logic, lies
and truth, all co-exist in an artistically skilful way
and present, in a pleasant manner, the tragicomic
consequences of erotic deception.
Opera lovers had the opportunity to watch this opera for the first time in Cyprus at the picturesque
harbour of Pafos in a unique audio-visual experience which captivated the audience.
Ayis Ioannides was the Conductor and Chorus
Master and Paolo Panizza the Director and Set Designer, while Elisabeth Juillard was Stage Manager
and Nicoletta Olivieri Music Stage Manager. Stefano Nicolaou designed the costumes and Fiammetta
Baldiserri was in charge of lighting. Massimo Taddia was the performance’s Artistic Director.
14
The cast
The performers are members of internationally acknowledged opera houses from abroad.
Fiordiligi (soprano): Paola Santucci and Vittoria Ji
Won Yeo; Dorabella (mezzo soprano): Paola Gardina and Alessia Nadin; Ferrando (tenor): Francisco
Brito and Riccardo Gatto; Guglielmo (baritone):
Valdis Jansons and Andrea Zaupa; Don Alfonso
(baritone): Graziano Dallavalle and Carlo Torriani;
Despina (soprano): Paola Cigna and Julia Farrès
Llongueras; Chorus (soldiers, servants and sailors):
Pafos Aphrodite Festival Cyprus in collaboration
with Coro Lirico Citta’ di Rimini “Amintore Galli”.
Company Pafos Aphrodite Festival Cyprus
The Company Pafos Aphrodite Festival Cyprus
(P.A.F.C) was founded in 1998 by the Municipality of Pafos, the Municipality of Yeroskipou,
the Municipality of Peyia, the Pafos Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, and the Cyprus Hoteliers
Association – Pafos Regional Committee.
Despite an enthusiastic
response by the
Viennese audience
when it premiered
in 1790, producers
avoided staging this
opera for one and a half
centuries, or altered
The Company is a non-profit orit by staging a more
ganisation and its basic aims are
censored version
The Company’s establishment was
the result of close cooperation between these five organisations in
the Pafos District, aimed at promoting Pafos as an international centre
of high-profile cultural events, thus
contributing to the international
promotion and elevation of Cyprus
in the cultural and tourism sectors.
the organisation and management
of one internationally acclaimed annual cultural
event as well as other cultural events in the District
of Pafos.
The Founding sponsor is the Republic of Cyprus,
through the Ministry of Education and Culture and
the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and
Tourism.
At the P.A.F.C Board of Directors, the Municipality of Pafos is represented by four members,
the Municipality of Yeroskipou by
two, the Municipality of Peyia, the
Pafos Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, and the Pafos District
Committee of the Cyprus Hoteliers
Association by one each.
The Company’s Course
and Achievements
In 1998 the Company Pafos Aphrodite Festival Cyprus hosted three
concerts by the Budapest Concert
Orchestra MAV at the ancient Odeon in Kato Pafos. A year later, in September 1999, it held the
1st Pafos Aphrodite Festival presenting Giuseppe
Verdi’s Aida by the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow at
the Medieval Castle Square.
In April 2000 the company hosted its 1st Akamas
Festival, presenting the classical music ensemble
Monasteria Ensemble from Germany with performances at various hotels in Pafos. In September
15
Lefkara lace embroidery course by UNESCO
23-29 August 2014, Lefkara
L
efkara lace (known locally as Lefkaritika)
is one of Cyprus’ most distinctive types of
traditional needlecraft. Its cultural as well as artistic value is acknowledged through its inscription in 2009 on UNESCO’s Representative List
of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
of that same year, the 2nd Pafos Aphrodite Festival
took place, presenting George Bizet’s Carmen by
the National Opera of Estonia.
Other operas performed at the Pafos Aphrodite
Festival include: Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco;
Lorca Massine and Mikis Theodorakis’ Zorba
the Greek by the National Opera of Poland;
Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot by the National
Opera of Poland; Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca by
the Festival of Arena di Verona; Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto by the National Opera of Poland;
Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata by the National
Opera of Poland; Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo
in Maschera by the Mariinsky State Academic
Theatre of St Petersburg; Giuseppe Verdi’s Il
Trovatore by The Abai State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Kazakhstan); Giacomo
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly by The Lyric Theatre “Giuseppe Verdi” of Trieste (Italy); Léo Delibes’ Lakmé by The National Opera of Sofia;
Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème by the Opera
of the Slovak National Theatre; Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann by the Opera of
the National Theatre Prague; Giuseppe Verdi’s
Otello by the Opera of the Slovak National Theatre; and Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore in a
co-production between Pafos Aphrodite Festival
Cyprus and Opera Futura Verona, with the participation of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.
Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
Since last year, Pafos Aphrodite Festival has
welcomed a special new addition to its fold: The
Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.
16
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra was founded in
1987 by the Ministry of Education and Culture as
a chamber orchestra. In 2006, by decision of the
Council of Ministers, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation (CySOF) was established and
from 1 January 2007 took over the management
of the Orchestra which was renamed Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra plays an important role in the cultural life of Cyprus. It presents
symphonic performances for audiences of all ages,
promoting knowledge and cultivating appreciation for classical music. In addition to symphonic
concerts, the CySO actively engages in educational and outreach programmes, as well as other cultural activities all over Cyprus. In order to enrich
the cultural life on the island, the CySO collaborates with other cultural organisations, schools,
festivals, and radio and TV channels.
The Educational Programmes are organised in
collaboration with the Ministry of Education and
Culture for all levels of education: pre-school, primary and secondary. They include school visits by
musicians, preparatory music workshops, school
and family concerts.
Aiming to promote the work of Cypriot artists,
the CySO regularly collaborates with Cypriot
composers, by commissioning and presenting premieres of their works, to be heard both at home
and abroad. Also, the Orchestra frequently offers a
platform for young artists by offering them regular
public exposure.
For more information on Pafos Aphrodite Festival, visit: www.pafc.com.cy
In fact, this was the reason behind a decision by
the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO to
organise a week-long embroidery course in 2013.
Following its success, the course was held again
this year. With the main idea being to protect, pro-
ject, disseminate and utilise elements of the art of
Lefkara lace-making, the course is primarily directed at teachers of the visual arts and artists, offering the opportunity of on-site cooperation with
acclaimed embroiderers from Lefkara.
A dozen learners took part this year, attending
classes given by six embroiderers. Among the programme’s targets is to educate and sensitise teachers to how important it is to protect and disseminate Cyprus’ Intangible Cultural Heritage, acquire
the basic skills to create Lefkaritika and provide
Lefkara laces or Lefkaritika – © 2008
by Lefkara Municipality / Ministry
of Education and Culture (Photo by
Antigoni Polyniki)
17
different periods from the 19th to the early 20th century. In the left corner of the courtyard a staircase
leads to the upper floor.
Three rooms on the upper floor contain rural furnishing belonging to the 19th and early 20th centuries and they serve as an entrance hall, a living
room and a bedroom. The furnishing of these
rooms creates the atmosphere of a typical grand
Lefkara house. Traditional costumes, jewellery,
silverwork and a large collection of old Lefkara
embroidery, for which the village is renowned, are
on display in other rooms on the upper floor.
The Museum is open from 8.30 am until 4 pm
from November to March, and from 9.30 am until
The history behind Lefkara lace
Lefkara lace is perhaps the finest example of
needlecraft and folklore tradition that Cyprus
has to offer.
It is embroidery of great value that reflects the dynamism, the sensitivity, and the power of observation of the Cypriot woman. The skilful hands of
the needlewoman manage to create perfect and artistically delivered designs upon the fabric, which
not even the hand of the most skilful designer
would have been able to deliver in such detail,
grace, rhythm, and harmony.
All the designs of the lace embroideries from
Lefkara are inspired by nature and the environment, receiving a characteristic form as the stitches
Detail of Lefkaritika by award-winning embroiderer Chryso Kola
© Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO (Photo by Antigoni
Polyniki)
Embroiderer-teacher Margarita Charalambous with one of her
students from the course © Cyprus National Commission for
UNESCO (Photo by Antigoni Polyniki)
The arrangement on the ground floor, which contains a rural type dining room and a storeroom
with large jars and agricultural implements and
tools, gives a vivid impression of traditional village life.
Group photo in the courtyard of the Museum of Traditional Embroidery & Silver-Smithing in Lefkara © Cyprus National Commission for
UNESCO (Photo by Antigoni Polyniki)
social and economic incentives to embroiderers
who are recognised for their work, so they can
pass on their knowledge and skills.
The course began on Saturday, 23 August 2014, at
the Lefkara Hotel and included a lecture entitled:
“Lefkaritika embroidery” by Androula Hadjiyiasemi, former school inspector in Home Economics, researcher and author. Mrs Hadjiyiasemi presented works by Cypriot artists that were inspired
by Lefkaritika embroidery and spoke of how the
art had evolved, how it was traded and its main
structural elements and characteristics.
On 24 August, participants gathered at the same
hotel to meet with traders of the traditional lace
and learn about their personal experiences and
views.
The following day, a group lesson was given in the
courtyard of the Museum of Traditional Embroidery & Silver-Smithing, where learners and embroiderers exchanged ideas and experiences. The
gathering was visited by the Mayor of Lefkara,
Savvas Xenofontos; the Director of the Cultural
Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture,
and Secretary-General of the Cyprus National
Commission for UNESCO, Pavlos Paraskevas;
and the President of the Association for the Pro18
5 pm from April until October. Admission is €1.70
and unfortunately, due to its age, it is non-wheelchair accessible.
duction and Projection of Lefkara Lace Embroidery, Margarita Charalambous. Once the lesson
ended, attendees were taken on a tour of the Museum and shown exhibits by Antiquities Officer
Evi Fiouri, before sitting down to lunch provided
by the Municipality of Lefkara.
The course concluded on 29 August.
For more information, visit: www.unesco.org.cy
Museum of Traditional Embroidery & SilverSmithing
The Museum of Traditional Embroidery & SilverSmithing is located in the village of Lefkara. It is
run in the House of Patsalos, which was named
after its owner who belonged to one of the village’s richest families. Since 1979, many houses in
Lefkara have been declared “ancient monuments”
and some of them have been restored by the Department of Antiquities.
The House of Patsalos was acquired by the Department in 1983, thanks to a donation by Sir Stelios
Ioannou, and after its restoration it was officially
opened to the public as a Museum in August 1988.
The entire house is constructed out of local white
limestone and contains several rooms built during
19
are combined. Today’s Lefkaritika have evolved to
a great extent, other - more recent - elements having been added to the stereotyped, old decorative
geometrical motifs. Hence, a huge variety of embroideries with characteristic names such as athasi
(almond), margarita or makoukoudi (refers to a
small weaving row), mi me lismoneis (forget me
not), tagiada (a basic pattern in weaving), potamos (river), arvalotos (latticed / riddled pattern),
klonotos (branched), ammatotos (with eye-shaped
patterns), arachnotos (spider-web), aplos (simple), diplos (double), karouli (bobbin), miloudi
(small apple), and many more swarm the local and
foreign market and become the main source of income for the skilful female weaver of Lefkara - the
“kentitria” - and the male embroideries’ merchant
of Lefkara – the “kentitaris”.
For the past century Lefkara has become world
famous as the homeland of embroideries. Indeed,
the peculiarities and the technique of the embroideries that are manufactured in Lefkara have contributed to shaping a form of needlecraft with a
special style that has now been established and
named as “Lefkaritiko Kentima” (Embroidery of
Lefkara) or simply “Lefkaritika”. Unfortunately,
many of the old designs have stopped being produced due to the difficulty in execution and the
time required to manufacture them, thus leading
to a serious risk of the traditional needlecraft’s
technique going extinct.
Today’s ambition is to train and create perfect
needlewomen by conveying in a simple manner the wealth of tradition, which was handed
down as a legacy from generation to generation,
and through everyone’s contribution, ensure that
it continues for many more generations to come.
Through the embroideries of Lefkara that are extant, the continuation and the evolution of the asproploumia (white, embroidered ornaments with
cotton-thread) is made clearly visible.
The first embroideries of Lefkara are made
with the same manufacture ingredients as the
asproploumia, that is, they are made entirely of
cotton coming from local, hand-made, woven,
thick fabric.
Later on the kampri (or hases) was used - a thin,
imported fabric - as well as the bakaris, (cottonthread - bobbin). Around 1913 they began using
the local, linen fabric from Zodia and Astromeritis and the linen threads, which they spun and
whitened for that purpose, when making the
embroideries of Lefkara. Along with the use of
linen, people in Lapithos and Karavas began
weaving Lefkaritika using local, silk fabrics and
with silk threads.
Embroiderer-teacher Evdokia Stavri with her student © Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO (Photo by Antigoni Polyniki)
20
The group lesson that took place in the courtyard of the Museum of Traditional Embroidery & Silver-Smithing in Lefkara © Cyprus National
Commission for UNESCO (Photo by Antigoni Polyniki)
There is a diversification of the “Lefkaritiko” style
in these designs. The silk embroideries are done
with more anevata, gemota designs (satin-stitch
embroidery that is more ravelled) and are most
suited for cutting and removing a small number of
threads. In their final form the designs resemble
the results of the “Lefkaritiko” style but present
differences in the manner of their constitution. In
the case of straogazo (a type of stitch without ravels), apart from the difference in technique, there is
also a difference in the final result.
In all the types of embroideries there is a uniformity of fabric and thread that creates a perfect joining of the materials with the embroidery.
The first old embroideries of Lefkara, asproploumia, are no longer produced and the old ones
that still exist are made of local, thick, cotton fabric that is hand-made and cotton threads, which
they spun for this purpose.
The designs of the asproploumia are simple, usually geometric, without any details. They are limited and the same ones are repeated throughout the
whole range of the embroidery. Their main characteristic is the cutting and removal of threads from
the fabric, the use of a limited number of stitches,
and the making of gazia in a number of variations. The gazia usually end, complete, and set the
boundaries of the designs in the asproploumia. All
these characteristics are transferred to the lace embroideries of Lefkara, which start taking their own,
particular form.
In Lefkara the technique of the asproploumia,
which improved and diversified according to the
skill of each needlewoman, is preserved. At the
same time, the lace embroidery of Lefkara was also
enriched by the technique of the “Venise Lace”,
which became known in Cyprus during the era of
the Venetian Domination (1489-1571). Through
this lace technique the needlewomen of Lefkara
create designs on the cut fabric and change them
– adapting them to the area upon which they will
weave, in line with their imagination, their artistry,
and their skill.
Starting from Lefkara, the small village of the
Larnaca district from which the lace embroideries took their name, they have become known in
many countries.
The tradition was maintained and came to life
again on 19 October 1986. On this day of the
main altar’s consecration in the Duomo Cathedral
in Milan, the Community of Lefkara donated an
embroidered tablecloth that was made in Lefkara,
in memory and as a continuation of this tradition.
By the end of the previous century the inhabit21
ants of Lefkara visited the cities of neighbouring
countries, wherever the Greek element was present – Alexandria, Cairo, Smyrna (Izmir), Constantinople – and spread the reputation of the lace
embroideries of Lefkara. Through Greece they
were transferred throughout Europe, to the Scandinavian countries, and America. The merchants
of Lefkara –“kentitarides” – travelled to or stayed
in Europe and roamed from house to house, selling
and making their embroideries known, while the
needlewomen of Lefkara remained in the village,
organising the production.
In this way their name became well known and
the lace embroideries of Lefkara reached – in the
beginning of the century, from 1900 until 1930 – a
point of perfection in terms of the combination of
technique and the end result.
Source: http://www.katolefkara.org/english/lefk_
lace.shtml
Lefkara
Lefkara takes its name from the white of its silica
and limestone; hence the name Lefkara is derived
from a combination of the Greek words “lefka”
(white) and “ori” (mountains, hills).
It is located on the southern slopes of the Troodos
Mountain Range in the Larnaca District of Cyprus.
It features cobbled streets and picturesque architecture. The village is split into two administrative
regions: upper and lower Lefkara, with around
1,100 inhabitants.
A common sight is groups of women sitting in the
narrow village streets working on their fine em-
Museum of Traditional Embroidery & Silver-Smithing
22
broidery, as they have for centuries. The village is
also known for its skilled silversmiths who produce fine filigree work.
According to legend, Leonardo da Vinci visited
the village in 1481, and purchased a lace cloth for
the main altar of the Duomo di Milano.
UNESCO: Intangible Cultural
Heritage of Humanity
According to Decision 4.COM 13.37 of UNESCO,
Lefkara Lace satisfied the criteria for inscription on
the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage of Humanity, as follows:
R.1: Passed on from generation to generation over
many years, the craft of Lefkaritika is sustained by
its aesthetic and socio-economic values, providing
women of Lefkara with an enviable sense of identity and continuity;
R.2: Inscription of the element on the Representative List would contribute to raising awareness of
the significance of traditional handicraft skills and
the successful integration of diverse cultural influences and modern techniques;
R.3: Efforts to safeguard the element will be carried out by governmental bodies and the communities concerned and will include such measures as
creating an archive, organizing contests, establishing scholarships, research projects, a lacemaking
school and a foundation;
R.4: Community involvement is evident at all
stages of the nomination, and signed consent letters are testimony of its free, prior and informed
consent.
Embroiderer Chryso Kola explains how to create the Potamos (River)
motif, the basic Lefkaritiko embroidery pattern © Cyprus National
Commission for UNESCO (Photo by Antigoni Polyniki)
13th International Countryside Animafest Cyprus
Views of the World I
t is a little appreciated genre of film; yet what
is there not to love about animation? It appeals to all ages, crosses all borders and speaks
all languages. And thanks to Cyprus’ very own
animation festival – the International Countryside
Animafest Cyprus - Views of the World – now celebrating 13 years of success, it is a film genre that
Cypriots can enjoy too.
A summer celebration of the art of animation,
against the backdrop of the Cypriot countryside,
the 13th International Countryside Animafest Cyprus — Views of the World left behind fond memories and excellent impressions among Cypriot audiences and international guests alike. Having accomplished its mission of bringing
some of the greatest independent animated films
from around the world to the Cypriot audience,
and promoting the work of Cypriot filmmakers,
in the context of a fruitful artistic and personal
interplay, festivalgoers had the opportunity to
see amazing films, meet world-renowned artists,
make new friends and enjoy the beauty of the
Cypriot countryside; and all this in just the space
of four days.
Returning for its 13th edition on 17-20 July 2014,
with international participants, an exciting screening programme, as well as exhibitions, tributes and
concerts, this year the festival took place at the Medieval Manor House at Palaepaphos Kouklia, near
the ancient place of worship of the Greek goddess
Aphrodite. This enchanting location overlooking
the coast of Kouklia, is a UNESCO world heritage site dating back to the time of the Lusignan
Kings (13th c. AD), making it the ideal backdrop
for one of the most renowned summer festivals on
the island; an event celebrating the magical art of
animation.
The audience once again had the unique opportunity to watch a selection of the best independent animated films from around the world,
which are not usually distributed to commercial
cinemas. This year the international competition
programme included films from Italy, Estonia,
Germany, Belgium, China and Canada. Furthermore, the work of Cypriot filmmakers was
showcased, who then competed in the national
competition programme. The development of
local production of animated film is one of the
longstanding goals of the festival and among its
founding principles.
Best animation films of the year awarded
As is the case every year, the closing night saw
the best animation movies receive awards by a
special jury. The jury members – Chris Robinson,
artistic director of Ottawa International Animation Festival, Gerben Schermer, co-founder of the
23
Musics of the World
As if all the above was not enough to satisfy the
senses of our animation lovers, this year International Countryside Animafest Cyprus inaugurated
a new addition to its activities: the musical part of
the festival, Musics of the World, which was the
result of a collaboration with Rialto Theatre’s Ethnic Festival. This year on closing night, the festival hosted a concert by the Howa Jani project and
Neta Elkayam, from Israel. This group of young
musicians, who have enjoyed great international
acclaim in recent years, revives the musical tradition of North Africa with emphasis on the music
of Moroccan Jews.
Absent Minded by Roberto Catani
Baths by Tomek Duck
Bettys Blues by Remi Vandenitte
Holland Animation Film Festival,
mas Patrovits and Anna Ida
What is there not to
and Cypriot director Lea Maleni – love about animation? Oroz (curators of PRIMANIMA
awarded the Grand Prix in the InIt appeals to all ages, the Hungary animation festival)
and Anu Laura Tuttelberg (Diternational Competition Programme
crosses all borders and rector of the film The other side
to the Polish film Hippopotamy by
speaks all languages of the Woods) whom the audiPiotr Dumala, and the first prize
ence and the participants in the
in the National Competition Profestival
had
the
opportunity to meet.
gramme to the film Dance of a Mass by Marinos
Savva. Special mentions were given to the films
A special tribute was presented in honour of the
Baths by Tomek Duck (Poland), Love Games by
great Estonian animator Priit Parn, whose films
Yumi Joung (South Korea) and Wonder by Mirai
have enjoyed international acclaim. An exhibition of Parn’s prints was shown in the great
Mizue (Japan/France).
hall of the Manor House for the duration of the
The first prize in the International Competifestival. It was accompanied by screenings of
tion Programme was €1,000 and was sponsored
some of his most celebrated films dating back
by Hellenic Bank. The prize in the Cypriot Proto the 1970s. Priit Parn gave a talk about his
gramme was €500 and was sponsored by the law
work and also participated in the international
firm Markides and Markides LLC.
competition section with his latest film, Pilots
on their way Home, a co-production with the
International guests and tributes
National Film Board of Canada.
This year’s international guests included Chris
Animafest also continued its series of tributes to
Robinson (Ottawa International Animation
Cypriot pioneers in the art of animation. This year
Festival), Gerben Schernen (Holland Animathe festival honoured filmmaker Kyros Rossides
tion Festival), Alex Stein (Kuki- Interfilm
with a screening of his first animated film and a
Berlin), Adam Ptak (from SE-MA-FOR The
presentation of his production drawings, which he
puppet animation studio in Polland), Tacreated at the famous Royal College of Art in 1973.
24
bitions, special screenings and master classes by
world-renowned artists. The Hambis Printmaking
Museum, co-organiser and co-founder of the festival, hosted a unique workshop on sand animation
with Estonian artist Olga Parn.
Collaboration with Pafos European Cultural Capital of Europe 2017
This year saw the beginning of a strategic collaboration between International Countryside Animafest Cyprus and Pafos - European Cultural Capital of Europe 2017. The 13th edition of the festival
was included in the institution’s cultural activities,
while the continuing collaboration aims at development projects and will culminate in 2017.
Children’s Animation Programme
In 2013, the festival inaugurated a new section
in its programming, devoted to the promotion
of children’s animation. “Our aim is to enrich
Cypriot children’s perception of animation and
cultivate love and respect of the genre,” explained Yiorgos Tsangaris, the festival’s artistic director. “We intend to collaborate with
other festivals internationally with the purpose
of exchanging children’s programmes as well
as organising educational workshops, thus inviting children and their parents to participate
creatively in the festival.”
The children’s programme, presented this year in
collaboration with Kuki Festival of Interilm Berlin, one of the most prestigious short film festivals
in the world, took place at Columbia Hotels and
Resorts at Pissouri Bay.
Parallel events
A number of events ran in parallel with the 13th
International Countryside Animafest Cyprus —
Views of the World, including workshops, exhi-
About Animafest Cyprus – Views of the World
“It began 12 years ago,” says Yiorgos Tsangaris,
artistic director. With its roots in Plataniskia, at the
Hambis Printing School belonging to Tsangaris
Pilots on their way Home by Priit Parn
25
Love Games by Yumi Joung
senior, the festival began when Yiorgos introduced
the renowned director of the Thessalonica Film
Festival – Dimitris Eipides – to the village. “He
loved the location, and immediately suggested we
start a documentary film festival in the village.”
Thus began the International Countryside Documentary and Animated Film Festival - Views of
the World, which ran for four years before its conversion purely to the latter genre: “Gradually the
festival changed to become only animation; it’s an
underexploited area and the Ministry of Education
and Culture has encouraged us to emphasise it because it’s an artistic and cinematic form with no
tradition on the island.”
This evolution led not only to a change of name,
but also to a change of venue, an increase in associated events, the formation of an NGO and the
establishment of a Cyprus chapter of ASIFA, the
Association Internationale du Film d’Animation.
By 2011, the festival had moved to Avdimou to
accommodate the numbers of attendees, and an International Competition Section – complete with a
jury comprised of celebrated international animators – was inaugurated. “This was a really big deal
for Cyprus,” Yiorgos Tsangaris explains. “When
these judges came to Cyprus and saw what was
happening they suggested we develop workshops,
lectures, screenings which would run throughout
the year. And so we did, with the festival in the
summer being the highlight of the process.”
Yiorgos and his team of volunteers are kept busy
all year round organising what has become an in26
Wonder by Mirai Mizue
ternational event of astounding proportions.
As well as the many associated master classes,
workshops, presentations, exhibitions and lectures, Animafest boasts the screening of a selection of the best animation film productions from
around the world – a huge leap from the festival’s
humble beginnings. “When we started, back in
Plataniskia, the environment was magical. We
screened in a small garden under the stars and, due
to the countryside location, hosted all walks of life.
And because we’ve kept the countryside location,
it is still like that today.”
As audiences have grown significantly in recent
years, the festival has moved to different villages to accommodate the large number of spectators and is currently held at the ancient town of
Palaepaphos. It continues to draw a very diverse
audience, from across the social spectrum. “The
fact that it draws young people from metropolitan
areas to previously unknown rural areas we feel
is a very important contribution to the country’s
cultural life,” says Tsangaris.
Animafest Cyprus is the main platform for Animated Film in Cyprus and has the official support
of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the
Republic of Cyprus and ASIFA Cyprus. The Festival is co-organised with the Hambis Printmaking
Museum & Views of the World. The festival is active throughout the year, with
its main activities including Animafest Cyprus on
tour, which presents the best of Animafest Cyprus
Hippopotamy by Piotr Dumala
at various locations around the country throughout the year, including schools, film festivals,
cinemas and galleries, always in non-commercial
screenings. Every November, an Academic forum
on Animation at the Cyprus University of Technology is organised, bringing together academics
from Cyprus and abroad. This forum is organised
in collaboration with Media Desk Cyprus.
ASIFA Cyprus
In May 2013, the Association Internationale du
Film d’Animation (ASIFA) Board approved the
foundation of a new chapter - ASIFA Cyprus,
based on an application by the artistic director of
Animafest Cyprus, Yiorgos Tsangaris.
ASIFA was founded in 1960 in Annecy, France, as
an association of individual animation art-
ists. Renowned Canadian animator Norman
McLaren was elected the first president of ASIFA.
McLaren, John Halas and our other founding fathers envisioned a world of peace and dialogue to
settle our differences.
Today ASIFA can be described as an international network of numerous local ASIFA Chapters,
which have developed their own local identities
and special activities. These ‘local’ ASIFA Chapters send their representatives to the ASIFA Board,
where all important decisions are made.
Compared to the early years of ASIFA, when
the Board Members comprised only animation
artists, the ASIFA Board today is composed of
animation specialists from very different backgrounds. They are animation artists, producers,
journalists, teachers, workshop leaders, festival
directors and employees of local ASIFA Groups
among others.
One of its most successful new projects is International Animation Day (28 October), a project that
extends to non-ASIFA groups. The international Animation Workshop Group (AWG) continues with its
highly successful children’s workshops, while the
famous ASIFA Prize, founded in 1985, is given annually to outstanding personalities who have supported the art of animation.
Working with UNESCO, ASIFA strived to unite
the animation world in peace. The main goal of
ASIFA was to share animation films and develop
lasting international friendships. Now, with almost
40 chapters worldwide this spirit of peace, love
and tolerance continues to guide ASIFA.
Grand Prix in the International Competition Programme
Hipopotamy by Piotr Dumała
A few naked women and children are bathing in a river. They are being secretly observed by a
group of men, who, at one point, decide to approach them, in a violent manner, as if inspired by
the behaviour of hippopotamuses.
Piotr Dumala
Piotr Dumała (1956) is a screenwriter, animator, set designer, teacher, graphic artist, illustrator,
cartoonist, writer, critic and actor. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and is a
director of numerous animations, often addressing existentialistic questions such as A Gentle Spirit
(1985), Wolność nogi (1988), Franz Kafka (1991), Crime and Punishment (2000) and Las (2009).
In his animations he uses a traditional stroke and a plaster panel technique he invented himself.
27
1st Apollon International Chamber Music Festival
A
pollon Artists will launch the first annual
Apollon International Chamber Music Festival in November 2014.
The AICMF will take place over four nights
in the beautiful and luxurious surroundings of
the five-star Annabelle Hotel in Pafos. Festival
Director, Saskia Constantinou explained: “Our
mission is to foster a greater appreciation of
classical music in the Mediterranean region by
presenting performances featuring world-class
musicians in beautiful surroundings, while emphasising the development of a broad based,
sustainable audience through education. After
many years in the music profession, as a musician, promoter and broadcaster, and not least
of all as a mother, I realise more than ever the
importance of sustainable audience development for future generations. To this end, there
will be educational concerts in the mornings for
students. Classical music is deemed by many
to be elitist and there is a worldwide struggle
to find alternative ways of encouraging people
to concerts.
In the Festival, we have tried, together with Artistic Director Yuri Zhislin, to create a concert
atmosphere where both the audience and musicians feel they are sharing an evening of music
together – where everyone is comfortable and
relaxed. The aim is to make attending a classical
music concert attractive to new audiences, while
simultaneously presenting chamber music of the
highest quality to the discerning listener.”
Beautiful music in beautiful surroundings
with world-class musicians
Yuri Zhislin has compiled four superb evenings
of chamber music, including works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven,
Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Peter Schubert, Robert Schumann,
Gustav Mahler, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Jo28
hannes Brahms and Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla.
“Through the programming, we have strived to
meet a wide range of musical tastes, from traditional quartets, to both smaller and larger ensembles and have designed it to appeal to judicious,
regular concert-goers while hopefully enchanting and enticing newcomers,” Zhislin explained.
“I’m naturally delighted to be working with so
many renowned, internationally acclaimed musicians including violinist Natalia Lomeiko,
violist Lise Berthaud, cellist Kyril Zlotnikov and
pianist Charles Owen.”
Promoting cultural tourism
Apollon Artists, as an international company,
has maintained its perspective by collaborating with tour operator Top Kinisis. “We are immensely grateful to Vice-President Elena Tanou
for her interest, enthusiasm and unstinting support of our project,” said Saskia Constantinou.
“She, and her company contribute a high level
of professionalism to the island through their
industry, and we are honoured to be associated
and collaborate with Top Kinisis. We deem it
very important for Apollon Artists to develop
and elevate the level of cultural tourism. This
task is undoubtedly made much easier with
the exceptional calibre of artists who visit the
island. We firmly believe that Cyprus has far
more to offer than sun and sand – in addition
to the many UNESCO World Heritage sites,
we have varied and wonderful scenery, enormous historical wealth and of course, we are a
friendly nation.”
Vice President of Top Kinisis Elena Tanou reiterated the importance of cultural tourism. “In
these economically challenging times, it is essential for companies to increase their marketing strategy to include diverse and possibly untapped markets. Culture naturally encompasses
so many aspects but special interest tourism is an
Yuri Zhislin
area which we hope, together with Apollon Artists to further develop and expand. We need to
attract high caliber tourists who not only spend,
but improve the country’s image. However, we
are not only targeting the international markets
but hope that our local population will also take
advantage of the excellent packages on offer.
If everyone takes just one friend to experience
something new, we will have achieved our goal
of opening possibilities. We have now made it
very easy to book, as our product is completely
digitalized. People now book holidays in the
comfort of their home, and so packages, hotels
and flights are clearly shown with booking options which are fast and uncomplicated. The
Apollon International Chamber Music Festival
has packages in 3, 4 and 5 star hotels with tickets
for the concerts each night. We look forward to
welcoming everyone.”
For further information and bookings, www.
apollonartists.com or email [email protected] Tel: 70009303
Natalia Lomeiko (photo by Jane Blundell 2014)
About the artists
Yuri Zhislin – Artistic Director (violin/viola)
Described by The Strad as a “virtuoso with a
truly Romantic temperament”, Yuri Zhislin is
one of the most versatile musicians of his generation. Equally at home on both violin and viola, Zhislin enjoys an active and illustrious career as soloist and chamber musician, performing in his native Russia, as well as throughout
Europe, Japan, the US and South America,
Australia and New Zealand.
Born in Moscow in 1974, Yuri Zhislin began
playing the violin at the age of six, joining the
Moscow Music Gnessin School for gifted children where he studied with Irina Svetlova. From
his early years, Zhislin took part in numerous
public concerts, representing the School both in
Russia and abroad, performing as a soloist with
orchestras such as The Kishinev Philharmonic,
The Ermitage Chamber Orchestra and The Yaroslavl Philharmonic. He recorded for Moscow Radio and appeared on national radio and television.
29
Lise Berthaud
Yuri Zhislin is the recipient of many prizes and
awards and in 1989, won the Balis Dvarionas International Competition for Young Musicians in
Lithuania. In January 1990, he took part in the
“Young Talents” concert in Moscow. A major
prize-winner in the 1991 Sarasate International
Violin Competition in Spain, Yuri entered the
Royal College of Music in London, where he
studied with his father, Grigory Zhislin and subsequently with Dr Felix Andrievsky.
He won major college prizes, including the
prize for Outstanding String Player of the Year,
and gained his ARCM Diploma with Honours.
He has represented the College in several European cities, including Madrid, Helsinki, Oslo
and Brussels and appeared as a soloist with the
RCM Orchestras.
As a member of the Rosamunde Quartet founded at the College in 1994, Zhislin has won
chamber music prizes and toured extensively
throughout the UK, taking part in the Tippett
Festival in Berlin in January 1995, performing
in the composer’s presence and giving a quar30
Kyril Zlotnikov
tet recital by invitation of HRH, The Prince of
Wales at Highgrove.
In 1993, Yuri Zhislin became the BBC Radio 2
Young Musician of the Year and in 1994, won
the Malcolm Sargent Award. In 1996, he was a
prize winner at the Douai International Violin
Competition in France and in 1997, received
Special Prize for the best performance of the
Mozart Violin Sonata at the Premio Trio di Trieste Chamber Music Competition in Italy.
Amongst Zhislin’s objectives is to advance classical music to younger audiences. Apart from the
numerous master-classes and educational concerts he has given, he has also promoted classical music to non-classical audiences by collaborating with a number of distinguished jazz
musicians such as Guy Barker, Clark Tracey
and Tommy Smith, and pop artists, such as Nick
Cave, Vanessa Mae and Sash.
His future plans include tours with the Russian
Virtuosi of Europe and more concerts as a soloist and recitalist throughout the UK, Europe
and the US.
Natalia Lomeiko (violin)
Born into a family of musicians in Novosibirsk,
Russia, Natalia has established herself internationally as a versatile performing artist. She
has won numerous prizes in the Tibor Varga,
Tchaikovsky, Menuhin, Stradivari International
Violin competitions and in 2000, received the
Gold Medal and 1st Prize in the Premio Paganini International Violin Competition (Genoa,
Italy) and the 1st Prize in the Michael Hill International Violin Competition (Auckland, New
Zealand) in 2003.
Natalia studied at the Specialist Music
School in Novosibirsk with Professor Alexey
Gvozdev, at the Yehudi Menuhin School in
England with Lord Yehudi Menuhin and Professor Natalia Boyarskaya, at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music with Professor Hu Kun.
Since her debut with the Novosibirsk Symphony
Orchestra at the age of seven, Natalia performed
as a soloist with many orchestras, including the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton
of Lord Menuhin, the Philharmonia, the Singapore Symphony, the New Zealand Symphony,
the Auckland Philharmonia, the Christchurch
Symphony, the Tokyo Royal Philharmonic,
the New European Strings, the Moscow State
Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony,
Adelaide Symphony, St. Petersburg Radio Symphony, the Nice Philharmonic, the Russian State
Philharmonic Orchestra – to name a few.
Natalia has collaborated with such distinguished
conductors as the late Lord Menuhin, Lionel
Bringuier, Werner Andreas Albert, Matthias
Bamert, Arvo Volmer, Olari Elts, Sir William
Southgate, Vladimir Verbitsky, Christian Knapp,
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Eckehard Stier, Mikhail
Gerts, Valery Poliansky, Pavel Kogan and many
others.
In 2001 Natalia recorded the Three Grieg Violin
Sonatas with pianist Olga Sitkovetsky for the
DYNAMIC label, to high critical acclaim. Her
recital in Cremona on Paganini’s violin was recorded live on FONE and released in 2003. Her
CD of French Sonatas with pianist Olga Sitkovetsky was released by Trust Records in 2004;
the Strad described it as “... a stunning recital”.
Her CD with husband violinist/violist Yuri Zhislin was released in 2011 on the NAXOS label.
Her latest CD of Prokofiev’s music on the ATOLL label was released in 2013 and met with
five-star reviews.
Natalia has performed extensively as a soloist
and chamber musician in prestigious venues in
London, such as Buckingham Palace, Wigmore
Hall, Purcell Room, Kings Place, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Barbican and Royal Festival Hall.
She has performed chamber music with distinguished musicians including Gideon Kremer,
Yuri Bashmet, the late Boris Pergamenschikov,
Tabea Zimmerman, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Shlomo Mintz, Daishin Kashimoto, Natalie Clein,
Nicholas Daniel and many others. She has appeared on numerous Radio and TV broadcasts
and toured the United Kingdom, Italy, France,
Germany, Finland, Russia, Poland, Spain, the
USA, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Singapore,
Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Natalia Lomeiko was appointed a Professor of
Violin at the Royal College of Music in London
in 2010. She is currently based in London.
Lise Berthaud (viola)
Lise Berthaud is unanimously praised as an outstanding rising figure on the music scene. She
is a guest of various prestigious concert venues
and festivals throughout Europe (Wigmore Hall,
Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Salle Pleyel, Festival de Montpellier-Radio
France, Festival Berlioz de la Côte Saint-André,
Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron, Davos Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Cork Festival, Moritzburg Festival, Louisiana Museum in Denmark,
Sunmore Festival, Korsholm Festival, Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice) with such artists as Renaud Capuçon, Eric Le Sage, Augustin Dumay,
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Emmanuel Pahud,
Gordan Nikollich, Martin Helmchen, MarieElisabeth Hecker, Alina Ibragimova, Veronika
Eberle, Christian Poltera, David Kadouch,
Daishin Kashimoto, Quatuor Ebène, the Modigliani Quartet.
In September 2013, she was selected to be
31
under the direction of Professor Michael Khomitzer at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music
and Dance. While a student, Kyril Zlotnikov
participated in master classes and courses with
such prominent musicians as Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo
Ma, Natalia Gutman, Boris Pergamenschikov,
Aldo Parisot and Gyorgy Kurtag.
In 1991 Kyril Zlotnikov was a recipient of a
scholarship for musical achievements from
the America-Israel Culture Foundation, and
has won prizes in many contests with the
Clairmont Competition, the Braun-Roger
Siegl Competition, and the Pierre Tarcali Prize
being the most recent.
Charles Owen
part of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists
Scheme and invited to perform with the BBC
Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and
the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Her 2013
diary included recitals at Wigmore Hall, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus, Auvers-sur-Oise,
Renaud Capuçon’s Festival de Pâques in Aix-enProvence. In October 2013, Leonard Slatkin invited Lise to perform and record Berlioz’ Harold
in Italy with the Orchestre National de Lyon as
part of the orchestra’s Berlioz cycle for Naxos.
That same month, her first CD as soloist with
pianist Adam Laloum was released and
awarded several prizes including the prestigious Diapason d’Or.
As a soloist, Lise has performed with the Orchestre National de Belgique, Düsseldorfer
Symphoniker, Iceland Symphony Orchestra,
Hong Kong Sinfonietta, les Musiciens du Louvre and the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra –
among others.
In 2010 she was invited to play Harold in Italy
with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du
Louvre for the opening night of the prestigious Berlioz Festival at La Côte Saint-André in
France. In 2011 and 2012 she took part in Eric
Le Sage’s recording of Robert Schumann’s and
32
Saskia Constantinou
Gabriel Urbain Fauré’s complete works, receiving rave reviews and varied prizes including the
Choc de l’Année by Classica Magazine (Paris)
and a Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in Germany.
Lise has collaborated with several major contemporary composers, including Philippe Hersant, Thierry Escaich, Henri Dutilleux, Gyorgy
Kurtag and Guillaume Connesson.
Lise Berthaud was born in 1982 and started studying the violin at the age of 5 before moving to the
viola. She studied with Pierre-Henry Xuereb and
Gérard Caussé at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and was a prize winner of the European Young Instrumentalists Competition in 2000.
In 2005, she won the Hindemith Prize at the Geneva International Competition. She was short listed
by the Victoires de la Musique Classique 2009 as
“Révélation de l’Année” (Revelation of the Year).
Kyril Zlotnikov (Cello)
Born in Minsk, Belarus, to a family of professional musicians, Kyril Zlotnikov began his
studies at the Belarusian State Music Academy
with Professor Vladimir Perlin. He continued his
studies in Israel with Professors Uzi Wiesel and
Hillel Zori, completing his musical education
He is a founding member of The Jerusalem
Quartet, recognised for its artistic creativity, and
as one of the most dynamic and exciting young
quartets currently performing. The musicians
have given multiple performances all over the
world and become Israel’s leading string quartet. Since 2002 The Jerusalem Quartet records
exclusively for Harmonia Mundi.
Along with his extensive chamber music appearances Kyril Zlotnikov has performed and broadcast as a soloist with internationally renowned
orchestras, such as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the
Ludwigsburg Symphony Orchestra, The Gulbenkian Orchestra, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and The Jerusalem Camerata. He also enjoys
artistic collaboration with acclaimed conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta,
Pierre Boulez, Lawrence Foster, Asher Fish and
Simone Young.
A keen recitalist and chamber musician, Zlotnikov has shared the stage with some of the
most prominent artists of today including Daniel Barenboim, Jessye Norman, Pierre Boulez,
Elena Bashkirova, Mitsuko Uchida, Natalia Gutman, Tabea Zimmerman, Miriam Fried, Hagai
Shaham, Michael Tree, Asher Fish, Nikolaj
Znaider, Lang Lang and Richard Stoltzman.
Since 2003 Kyril Zlotnikov was Principal cellist
and pedagogue of the cello group at the “WestEastern Divan Orchestra” under Maestro Daniel
Barenboim. He also frequently takes part in special projects and tours of the Berlin Staatskapelle
Programme
Friday, 7 November 2014
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
– Serenade for Strings in G major “Eine
Kleine Nachtmusik” K.525 and Divertimento for strings in D major K. 136
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) – Selected
piano sonatas
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) – String Trio in
B flat major, D.471
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) – Piano
Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26
Saturday, 8 November 2014
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) – Trio
No. 1 in G minor, Op. Posth. “Elegiaque”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) –
Andante Cantabile from String Quartet No.
1 in D major Op 11
Arturo Cuellar – Concertino for Strings
Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) – String
Quartet No. 2 in D major
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) – Adios Nonino-Libertango
Sunday, 9 November 2014
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) –
Goldberg Variations BWV988 transcribed
for String Trio by D Sitkovetsky
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) – Inventions and Sinfonias BWV772 – 801transcribed for String Trio by D Sitkovetsky
Monday, 10 November 2014
Handel-Johan August Halvorsen (18641935) – Passacaglia for Violin and Viola
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) – Piano Quartet in A minor
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) – Piano
Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25
33
Orchestra as a Principal cellist.
Zlotnikov has recorded the complete Mozart piano trios with Maestro Daniel Barenboim and
violinist Nikolaj Znaider. The two CDs were released by EMI in April 2006.
Charles Owen (Piano)
Charles has performed in many of Britain’s leading concert halls including the Barbican, Queen
Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and Symphony
Hall, Birmingham. Internationally, he has appeared at the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall
in New York, Vienna’s Musikverein, the Paris
Louvre, the St Petersburg Philharmonic and the
Moscow Conservatoire.
As well as his solo recitals, Charles has performed with celebrated orchestras including the
Philharmonia, Royal Scottish National, English
Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic,
Lodz Filharmonia and the Moscow State Academic Symphony. He has also collaborated
with many outstanding artists including violinists Julian Rachlin, Chloe Hanslip, Henning
Kraggerud, Jack Liebeck, Renaud Capucon and
Catherine Leonard, as well as cellists Adrian
Annabelle Hotel in Pafos
34
9th Lemesos International Documentary Film Festival
Brendel, Natalie Clein, Guy Johnston and the
Wihan, Vertavo and Vogler quartets.
As a solo recitalist and chamber musician he has
played for numerous concert societies and established festivals in the UK and internationally
including the Homecoming Festival in Moscow,
Ireland’s West Cork Chamber Music Festival
and the Vogler Spring Festival in County Sligo,
the Perth International Music Festival in Western
Australia, the Oxford Chamber Music Festival
and the Elverum Festival in Norway.
His first solo CD for SOMM featuring the piano
music of Leos Janácek was listed as a “key” recording in The Penguin Good CD Guide followed
by a highly acclaimed CD of works by Francis
Jean Marcel Poulenc, selected as Editor’s Choice
in the June 2004 edition of Gramophone. A disc of
the 13 Nocturnes by Fauré, on the Avie label was
released in 2008 to outstanding critical acclaim.
Together with Natalie Clein, he has recorded
cello and piano sonatas by Brahms, Schubert,
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff and Frédéric
François Chopin for EMI.
Charles Owen is a Professor at the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama in London.
L
emesos International Documentary Festival, already in its 9th edition, returned to the
big screen with an exquisite programme on 1-8
August 2014, showcasing this year’s creative
peaks in the demanding film genre.
Twenty-three of the most talked-about and
awarded documentaries of the year were
screened for the first time in Cyprus at the Festival’s permanent venue, Theatro Ena, and at
Sousami bar, in the historic centre of Limassol.
A good documentary opens a window to the
world and as is the case every year, the Lemesos
International Documentary Festival, through its
diverse and multifaceted programme, attempted
to create a setting under which the viewers could
participate in a cultural event and become recipients of alternative and substantial information.
With this year’s films, viewers had the opportunity to watch and learn about cases of human
exploitation and environmental disaster; meet
people who managed to create and succeed in
times of hardships, young girls who transformed
their body into a weapon of resistance against
the political establishment, great artists whose
work has changed the world and children trying to cope with their demanding life. These are
human stories and on-the-ground realities of a
complex, contradicting and absurd world.
The event was organised by Brave New Culture
and it was supported and funded by the Cultural
Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Festival was co-organised by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, the festival’s official communication sponsor.
Docs Talk
In the framework of the 9th edition of the Lemesos
International Documentary Festival, a documentary professional event, Docs Talk, was organised. The initiative was addressed to professional
directors / producers and to anyone interested in
learning more about the various aspects of creating a documentary film, such as storytelling
and the story’s structure, the social importance
of documentary, producing and developing, and
new ways of documentary-making as is interactive documentary.
Docs Talk, which took place at the Curium Palace Hotel in Lemesos, was organised in collaboration with the Directors Guild of Cyprus.
On 2 August, the lecture Sources 2 Lecture and
Case Studies: Storytelling for Documentary took
place with Sources 2 adviser Arash T. Riahi,
where case studies were shown about the general principles of storytelling. These included the
role of a well-constructed script in documenting
a real life story; how to construct documentary
narrative and create visual stories with a crossborder appeal; the theory and examples for a
better understanding of how documentaries are
35
20,000 days on Earth
Directed by Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard (97’,
UK – 2014)
Drama and reality combine in a fictitious 24
hours in the life of musician and international
cultural icon Nick Cave.
20,000 Days on Earth by Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
A Haircut Story by Danae Stylianou
Awards: Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary - Sundance FF, Utah, USA, 2014; Best
Editing Award: World Cinema Documentary
- Sundance FF, Utah, USA, 2014; FIPRESCI
Prize - Istanbul Int’l FF, Turkey, 2014; Grand
Jury Prize Nomination - Sundance FF, Utah,
USA, 2014.
Ne Me Quitte Pas
Directed by Niels Van Koevorden, Sabine Lubbe
Bakker (106’, The Netherlands and Belgium –
2014)
A Direct Cinema portrait of Flemish Bob and
Walloon Marcel, two Belgian friends who share
loneliness, humour, alcoholism and suicide plans.
Ne Me Quitte Pas by Niels Van Koevorden, Sabine Lubbe Bakker
shaped and how filmmakers can make the most
out of a strong subject, the focus being on independent filmmakers working on projects with
low or close-to-zero budgets.
On the same day, a presentation on The Social
Importance of Documentary was held with
Nicole van Schaik, the European Outreach Director of the BRITDOC Foundation. The presentation was on how independent documentary
film can be used as a tool for social or / and environmental change, and on how the documentary landscape has changed, specifically over
the last 10 years. In addition, she referred to the
effects this has had on the funding of documentaries today.
A seminar entitled: Interactive Documentary:
An overview of the field and a look to the future
followed on 3 August with Jess Linington from
the i-docs organisation. Linington talked about
how new technologies are changing the way
36
we tell stories, allowing the field of interactive
documentary to rapidly grow. She also looked at
some of the common frameworks used for interactive storytelling, contextualising them with
some key examples of work from the genre.
Concluding, the seminar looked to the future,
highlighting possibilities with regards to funding
and support, as well as introducing some ground
breaking projects that are taking the field a step
further. During the presentation, Arash T. Riahi,
co-creator of the celebrated interactive documentary Everyday Rebellion, presented the project.
Awards: Special Mention - ZagrebDox, Croatia, 2014; Best Documentary Award - Discovery
Zone FF, Luxembourg, 2014; Best Documentary
Award - Eurodoks, Oslo, Norway, 2014; Best
Editing Award - Tribeca FF, New York, USA,
2014; Filmmaker Award - Hotdocs, Toronto,
Canada, 2014; Documentary Feature Nomination - Tribeca FF, New York, USA, 2014.
A haircut story
Directed by Danae Stylianou (75’, Cyprus – 2014)
In March 2013, Cyprus became the first Eurozone member state that was subjected to a bail-
in on deposits, as a means to rescue the island’s
problematic banks. In this documentary, seven stories emerge from the banks’ black hole.
The director was present at the Festival
screening.
Kismet
Directed by Nina Maria Paschalidou (66’,
Greece – 2013)
What makes Turkish soap operas so incredibly
popular? Kismet gets answers from the people
who make them and loyal fans from all over the
world.
Awards: Best Mid-Length Documentary Award
Nomination - International Documentary FF of
Amsterdam (IDFA), The Netherlands, 2013.
Walking under water
Directed by Eliza Kubarska (76’, Poland, Germany and UK – 2014)
A touching story of a young boy torn between
being a fisherman like his uncle and the temptations of the modern resorts as civilisation brings
an end to the Badjao, an ancient tribe of ocean
nomads.
Awards: Special Jury Prize: International Feature Documentary - Hotdocs, Toronto, Canada,
2014.
Cutie and the Boxer
Directed by Zachary Heinzerling (82’, USA –
2013)
Humour and tragedy take turns in this tender
portrait of Japanese artists Noriko Shinohara and
Screenings
Millennials made in Cyprus
Directed by Paris Dimitriades (22’, Cyprus – 2014)
University graduates and unemployed, globalised, depressed egocentrics, optimists and anticonformists. A (short) food-for-thought story.
Kismet by Nina Maria Paschalidou
Walking Under Water by Eliza Kubarska
37
Rich Hill by Tracy Droz Tragos, Andrew Droz Palermo
Supermensch: The legend of Sep Gordon by Mike Myers
her “boxing artist” husband Ushio.
Awards: Academy Award Nomination for Best
Documentary Feature - OSCARS, USA, 2014;
Emerging Artist Award - Full Frame Documentary FF, Durham, USA, 2013; Directing Award:
U.S. Documentary - Sundance FF, Utah, USA,
2013; 2nd Audience Award - Tribeca FF, New
York, USA, 2013; Outstanding Debut, Outstanding Graphics and Animation, Outstanding
Original Score - Cinema Eye Honors, New York,
USA, 2013.
Der Kreis (The Circle)
Directed by Stefan Haupt (102’, Switzerland –
2014)
Zürich in the mid 50s: While the repression
against homosexuals became increasingly more
intense, two young men fight for their love and
for gay rights.
Awards: Teddy Bear Award - Berlinale, Germany, 2014; Audience Award - Berlinale, Germany,
2014
Rich Hill
Directed by Tracy Droz Tragos, Andrew Droz
Palermo (91’, USA – 2014)
In a small-town in rural America, three isolated
kids confront heart-breaking choices and marginalized parents struggle to survive.
Awards: Grand Jury Prize: US Documentary Sundance FF, Utah, USA, 2014; Special Jury
Prize - Sarasota FF, USA 2014; Best Documentary Feature - Kansas City FF, USA, 2014.
38
Cutie and the Boxer by Zachary Heinzerling
Return to Homs
Directed by Talal Derki (87’, Syria and German
– 2013)
tion - Miami FF, USA, 2014.
The Green Prince
Directed by Nadav Schirman (99’, Israel, Germany and UK – 2013)
This real life thriller tells the story of one of Israel’s prized intelligence sources, the son of a top
Hamas leader.
Awards: Audience Award: World Cinema
Documentary - Sundance FF, Utah, USA,
2014; Grand Jury Prize Nomination: World
Cinema Documentary - Sundance FF, Utah,
USA, 2014.
Master of the Universe
Directed by Marc Bauder (90’, Germany and
Austria – 2013)
A laid-off investment banker provides a frank
and disheartening glimpse into the world of trading megalomania in the financial sector. The
film’s director was present at the screening.
Awards: Critics Week Award - Locarno Int’l FF,
Switzerland, 2014; Documentary Award Nomination - German Film Awards, Germany, 2014;
Best Documentary Award: German Film Critics’ Awards - German Film Critics Association
Awards, Germany, 2014.
Ukraine is not a brothel
Directed by Kitty Green (78’, Australia – 2013)
This is the story of Ukraine’s topless feminist
sensation, Femen. Outraged by the world’s image of Ukrainian women as commodities, Femen bare their breasts in protest to overturn this
perception.
Awards: Special Mention: Lina Mangiacapre
Award - Venice FF, Italy, 2013; Grierson Award
for Best Documentary Nomination - London FF,
UK, 2013.
Song from the forest
Directed by Michael Obert (97’, Germany – 2013)
An American named Louis Sarno has been living
in the jungle for 25 years, among the pygmies of
central Africa. Now he’s taking his pygmy son to
see the USA for the first time.
Award: Best Feature Length Documentary Award
- International Documentary FF of Amsterdam
(IDFA), The Netherlands, 2013.
Good ol’ Freda
Directed by Ryan White (86’, UK, USA – 2013)
A remarkably intimate portrait of the unequal
struggle of a group of young revolutionaries in
Homs, Syria, against the national army destroying
their city. The director was present at the screening.
Awards: Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary - Sundance FF, Utah, USA, 2014; Best
Documentary Feature Award - San Francisco FF,
USA, 2014; Best Feature Length Documentary
Award - Krakow FF, Poland, 2014; Cracow Students Jury Award - Krakow FF, Poland, 2014;
Emerging Artist Award - Full Frame Documentary FF, Durham, USA, 2014.
The Green Prince by Nadav Schirman
Ukraine is Not a Brothel by Kitty Green
Song from the Forest by Michael Obert
Good ol’ Freda by Ryan White
Supermensch: The legend of Sep Gordon
Directed by Mike Myers (85’, USA – 2013)
Mike Myers documents the astounding career of
Hollywood insider, the loveable Shep Gordon.
Awards: Audience Award for Best Documentary
- Sarasota FF, USA, 2014; Jury Prize Nomina-
39
This is the story of Freda Kelly, a shy teenager
asked to work for a young local band hoping to
make it big: The Beatles. Their loyal secretary,
from beginning to end, tells her story for the
first time in 50 years.
Awards: Best Documentary Feature Award Tribeca FF, New York, USA, 2014; Special Jury
Prize: Extraordinary Courage in Filmmaking Little Rock FF, Arkansas, USA, 2014.
Awards: Best Sound Editing Award Nomination - Motion Picture Sound Editors, California, USA, 2014. (Director present)
Finding Vivian Maier
Hardships and Beauties (Mitsigan)
Directed by Kimon Tsakiris (58’, Greece and
France – 2013)
Mitsos is an empirical philosopher and a farm
owner. His road trip in the heart of Greece becomes a symbolical journey into a country that
will never be the same again.
Awards: Best Documentary Award - London
Greek FF, UK, 2013; Best Music Award - London Greek FF, UK, 2013.
Point and Shoot
Directed by Marshall Curry (83’, USA – 2014)
Matthew Van Dyke left home and set off for
Libya. With a gun in one hand and a video camera in the other, he struggled to achieve political revolution — and personal transformation.
Twin Sisters by Mona Friis Bertheussen
40
Directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
(84’, UK and USA – 2014)
This intriguing documentary traces the life story
of the late Vivian Maier, one of America’s most
accomplished and insightful street photographers.
Awards: Grand Jury Prize: Knight Documentary Competition - Miami FF, USA, 2014; John
Schlesinger Award for Best Documentary Palm Springs Int’l FF, USA, 2014.
Twin sisters
Directed by Mona Friis Bertheussen (58’, Norway – 2013)
This is a story about Chinese twin sisters, who
were adopted in two completely different parts
of the world but who are bound to one another
through fate.
Awards: Audience Award - International Documentary FF of Amsterdam (IDFA), The Netherlands, 2013; Audience Award for Best Docu-
Hardships and Beauties (Mitsigan) by Kimon Tsakiris
mentary - Göteborg Int’l FF, Sweden, 2014.
Kings of the Wind and Electric Queens
Directed by Cédric Dupire and Gaspard Kuentz
(56’, France – 2014)
The Sonepur Fair in India, the largest animal
market in Asia, is an event like no other. It’s a
carnival of magical realism inhabited by exotic
dancers, exorcists and elephant tamers.
Award: Best Mid-Length Documentary Award
- Hotdocs, Toronto, Canada, 2014.
Waiting for August by Teodora Ana Mihai
Waiting for August
Directed by Teodora Ana Mihai (88’, Belgium
– 2014)
The film explores the life of 15-year-old Georgiana Halmac who lives with her six siblings in
a social housing block in Romania while their
mother is away earning a living in Italy.
Award: Best Film Award: International Feature Documentary - Hotdocs, Toronto, Canada,
2014.
Twenty feet from Stardom
The Missing Picture
Directed by Rithy Panh (90’, Cambodia and
France – 2013)
A visually astonishing, harrowing account of
Pol Pot’s Cambodia using miniature clay figures and archive footage to explore memory
and trauma.
Awards: Academy Award Nomination for Best
Foreign Language Film of the Year- OSCARS,
USA, 2014; Un Certain Regard Award - Cannes
FF, France, 2013; Grand Jury Prize: International Competition - Cinemanila Int’l FF, Philippines, 2013; Best Documentary Award Nomination - European Film Awards, Germany, 2013;
Special Mention Award - Ghent Int’l FF, Belgium, 2013; FACE Award for Best Documentary - Istanbul Int’l FF, Turkey, 2014; Best
Documentary Award - Jerusalem FF, Israel,
2013; Grierson Award for Best Documentary
Nomination - London FF, UK, 2013.
Directed by Morgan Neville (90’, USA – 2013)
Millions know their voices, but no one knows
their names. This is the untold true story of the
backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century.
Awards: Academy Award for Best Documentary - OSCARS, USA, 2014; Music Documentary Audience Award - International
Documentary FF of Amsterdam (IDFA), The
Netherlands, 2013; Best Editing Award American Cinema Editors, USA, 2014; Outstanding Documentary Award - Black Reel
Awards, Washington DC, USA, 2014; Grand
Jury Prize for Best Documentary Nomination
- Sundance FF, Utah, USA, 2014; Best Documentary Award - Seattle Int’l FF, USA, 2013;
Audience Award for Best Documentary - San
Francisco Int’l FF, USA, 2013; Best Documentary Award - Independent Spirits Awards,
Los Angeles, USA, 2014
41
6th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival
4-8 October 2014
T
he 6th International Pharos Contemporary
Music Festival opened on 4 October 2014,
at The Shoe Factory in Nicosia, with an innovative concert-concept by the Ergon Ensemble during which films of the ‘silent era’ were screened
simultaneously with the live performance of new
works, attaining therefore a new dimension, character and denotation. The concert featured
cinematic masterpieces such as Un Chien
Andalou – Luis Buñuel’s first film, written
in collaboration with the surrealist artist Salvador Dali, Joris Ivens’ Regen – a cinematic poem
on the transformation of Amsterdam by rain – and
Anemic Cinema, a Dada and Surrealist experimental film by Marcel Duchamp, which depicts
whirling animated drawings alternated with puns
and whimsical rhymes in French. It also featured
Ralph Steiner’s short film Mechanical Principles – an abstract, mesmerising look at the world
of gears, pistons, and other forms of mechanical
movement, which was set to music by the two
winners of the “Call for Works”.
The International Pharos Contemporary Music
Festival has established itself as one of the most
innovative and cutting-edge annual music events
in the Eastern Mediterranean. Under the artistic
direction of the renowned Cypriot composer,
Evis Sammoutis, the Festival is dedicated to the
promotion of new music, from the well-established
masterpieces of 20th century contemporary music
literature to new works by the younger generation
of composers, some of whom are commissioned
by the Foundation to write new pieces especially
for this occasion.
The Festival focuses on the connection of
new music and other forms of art, as well as
alternative forms of contemporary music such as
“free jazz” and electronics. Over the span of five
days, the Festival featured a number of exciting
events such as lectures, documentary screenings,
educational activities, a recital with pianist Hayk
Melikyan who returned to Cyprus to join forces
42
with the fascinating violinist Hugo Ticciati, and
it concluded on 8 October with Soundspaces – A
concert of live electronics, improvisation and free
jazz by Johannes Schwarz (bassoon) and Sascha
Armbruster (saxophone). The concert took place
on the roof-garden of The Shoe Factory, which
was transformed for the first time into an exclusive
open-air concert platform where the audience was
able to enjoy an extraordinary, unconventional
musical experience in a leisurely setting with a
glass of wine.
An enchanting process
According to Alexandros Mouzas, artistic director
of the Ergon Ensemble, setting music to silent
films is an enchanting process for composers and
audience alike: For the composers because they
discover a new ground – beyond “Absolute Music”
– that is conducive for experimentation, expression
and interaction, and for the viewers because they are
given the opportunity to experience a new way of
enjoying these classic films. Particularly in films
which do not involve a conventional storyline,
a linear narrative or actors who can express
themselves through speech, the perspective of the
co-creator composer is suggestive of new ways
of interpretation. The concert presents cinematic
milestones of the silent era – films that influenced
the industry’s later course. Stylistically, these films
OST DOCUMENTARY - Screening 5 Oct
43
shift between the vague boundaries of Abstract
Art, Dadaism and Surrealism, while at the same
time, through a cinematic, photographic, poetic and
musical dialogue, the viewers uncover the interesting
partnerships of leading masters: Ivens with Eisler in
Regen, Dali with Buñuel in Un Chien Andalou.
Un Chien Andalou
The short silent film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador
Dali is an illustrative example of the Surrealist
cinematic expression. Inspired by the dreams of its
creators, the film features a series of phenomenally
loose scenes, which in Freudian theories have
often been interpreted as allegories. The script was
completed in approximately ten days while the
shooting of the film was finalised in around two
weeks. The first public screening of Un Chien
Andalou took place in Paris’ Studio des Ursulines
and it was attended by a number of illustrious
artists. According to Buñuel, his only condition
with regards to his collaboration with Dali was
that the script would not contain any image or idea
that could call for logical interpretation. “Nothing,
in the film, symbolises anything. The only method
of investigating the symbols would be, perhaps,
psychoanalysis. Beyond any symbolism, we were
looking for a way to balance the rational with the
irrational so that we could better comprehend the
unspeakable and unite the dream with reality, the
consciousness with the unconsciousness,” said
Buñuel.
Regen
Joris Ivens’ Regen (Rain) belongs to the filmic
tradition of City Symphony, such as Berlin:
Symphony of a City and Man with a Movie
Camera. This exceptionally striking and poetic
film, which established Ivens internationally as
one of the most important filmmakers of the 20th
century, describes the way in which Amsterdam is
transformed on a rainy day: From the sunny streets
to the worsening weather conditions; the first
Ergon Ensemble - Silent Films & Music
raindrops falling into the water canals, the rain
drenched windows, sunshades, trams and streets,
until the sky gradually clears and the sun comes
out again. The film, which could be regarded as
a documentary, does not concentrate on specific
characters but on the city as a whole.
Anemic Cinema
Un Chien Andalou
Visual artist Marcel Duchamp collaborated
with Man Ray on the experimental film Anemic
Cinema. The film consists of abstract spiralrotating images which give the illusion of a threedimensional motion. They are combined with nine
rhymes-puns attached to black cardboard discs,
which are spinning with the aid of a gramophone.
This Dada and Surrealist film aimed to minimise
its content to just literary and visual footage (the
word Anemic is an anagram of the word Cinema).
Mechanical Principles
Alexandros Mouzas
44
Regen
Ralph Steiner was an American photographer,
pioneer documentarian and a key figure among
avant-garde filmmakers in the 1930s. His still
photographs are notable for their odd angles,
abstraction and sometimes bizarre subject matter,
while his experimental films are considered
central to the literature of early American avantgarde cinema. Shot in 1930, his film Mechanical
Principles is an abstract, mesmerising look at
the world of gears, pistons, and other forms of
mechanical movement. The film has often been
set to music – and with the right soundtrack the
end result is remarkably balletic, transcendental
and mystifying.
Ergon Ensemble
(under conductor Andreas Tselikas)
For the past 6 years, the Ergon Ensemble – an
ensemble specialising in contemporary music
– has regularly appeared in the most important
concert venues and festivals in Athens, such as the
Megaron, the Hellenic Festival and the Onassis
Cultural Centre, enjoying great critical and
audience acclaim. One of the leading contemporary
music ensembles in Greece, Ergon’s mission is
to promote, through its virtuosic performances
and ambitious programming, contemporary
masterpieces, particularly the most recent works
of Greek and foreign composers.
45
Films of the ‘silent era’ were screened simultaneously with the live performance of new works
As an Athens-based ensemble with the advantage
of direct access to the contemporary compositions
by Greek composers, the Ensemble’s ultimate aim
is the endorsement of Greek musical creation on
the international music scene.
Founded in 2008, Ergon is based on a core
formation of soloists and is joined by talented
artists specialised in new music, shaping therefore
a flexible musical ensemble of immense versatility.
Its members comprise some of the most talented
young musicians of our time, all participants of
the International Ensemble Modern Academy.
The musicians of Ergon come from a wide variety
of academic and professional backgrounds,
but share a mutual love for the performance of
contemporary music and a great commitment to
performing excellence.
Apart from their regular concerts, their key
activities include CD recordings, educational
activities and inter-disciplinary collaborations,
which combine various forms of performing arts
such as Dance, Music Theatre and Multimedia.
The Ergon Ensemble works in close collaboration
with the Ensemble Modern, and it is supported
46
and guided by the knowledge and the valuable
experience of the world-leading ensemble of new
music. For 2013-2014, the Ergon Ensemble has
the friendly support of the Ernst von Siemens
Music Foundation. Artistic coordination:
Alexandros Mouzas.
Film music: From the silent era
to the coming of sound
Alexandros Mouzas, Artistic Director of the
Ergon Ensemble, tracked the history of film music
– from its early beginnings to recent days – the
methods and practices of producing film music,
as well as the secrets in shaping a language that
directly communicates with the viewer, presented
in a lecture at The Shoe Factory on 5 October. The
lecture, which also featured rare cinematic and
photographic footage, was given in Greek and
lasted approximately two hours.
Alexandros Mouzas studied composition with
Theodore Antoniou, advanced theory with Haris
Xanthoudakis and electronic music with Dimitris
Kamarotos. He has composed for various
ensembles and has received many commissions
from organisations and orchestras, including:
The education programme S-[cool]-life (2014),
film scores for Len Lye’s Tusalava (2012) and
Alan Schneider’s Film (2012), Asma Asmaton
(2008), Struwwelpeter (2004), Trisha Never Left
Home (1999) by the Athens Megaron; CamMedia (2009) by the Athens Camerata (the
Friends of Music Orchestra); film score for Luis
Buñuel’s Un chien Andalou (2013) by the Ergon
Ensemble; Stones of Destiny (2010), Giant with
the Red Boots (2010), Trisevgeni (2008) by the
Orchestra of Colours; Monologue (2001) by Alea
III, Boston; Prima Materia (1996) by the Greek
National Radio.
Many of his works have also been performed
by the Athens State Orchestra, the Orchestra of
Patras, and the Kyiv Classic Orchestra, amongst
others. Alexandros Mouzas has collaborated with
the choreographer Konstantinos Michos and the
‘Lathos Kinissi’ dance group in many productions,
among them Trisha Never Left Home, Days of
Vironas, Papageno and Calamity till the Dawn, as
well as the Airesis Dance Company.
His professional activities include image-related
music. He has written original music for short films,
television series, documentaries and commercials
for the majority of the Greek television channels.
In 2003, he was the Artistic Director of the Greek
Section of the European programme “New Media
Edge Project”, and in 2004, he was commissioned
by the Athens 2004 Organising Committee, to
compose original music for the Athens Olympic
Games corporate videos. His recent professional
activities include production management of
various important CD releases of Greek orchestral
music. He is the manager and founding member of
the Ergon Ensemble, he runs his own production
company, Anax – Cultural Projects, and he
teaches music technology and Film music at top
schools in Athens.
Alexandros Mouzas has conceived and
coordinated the educational programmes Cammedia and S-[cool]-life for high school students,
and he has been coordinating the Festival of Sacred
Music of Patmos since 2009, and productions such
as Tribute to Iannis Xenakis (Athens Festival),
Peter Maxwell Davies: Icones (Megaron-The
Athens Concert Hall) and Silent Films and Music
(Michalis Cacoyannis Foundation and Megaron –
The Athens Concert Hall). His latest music-theatre
piece, City Lives, was presented at the Athens
Megaron in May 2014.
Mouzas is a member of the Greek Composers’
Union and was the Treasurer of its Board of
Directors during the period 1998-2012. His CD
Music for an imaginary film, with orchestral works
performed by the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra,
was released by NAXOS.
Documentary Ost-Original Soundtrack
Ost-Original Soundtrack: “A documentary film
about music in the motion pictures” screened at
The Shoe Factory on 5 October. The documentary
is an independent production by Fanis Logothetis
and Spiros Andreadis, a collective effort to pay
tribute to those who inspired us to the creation
of what we call today, original soundtrack. The
mission of the documentary is to acquaint the
audience with a form of art that is fundamental
in the film industry, yet invisible and relatively
unknown to the general public.
Ost-Original Soundtrack tracks the path which
the pioneers of creativity and inspiration engrave
through the magical world of music and the
movies. Their personal experiences, knowledge
and opinions guide us step by step through the
cinematic process.
The documentary features interviews with a
number of renowned film composers from Greece
and abroad, such as Nicola Piovani (especially
known for his Oscar winning score to Roberto
Benigni film La Vita è Bella) and Trevor Jones
(famous for his original film scores to films such
as The Last of the Mohicans, Mississippi Burning,
Runaway Train, Notting Hill and In the Name of
the Father), as well as artists from other faculties
who give us their very own perspective on the
issue of film music.
From Contemporary classics to new music
Violin and piano recital with Hugo Ticciati and
Hayk Melikyan
Recognised internationally as one of the most
versatile and imaginative performers of the 20th
47
century and Contemporary Music, and among
today’s most engaging virtuoso pianists, Hayk
Melikyan returned to Cyprus to join forces with
the fascinating violinist Hugo Ticciati, who has
been described by the great Arvo Pärt as “an
artist who has a rare ability to convey a profound
understanding of the music and shed light on its
spiritual intent.”
The recital on 6 October included a number of
contemporary classics by composers such as
Olivier Messiaen, Witold Roman Lutoslawski,
Arvo Pärt and Toru Takemitsu, interspersed with
works by the younger generation of internationally
renowned composers such as Evis Sammoutis,
Vito Zuraj, Esaias Järnegard and Albert Schnelzer.
The story of the genesis of Olivier Messiaen’s
Quartet for the End of Time (1941) is widely
known and often repeated. But what is often
ignored in the telling is the remarkable nature
of what was produced, given what one would
have expected in the circumstances. Born in
the midst of war, death, frost and famine, the
Quartet, though explicitly apocalyptic, is not a
fiery Requiem, striving to translate divine wrath,
but rather an intensely devotional, transcendent
composition, that reaches a realm in which
such worldly troubles matter little, or not at all.
Played in the chilly night for the prisoners and the
Programme
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Louange à
l’immortalité de Jésus from the Quartet for the
End of Time (1941)
Esaias Järnegard (b. 1983): Stretto (2010)
Albert Schnelzer (b. 1972): Solitude (1999)
Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994): Partita
(1984)
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935): Fratres (1977)
Vito Zuraj (b.1979): Tango (2000)
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996): Rain Tree
Sketches II (1992)
Evis Sammoutis (b. 1979): Prelude (2002)
Albert Schnelzer (b. 1972): Apollonian Dances
(2003)
48
German guards, Messiaen’s meditative chamber
suite was received with rapt silence: “Never
have I been heard with as much attention and
understanding,” he later recalled. So impressed
was his guard patron that Messiaen was smuggled
back to Paris to continue his work. It comes as
little surprise, for the Quartet is one of the most
remarkable compositions of the 20th century. A
deeply committed Catholic, Messiaen composed,
not a lament of war or death, or a bitter strike
at oppression, but instead a paean to the world
beyond (and above) of transcendence, redemption,
and even, of joy. Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketches
II (1992) was composed as a memorial piece for
Messiaen, who was a strong influence on the
composer. He had composed several pieces based
on Kenzaburo Oe’s short stories about the rain
tree, whose many small curved leaves trap the
rainfall then release the water to the ground over a
time long after the rain has ceased. “An ingenious
tree, isn’t it?” asks the story. The work is French
in sound, somewhere between Messiaen and
Achille-Claude Debussy in harmonic language.
The short piece is one of the most joyful and
accessible pieces Takemitsu has written. It was
also his last piano piece.
Witold Lutoslawski’s fame rose to international
stardom after the Second World War and the
premiere of his First Symphony in 1948. He
composed his Partita for Violin and Piano in the
autumn of 1984 for Pinchas Zuckerman and Marc
Neikrug at the request of The Saint Paul Chamber
Orchestra. Consisting of five movements, three of
which give the impression that they rhythmically
belong to the tradition of the Baroque keyboard
music, the Partita is nevertheless quite groundbreaking in terms of its harmonic and melodic
material. Regarding his choice of title, Lutoslawski
has explained: “The word ‘partita’, as used by
(Johann Sebastian) Bach to denominate some of
his suite-like works, appears here to point out a
few allusions to Baroque music, for example at the
beginning of the first movement, the main theme
of the Largo, and the gigue-like Finale.”
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) is an Estonian composer, often
identified with the school of minimalism, though he
rejects this label (and, even more vehemently, the
label of “holy minimalism”, which he describes as
Hugo Ticciati & Hayk Melikyan
meaningless). He composed Fratres, originally for
string quintet and wind quintet, in 1977 for Hortus
Musicus, an early-music ensemble in Tallinn.
The title refers to the fraternal spirit of the Hortus
Musicus. In the decades since then he has written
versions of this popular piece for many different
combinations: wind octet and percussion, strings
and percussion, and string quartet; and versions in
which violin, cello or guitar take a solo role.
Hugo Ticciati
“Hugo has a rare ability to convey a profound
understanding of the music and shed light on its
spiritual intent.” —Arvo Pärt
Hugo Ticciati is an exceptional violinist with
a uniquely intellectual approach to his work,
incorporating aspects of literature, philosophy,
spirituality and meditation. Since his debut at the
age of twelve, Hugo has performed concertos with
orchestras in Britain, Sweden, Romania, Japan,
Korea, North America and Estonia, and collected
numerous international prizes.
Ticciati embraces the world of contemporary
music, collaborating with composers such as
Sven-David Sandström, Albert Schnelzer, and
Anders Hillborg, among others. In the coming
seasons he will be performing world premières of
concertos dedicated to him in Europe, Asia, and
North and South America. He also loves devising
concerts and events that combine music with
the other arts, notably dance and literature. He is
currently working with the English composer Bill
Connor on An Improvised Violin Concerto. Last
season’s highlights included concertos by Bach,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sergei Sergeyevich
Prokofiev, Alfred Schnittke, Karl Amadeus
Hartmann, Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin,
Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla, Lera Auerbach, Philip
Morris Glass, Lutoslawski and Takemitsu, and
world premieres of concertos by Tobias Broström,
Sergey N. Evtushenko and Schnelzer in venues
including Carnegie Hall, Mariinsky Theatre
Concert Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall and
Cadogan Hall (London). Next season features
tours in China and the USA with his own string
orchestra, a series of concerts at the Muziekgebouw
aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam and a weekend of concerts
at the Wigmore Hall.
Hugo Ticciati has a passion for chamber music
and gives regular recitals at prestigious halls across
Europe and the Far East, collaborating with artists
such as Anne-Sofie von Otter, Steven Isserlis,
Angela Hewitt, Evelyn Glennie, Michael Collins,
Torleif Thedéen, Leslie Howard, Staffan Scheja,
Michael Tsalka and Henrik Måwe. He is also
regularly invited to renowned music festivals such
49
as The Baltic Sea Festival (Sweden), Hermitage
Music Festival (St Petersburg), Saint-Denis
Festival (Paris), Cervantino (Mexico), Edinburgh
Festival (England), Gotland Chamber Music
Festival (Sweden). Hugo is the artistic director
of his own festival O/MODƏRNT at Ulrikdals
Palace Theatre Confidencen, Stockholm, and a
string festival in Kazan, Russia.
has produced a number of piano solo, chamber,
instrumental, vocal and symphonic works.
His piano transcriptions, concert paraphrases
and arrangements are among the favourite in
repertoires of many pianists worldwide. Hayk
Melikyan has earned a reputation as one of the
most creative improvisators by world audiences,
which adds an unusual value to his recitals.
Hayk Melikyan
“I am very grateful to Hayk Melikyan that he took
the risk of creating that piece…” –György Kurtág
Hayk Melikyan is recognised internationally as one
of the most versatile and imaginative performers
of 20th century contemporary music and among
today’s most engaging virtuoso pianists. His
international concert debut took place at the
“Concerto di Concerti” International Festival of
the 20th Century Music in Rome in 2000. He leads
an active concert life, playing throughout Europe,
Asia and the Americas.
After having won the 2nd Prize in the International
Piano Competition of the 20th Century and
Contemporary Music “Premio Valentino Bucchi”
in Rome in 2000, he included contemporary music
as the leading part of his concert programmes. In
2012, Hayk Melikyan was awarded a Gold Medal by
the Moscow Composers Union for his contribution
to and promotion of World Contemporary Music,
while in 2013, he was awarded the Title of an
Honorary Artist of the Republic of Armenia. He
is the first performer of numerous works by many
composers of our time and dozens of pieces were
especially composed for him.
In 2009, Melikyan initiated the Concert Series
1900+, which promotes piano music of
composers born after 1900. Several solo albums
by Hayk Melikyan have been released since
2007 and in 2014 his solo album was released by
Naxos. Hayk Melikyan conducts master-classes
on contemporary music across the globe and is
regularly invited to perform at music festivals such
as Festival de Valmagne and Festival de Musique
en Côte de Nacre (France), Festival O/MODƏRNT
(Sweden), the Geneva Piano Festival, the Warsaw
Royal Arcades of Art Festival, and the Nuovi Spazi
Musicali Festival (Italy). As a composer, Melikyan
Talk by Joanna Jones: Living One’s Practice:
Performing One’s Work
For an artist, to live one’s practice, to live in a
way that perfectly brings together art and life, is
to pursue a Utopian project and at the same time
constantly question whether and how this can be
achieved. This is according to visual artist Joanna
Jones, who held a talk at The Shoe Factory on
7 October. The talk aimed to show how such a
project might be envisaged through the experience
of grassroots cultural activism combined with a
more strategic approach to influencing cultural
policy and embedding the arts in a town with little
experience and considerable scepticism towards
contemporary art practice, particularly publiclyfunded arts projects.
Joanna Jones lives and works in Dover. After
studying painting at The Byam Shaw School
and the Royal Academy Schools, she spent over
twenty years in Germany developing her practice
and exhibiting internationally. She returned to the
UK in 1997 and in 2001, was the recipient of an
Arts Council Year of the Artist award for a light
projection on the cliffs at Samphire Hoe in Kent.
Over several decades, Jones’ work has evolved
as part of an intense emotional and intellectual
process of self-discovery and unveiling. Her work
encompasses performance and painting. In 2006,
she extended her practice in the public realm,
founding and developing (DAD) Dover Arts
Development with artist Clare Smith.
50
War and Peace: The Film
Dover Arts Development (DAD) commissioned
Dominic de Vere, the director of War and Peace:
The Film, to make a “project film” from the
many strands of their 18-month War & Peace
programme, asking him to make a piece of work
Re-veil-le
that was both documentation and a work in its own
right. The resulting 30-minute film, an intelligent
response to the brief as well as a fascinating
new piece of work by the artist/film-maker, was
screened at The Shoe Factory on 7 October.
“The Earth, like the body of an animal, is wasted
at the same time as it is repaired. It has a state of
growth and augmentation; it has another state,
which is that of diminution and decay. This world
is thus destroyed in one part, but is renewed in
another. From the top of the mountain to the shore
of the sea, which are the two extremities of our land,
everything is in a state of change; the rock and
solid strath dissolving, breaking and decomposing,
for the purpose of becoming soil; the soil travelling
along the surface of the earth, on its way to the
shore; and the shore wearing and wasting by the
agitation of the sea, an agitation which is essential
to the purposes of a living world.” –James Hutton
Re-veil-le
In Re-veil-le, the journey of visual artist Joanna
Jones’ new painting is unveiled in a 19-minute film
in symbiosis with Mihailo Trandafilovski’s Diptych
Violin Concerto No. 2. “I decided to make a painting
for Dover that would, at the same time, be a metaphor
for history and change. Out of a series of photographs
– documenting a painting evolving over 42 painting
sessions – I made a film,” said Joanna Jones. The
paintings’ development compositionally parallels
the composition of Trandafilovski’s Diptych Violin
Concerto, both art forms working in synergy with
each other. There is no finished painting as the final
painted canvas was cut into 324 pieces, a piece of
which was given to each audience member at the
War and Peace Grand Finale Concert premiere
on 11 October 2013 at Dover Town Hall. It was
performed by Longbow under the direction of Peter
Sheppard Skaerved.
51
Varese’s sirens, (George) Antheil’s airplane
propeller, (John) Cage’s radio, and rock and
roll’s use of all of the above and more starting
at least in the 1970s, and more recently in rap
music, the desire to include everyday sounds
in music has been growing. The sampling
keyboard now makes this a practical reality.
In City Life not only samples of speech but
also car horns, door slam, air brakes, subway
chimes, pile driver, car alarms, heartbeats,
boat horns, buoys, fire and police sirens are
part of the fabric of the piece.”
Soundscapes
City Life: The Documentary
Manfred Waffender’s City Life: The
documentary was screened on 7 October. The
documentary is dedicated to Steve Reich (b.
1936), one of the most significant American
composers of the 20th century. Waffender’s
major documentary traces the background
to the creation of his piece City Life. Reich
masterfully captures sounds from New York
City street life with the aid of two sampling
keyboards and microphone, forging the noise
of the city street into a work for string quartet,
wind, percussion and two pianos. The film
culminates in a performance of the piece from
the Frankfurt Opera House, with the Ensemble
Modern conducted by Sian Edwards.
Reich said about City Life: “The idea that
any sound may be used as part of a piece of
music has been in the air during much of the
20th Century. From the use of taxi horns in
(George) Gershwin’s An American in Paris
through (Edgard Victor Achille Charles)
52
An open-air concert of live electronics,
improvisation and free jazz
The 6th International Pharos Contemporary
Music Festival wrapped with an open-air
concert of live electronics, improvisation and
free jazz by Soundscapes – a fascinating duo
programme with Johannes Schwarz (bassoon)
and Sascha Armbruster (saxophone), who were
joined by sound-engineer Sebastian Schottke.
The concert took place on the roof garden of
The Shoe Factory on 8 October 2014, in an
amazing symbiosis between the natural world of
sound and electronics in a leisurely setting with
refreshments. The concert was co-organised
with the Goethe-Institut Zypern in Cyprus.
Soundscapes
Soundspaces is a fascinating project for bassoon,
saxophone and electronics formed by Johannes
Schwarz (bassoon) and Sascha Armbruster
(saxophone). The genesis of Soundspaces
has its roots in the common background of
the two musicians. Both Johannes and Sacha
have performed and interpreted pieces in their
solo programmes, which have been highly
influenced by the use of synthesised music,
therefore they decided to join forces and
integrate electronic music as the central theme
of their programme. The high standard and
freshness of Soundspaces is enhanced by the
inclusion of live-electronic and live-sampling
straight into the live improvisations. The
electronic sound-system of Soundspaces was
exclusively developed at the ZKM in Karlsruhe
and the ICST (Institute for Computer Music
and Sound Technology in Zürich).
Johannes Schwarz (bassoon) has been a
member of the Ensemble Modern since 2003,
and the artistic leader of the Ensemble Modern
Academy, coordinating all educational projects
of Ensemble Modern, since 2013. Apart
from regularly performing in renowned radio
and symphony orchestras, he performed for
several years in baroque ensembles on original
instruments, and has appeared with radio
big bands as well as various improvisation
ensembles. His CD productions feature works
for solo bassoon premiered by him as well as
classical and baroque music, but also a number
of arrangements.
After winning the “Premier prix à l’ Unanimité”
at the Conservatoire de Paris where he studied
with Claude Delangle, Sascha Armbruster
(saxophone) decided to specialise in
contemporary music. His concert-activities as a
soloist and with chamber groups have brought
him to famous festivals in Japan, the US and all
over Europe, and he has appeared with leading
contemporary ensembles such as the Ensemble
Modern, Ensemble Recherche and Klangforum
Wien. He is the founder and member of the
ARTE Quartett, and since 2011, he has been
tutor at the Conservatory of Lucerne.
Sebastian Schottke studied sound engineering
and music production at the University of
Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, and won
a scholarship to the International Ensemble
Modern Academy in Frankfurt / Main. His
intensive activities (in concert and studio) in
the field of contemporary music led him to
collaborations as a sound director with numerous
composers, ensembles and dance companies
at festivals such as the Avignon Festival, the
Edinburgh Festival, the Ruhrtriennale, the
Munich Biennale, the Beethovenfest Bonn,
Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival,
Wien Modern and the Modern Academy
Concert Series in Hong Kong. Since 2008,
Sebastian Schottke has worked as a sound
engineer for the ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und
Medientechnologie) in Karlsruhe.
Events marking the 6th
International Pharos
Contemporary Music Festival
4 October: Educational Workshop for young
composers and students of Media – Ergon
Ensemble and Alexandros Mouzas
4 October: Concert Silent Films and Music –
Ergon Ensemble, Andreas Tselikas (Conductor)
5 October: Master Class for young pianists
and violinists – Hayk Melikiyan (piano) and
Hugo Ticciati (violin)
5 October: Lecture Film music: from the
silent era to the coming of sound – Alexandros
Mouzas (Artistic Director of the Ergon
Ensemble)
5 October: Screening Ost-original Soundtrack:
“A documentary film about music in the motion
pictures” – Director Fanis Logothetis
6 October: Educational concert for secondary
education students – Hayk Malikiyan (piano)
and Hugo Ticciati (violin)
6 October: Violin and piano recital with works
by Messiaen, Lutoslavski, Pärt, Takemitsu,
Evis Sammoutis, Vito Zuraj, Esaias Järnegard
and Albert Schnelzer – Hayk Melikiyan (piano)
and Hugo Ticciati (violin)
7 October: Screening of two short films:
Re-Veil-Le and War and Peace: The Film –
Director Dominic De Vere
7 October: Living One’s Practice: Performing
One’s work – Talk by Joanna Jones (visual
artist)
7 October: Screening Steve Reich: City Life “A
documentary” – Director Manfred Waffender
8 October: An open-air concert of live
electronics, improvisation & free jazz –
Soundscapes (Johannes Schwarz on bassoon
and Sacha Armbruster on saxophone)
All events take place at the Shoe Factory in
Nicosia.
53
George Philippou Pierides
Workshop to mark the 100th anniversary of his birthday
A
workshop was organised on 13 June 2014 to
mark the 110th anniversary of the late Cypriot
writer Georgios Philippou Pierides’ birthday.
The workshop, organised by the Cultural Services
of the Ministry of Education and Culture in
cooperation with the University of Cyprus’
Petronda Institute of Modern Greek, took a look
back at Georgios Philippou Pierides’ wealth of
contribution to the field of Letters.
The writer is most celebrated for his compilation of
short stories entitled: Tetralogy of the Times, which
provides a chronological overview of the events
leading up to the Turkish invasion and occupation
of the island, and beyond. Times Immovable deals
with the period before the 1955 Greek Cypriot
uprising; Times of Difficulty looks at the period
between 1955 and 1959, while Times of Affluence
refers to the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus
(1960-1974). The final piece of the puzzle, Times of
Suffering, examines the reactions and experiences
that resulted from the 1974 coup and invasion.
Among others, the writer was honoured with
the State Prize for his overall contribution to
Letters in 1982; the 1994 Award for Excellence in
Letters and Arts; and in 1996, he was proclaimed
Honorary Doctorate of the University of Cyprus’
Department of Classics and Philosophy.
The gathering was addressed by the Minister of
Education and Culture, Costas Kadis, University
of Cyprus’ Rector Constantinos Christofides and
Senate Member of the Department of Classics
and Philosophy Michalis Pieris, and the Head of
the University’s Department of Byzantine and
Modern Greek Studies, Pantelis Voutouris.
Participants presented and discussed publications by
academics and eminent scholars, who have studied
and analysed George Philippou Pierides’ work.
The books and write-ups were Michalis Pieris’
Stigmes me ton G. P. Pieridi (Moments with G. P.
Pierides); Maha Salem’s H egypiaki empiria tou
G. P. Pieridi (G. P. Pierides’ Egyptian experience);
Manolis Maragoulis’ O Ellinas “mikros lefkos”
54
George Philippou Pierides
ke ta “paidia tis gis ta vasanismena” in George
Philippou Pierides’ Vamvakarides (The “little
white” Greek and the “tortured children of the land”
in George Philippou Pierides’ book Vamvakarides);
the book Eikones tis Egyptou sto ergo tou G. P.
Pieridi (Pictures of Egypt in G. P. Pierides’ work),
by Mostafa Hakim Refai; G. P. Pierides and F. M.
Dostoevsky by Zorka Sljivancanin; and Skliri Keri
(Tough Times) by Pantelis Voutouris.
About George Philippou Pierides
George Philippou Pierides was born in the Nicosia
suburb of Dali in 1904, to parents who had migrated
to Cairo a few years earlier. His childhood and
teenage years were spent in Egypt at the peak of
Greek colonisation; before it received a massive
blow in 1937, when the Montreux Convention
came and cancelled all the privileges enjoyed by
Europeans in Egypt.
He went on to experience the country’s social
and national battles, including both World Wars,
the country’s limited independence and the Greek
colony’s political, intellectual and social quests.
Graduating from high school in 1922 – the year
of the Asia Minor Disaster – George Philippou
Pierides was recruited at a cotton company, which
allowed him the opportunity to travel around Egypt
and become acquainted with its peoples’ anguishes.
At around the same time, he started becoming
interested in literature, mainly reading, while he
became a member of a group of Greek intellectuals
in Cairo, comprising, among others, his brother, the
poet Thodosis Pierides, writer Stratis Tsirkas and
director and writer Nicos Nicolaides.
As fascism swept through Europe, he joined the
colony’s anti-fascist organisations, while two of
his younger brothers were deployed to fight in
World War II just as the Government of Greece
transferred its headquarters to Egypt. It was
George Philippou Pierides’ business meetings in
villages of the Egyptian south that led to his first
literary work, The Cotton Growers, which he
began writing in 1942 after being prompted by
the “Horizons” publishing company. “Horizons”
was established at the time by the magazine
Ellin, which was run by intellectual comrades
of the author. It was the first literature ever to be
published by an Egyptian Greek, which spoke
about the Egyptian people, and in that sense, it
is considered a landmark in the Greek literature
of Egypt, as according to the author himself, the
Greek colony and its intellectual members “were
kind of like a small society, enclosed and nested in
the country that hosted it, almost without contact
with the people of this country”.
In the midst of writing his first book, George
Philppou Pierides published a booklet entitled:
Stalingrad – one battle four months, alongside
a Greek translation of the German novel
Concentration Camp, based on the camps where
Nazis tortured and killed thousands of people.
The Cotton Growers was published in 1945 and
welcomed by critics. The writer’s “Cyprus era”
began a year later, after he decided to leave Egypt
and come to the island. He set up home in Varosha,
Famagusta, where he began cultivating his own
orange tree orchard.
In 1949 he published the volume Short stories
from the Middle East and by 1954, he took charge
of the Famagusta Public Library, which he ran
until his retirement in 1971, turning it into the
town’s intellectual centre.
In 1963, his short story compilation Times of
Difficulty was published by Kedros publications
in Athens, followed by Times Immovable in 1966.
After retiring, George Philippou Pierides started
working at the Faneromeni Library and by
1973 he was elected a Member of the Hellenic
Authors Society.
The establishment of the Union of Cyprus
Writers followed in 1978, with Pierides elected
as its first president. A year later he published
Times of Suffering, which won the State Prize for
Essay/Study in 1981. The Tetralogy of the Times
was published by the Bank of Cyprus Cultural
Foundation in Athens in 1989.
George Philippou Pierides passed away in 1999
and countless literary magazines in Cyprus and
Greece paid homage to a great Cypriot writer,
whose work lives on by being included in the
Cypriot educational curriculum.
From left to right: the Director of the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education
and Culture, Pavlos Paraskevas; House of Representatives MP Prodromos Prodromou
(DISY); University of Cyprus’ Rector Constantinos Christofides; and Minister of
Education and Culture, Costas Kadis.
Manolis Maragoulis
55
Painting the Divine
A
n icon-exhibition entitled: Painting the Divine: Trends and influences in church painting of Cyprus during the 19th and 20th century and
the role of the Modern Greek state was inaugurated at the Palace of the Old Archbishopric, which
houses the Society of Cypriot Studies (opposite
the Pancyprian Gymnasium), on 1 July 2014.
The exhibition, which ran until 25 October, was
organised by the Society of Cypriot Studies and
the Cyprus Committee for Byzantine Studies, in
collaboration with the Embassy of Greece in Cyprus and with the support of the Leventis Scholars
Association (Cyprus) to mark the completion of
the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The exhibition was inaugurated by the President of
the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades – who
also addressed the gathering – as well as a number
of other state officials and public personalities, including House of Representatives President Yian-
nakis Omirou and the Minister of Education and
Culture, Costas Kadis.
The icon-exhibition explored the relations between the newly-founded Greek state (1830) and
Cyprus under British rule in the field of painting.
The westernised style of painting that was adopted
by what was then referred to as the “Kingdom of
Greece” spread to Mount Athos and then on to the
British-held island. In the eyes of Cypriots, the
westernised painting was held as a new artisan
stream connected to the Greek state. Therefore,
by adopting this style of painting, the Cypriots
felt closer to independent Greece and were symbolically expressing their desire for liberation and
union with the Greek mainland. The new pictorial
trend was widespread all over Cyprus from the
monastic workshops of Stavrovouni, Agios Georgios Alamanou, Trooditissa and Agios Varnavas,
to Cypriots who studied in Athens and non-Cypriot Greeks who were invited to the island.
A view of the exhibition
Book cover - Painting the Divine
(From left to right) Dr Charalambos Chotzakoglou, Director of the Society of Cypriot Studies; the wife of Greek Ambassador in Cyprus
Vasilios Papaioannou and the Ambassador himself; the Minister of Defence, Christoforos Fokaides; the President of the Republic of
Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades; Metropolitan Timotheos (Margaritis) of Bostra; House of Representatives President Yiannakis Omirou; Dr
Ioannis Eliades, Director presso of the Byzantine Museum; and Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Kyprianou.
56
Icon exhibits
Some 100 works exhibited
The exhibition included approximately 100 works
of clerical and secular painters, drawings, patterns,
studies and sketches, as well as items of religious
folk art, where the history of art of the 19th and 20th
century in Greece is reflected. The exhibition displayed works by the artists Paul Pavlides, Vasilis
Michaelides, Adamantios Diamantis, Otto Giannopoulos, Ioannes, Andreas Chrysochos, Panaretos Kousoulides, Nicholas Kounelakes, Michael
Christodoulides, Ioannis Kissonergis, Solomos
Frangoullides, Nicos Nicolaides, Gabriel Theocharides, Ioannikios Mavropoulos, father Kallinikos Stavrovouniotis and modern hagiographer
Matthaios Matthaiou, as well as works of hagiographical workshops of the monasteries Stavro-
vouni, Agios Georgios Alamanou, Trooditissa and
Agios Varnavas (today under Turkish occupation),
workshops of the Holy Mount Athos and Russia.
Curators of the exhibition were Dr Charalambos
Chotzakoglou and Dr Ioannis Eliades. The exhibition reflected the cooperation of a plethora of
institutions and individuals, who offered exhibits,
such as the State Gallery of Contemporary Art,
the Byzantine Museum and Art Gallery of Archbishop Makarios III. Foundation, Kallinikeion
Municipal Museum of Athienou, the churches of
the Holy Virgin in Agros, Agia Varvara in Kaimakli, Agios Antonios in Nicosia, The Holy Cross
in Omodos, Transfiguration of Christ in Larnaka,
Archangel Michael Trypiotis in Nicosia, Holy Virgin Hodegetria in Galata, Agios Ioannis of Vaft57
istis in Nicosia and others, including Diamanti’ s
Family, Helena and Nikos Elioti. The exhibition
also included repatriated icons from the TurkishOccupied Areas of Cyprus.
The exhibition was accompanied by an illustrated
catalogue of 280 pages with scientific texts, detailed entries of exhibited works and a rich photographic appendix under the scientific supervision
of Dr Charalambos Chotzakoglou.
Addressing the exhibition’s opening, Dr Chotzakoglou pointed out that this year’s takeover of
the Greek Presidency of the EU, for the fifth time
since joining the European Union, coincided with
two historic anniversaries: The completion of 180
years since the declaration of Athens as the capital
of the modern Greek state, and the 10th anniversary
of Cyprus’ accession to the European Union. “The
19th century liberated Athens city from Ottoman
rule, has acted as a lighthouse towards Hellenism
in Cyprus, whereas the accession of Cyprus into
the European Union has acted as a cut-off landmark in the history of the two countries,” he said.
In a bid to highlight the relations between
Cyprus and mainland Greece, the exhibition
explored two time-periods, during which the
Cypriot and Greek administrations were under
the “guardianship” of Western powers; namely
Britain and Bavaria respectively.
Tasos Mitsopoulos, a friend
and promoter of Culture
Before stepping down, Dr Chotzakoglou paid
tribute “to a friend of the Society, and promoter of
Culture and the great spirit of Hellenism, who is
unfortunately no longer among us – the late Tasos
Mitsopoulos, who passed away on 15 March this
year, after suffering a brain haemorrhage and heart
attack that left him in an irreversible condition.
The exhibition’s inauguration night marked the
100th day since the young, former Defence Minister’s death. “His last visit to the Society of Cypriot
Studies was a few months ago, when participating in our Scientific Symposium ‘Cyprus-Russia’,
co-organised with the Russian Embassy and the
Russian Cultural Centre, during which he read his
profound address and imparted several political
and cultural meanings.”
Dr Charalambos Chotzakoglou, Director of the Society of Cypriot Studies, takes guests on a tour of the icon-exhibition, on opening night
58
Summer Music Academy
“The aim of this exhibition is to explore attitudes
and spontaneous feelings of common people, towards the imposed separation of Cyprus from the
Greek mainland, as expressed through the religious art,” Dr Chotzakoglou explained.
“The devoutness of the island’s inhabitants has
been noted by numerous visitors and travellers,
and ecclesiastical art genuinely captured this pure
and spontaneous folk sentiment,” he added.
T
he Summer Music Academy of the Cyprus
Youth Symphony Orchestra has become an
important part of Cyprus’ music educational activities. The Academy takes place at the high mountain resort of Pedoulas (1200m above sea level)
during the last two weeks of August.
Attention is given over to master classes, wind
orchestra, sectional rehearsals and chamber
music training as well as preparing a symphonic
programme. Towards the end of the Academy, this
symphonic programme is presented at an evening
concert open to the public at the Events Hall of the
Pedoulas Gymnasium.
The Academy has taken place at the Gymnasium’s
facilities since 2007, after they were renovated using
funding offered by the Cultural Services of the
Ministry of Education and Culture. The community
of Pedoulas now identifies itself with the Academy
(and the concerts given by the Orchestra), which
attracts both foreign and Cypriot tourists.
This year, the Academy took place between 20
and 29 August, accommodating 80 young people
between 9 and 26 years old. During the Academy,
experienced teachers coached the young musicians
and at the same time, the orchestra prepared
the programme which was presented in two
concerts. The first concert took place in Nicosia
and the second in Rome, after an invitation from
the Association of Cypriots in Italy, within the
framework of the week dedicated to the promotion
of Cyprus’ history and culture.
This invitation is of vast importance and a unique
opportunity to promote the talent of Cypriot youths
abroad and endorse the important work which is
being done within the Youth Orchestra’s activities,
Cyprus’ most important youth music ensemble.
The programme included Gioachino Antonio
Rossini’s Overture to The Barber of Seville;
Alkis Baltas’ Cypriot Suite; Maurice Ravel’s
Tzigane (Soloist: Andreas Zinonos – violin); and
Antonín Leopold Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E
minor, From the New World, Op. 95.
Whilst preparing the programme for the concerts,
the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra also
welcomed the Music Lyceum Choirs in Pedoulas,
as well as the cast and collaborators who will work
on the preparation of the Orchestra’s next important
grand production; the opera Cavalleria Rusticana
by Italian composer Pietro Mascagni. The training
of the soloists and the Choirs took place over 7 days
during the Summer Academy and will continue for
a further 7 days during the Spring Academy.
The opera takes place in Easter 2015. In free
translation the title means Rural Chivalry and the
setting is a village in Sicily. It is a dramatic story
of passion with a tragic ending. Two concerts will
take place on 24 and 25 April at the Strovolos
Municipal Theatre, Nicosia.
59
My London by Renos
A
major solo exhibition of Cypriot artist Renos
Lavithis’ works, inspired by his beloved
London, was held at the Gallery in the Crypt at St
Martin-in-the-Fields, London’s Trafalgar Square
from June 23 until July 20, 2014.
Renos Lavithis is an experienced all round artist
who lives in the London Borough of Barnet.
The My London by Renos project started when the
artist visited his old haunts of Fleet Street where he
worked as an artist for the Daily Mail Group. This
led to an exploration of the area – then extended
to most other parts of London – through drawing
with ink, pencil, pen, and water colour wash.
My London by Renos has mushroomed into an exploration of London’s most famous landmarks and
River Thames scenes.
The blue skies and the sea of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, featuring boats and
coastal seascapes, provide the artist with continuous stimulation. They remain the memories
of his childhood and are still his most constant
inspiration.
In contrast, the lush and green landscapes of England such as the Lake District or the coastal beauties of Cornwall and beyond, the cityscapes from
St Albans to Central London are just as stimulating. The My London works from the old haunts of
Fleet Street to the architectural excitement of Canary Wharf are the dominant current explorations.
In general, as an artist with a great passion for preserving and exploring our natural surroundings,
anything that relates to life, human activity and
the beauty under the heavens with all the glory of
form, colour and light, these find their way onto
his canvases or paper.
About the artist
Painting has been a passion for Renos since his
childhood, attracted by the idyllic harbour and the
ancient ruins of his native Pafos, Cyprus. He was
honoured with a one-man show at the Town Hall
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The artist and his work
at the age of 18. He arrived in London in 1966 to
further his knowledge of art but Graphic Design
became his chosen professional career. Working
by day, in the evenings he studied life drawing and
graphic composition at Saint Martin’s School of
Art (1965-1966).
There followed a year at Sir John Cass’ Foundation doing a foundation course. The years 19671970 were a time of creativity and Graphic Arts
exploration at Ealing School of Art, where during his final year he studied alongside rock star
Freddie Mercury of Queen. He finished his
studies in 1971 with an Advance Typographic
Design course at the London College of Printing. He followed a career in Graphic Arts as a
freelance artist, he wrote and published travel
books, and from 1974 pursued a career as a
graphic and retouching artist at the Daily Mail
Group for 30 years, starting first in publicity and the Evening News. In all this time the
burning desire for fine art never left Renos. He
conducted one workshop after another for life
drawing and painting.
From right to left: Chancellor Lisa Rutter from Barnet Council; Peter Droussiotis, who’s company PGD Strategy Ltd sponsored the
exhibition; the Right Honourable Theresa Villiers MP; the artist, Renos Lavithis; Stanley McMurtry MBE, the Mac cartoonist of the
Daily Mail and long standing friend of Renos, opening the artist’s exhibition (photo by Petros Pentayiotis)
Kensington Gardens in winter with Henry Moore sculpture
In 1997 he visited Nepal and those magnificent
colours and majestic mountains heralded his
serious return to art. He subsequently took early retirement to devote all his time to what he
loves and enjoys. His work is exhibited mainly
in London and Hertfordshire where he lives
and works, but also in other places at home and
The Gallery in the Crypt
abroad. Two of his works can be found in the
House of Lords British Landscapes collection,
one in the Loukia and Michael Zampelas Art
Museum collection in Nicosia, and many others
in private collections and institutions. He also
donated two of his works to the National Struggle Museum in Nicosia.
61
Renos’ most ambitious exhibition yet
By Dr Criton Tomazos – art critic, poet/writer, artist
The astounding success of the opening night and private view of the new exhibition by Renos Lavithis,
an artist living and working in London, in the prestigious venue of the Crypt Gallery, was hardly surprising, given Renos’ established reputation, especially as a graphic artist, and also given the amount
of time and work invested over the last few months
and meticulous care and attention he dedicated in
preparing this so impressive and exciting show.
This new exhibition of drawings and paintings of,
or specifically relating to London, was the largest and most ambitious yet of Renos’ many art
exhibitions. It covered approximately 4-5 years
of artwork and included 74 works – mostly drawings in a variety of intriguing and well-mastered
techniques – as well as several paintings in oils.
These works depict some landmark views, well
known places but also less known but treasured
corners of the metropolis, imbued with a personal sense of nostalgia and fondness. Renos’
wide angle of vision takes in the old and historic
sites, the everyday and regularly visited parts of
worldwide recognition, London’s green and open
spaces, but also highlights a personal selection
of special places associated with his long career
as a graphic/retouching artist for the Daily Mail
– namely favourite haunts and landmarks in and
around Fleet Street. But his vision is broader still,
also encompassing all important recent city events
and scenes, which left their mark on the people’s
consciousness and have a lasting memory span,
i.e. the London Olympic Games of 2012, the City
Crash of 2008 and some seminal contemporary
buildings which marked the new millennium.
A continuous project
“It is a continuous project,” Renos explains
“which started with some early basic drawings of
Fleet Street, which evolved through developing
the drawing technique by adding wash, colour and
people, i.e. characters in each scene.”
Buckingham Palace in the Spring (oil)
The London Olympics
St James’ Park in spring (oil)
The London Olympics
effects – using his drawing instruments with assured skill and confidence, often boldly and at
other times more evocatively and conveying an
atmospheric effect.
is also a colleague and personal friend of the artist; Peter Droussiotis, Chairman and CEO at PGD
Strategy Ltd, who has also been elected four times
as President of the National Federation of Cypriots
in the UK and is also Chairman of the UK Cyprus
Enterprise Council. PGD was also the sponsor of
this exhibition; and Renos Lavithis, the exhibiting
artist and organiser of the private view.
The exhibits were grouped in seven categories.
London General and London’s Open Spaces were
eleven paintings in oil on canvas or canvas board.
All remaining 62 exhibits were drawings in a variety
of techniques and comprised London 2012 Olympics, River and The Parliament, Canary Wharf Area,
Fleet Street Area and London General.
Renos usually works on watercolour paper,
drawing with pen, pencil and graphite and using
white gouache to break lines and forms. Wash
colours are also added. He achieves some fine
and delicate atmospheric results and original
Needless to say Renos’ prolific output as a
draughtsman includes many more drawings of
well and less known places in the United Kingdom, such as the Lake District, the Continent,
Greece, Cyprus, Western Canada and Nepal.
Renos at Ealing School of Art with some of his graphic work. 1970
62
The exhibition attracted an impressive crowd of
guests, including established personalities from
the political, cultural, educational, business, art
and community sectors, and many friends, colleagues and fellow artists from all backgrounds
and different nationalities.
The three guest speakers spent time in praising the
exhibition with extensive references to Renos’ creative work and amiable, friendly character, his contribution to community arts and cultural life in general,
but also to his chosen theme, A Journey through London with Drawings, which has a wider appeal and
popularity to many diverse people and groups.
There were four speakers on the opening night:
The Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP (who is the artist’s
local MP), Cabinet Member – Secretary of State
for Northern Ireland; Stanley McMurtry MBE, the
well-known Mac cartoonist of the Daily Mail, who
It proved to be a most successful opening night and
private view and a very impressive and inspiring
exhibition of works of considerable skill, calibre
and popular appeal, in a central and prestigious
London venue for nearly one month.
63
The Howa Jani Project
T
he Howa Jani Project from Jerusalem, which
has gained much recognition in recent years
and represents the new generation of Israeli musicians, held three concerts in July, in Cyprus.
The Howa Jani Project, led by Neta Elkayam,
was presented on 19 July in Paphos as part of the
13th International Countryside Animafest Cyprus
- Views of the World, on 21 July in collaboration
with the popular local band Monsieur Doumani at
the Axiothea Festival, and on 22 July at the Cyprus
Rialto World Music Festival in Limassol.
Based in Jerusalem, the group revisit in their own
distinct way the traditional music of North Africa with emphasis on the music of the Moroccan Jews. The Cypriot group Monsieur Doumani
is also known for its innovative approach to the
traditional music of Cyprus and have already established a name on the international world music
scene, so the 21 July concert was indeed a must
see. The result of their cooperation was a musical
encounter with an intense Mediterranean flavour.
The concerts were held in cooperation with the
Embassy of Israel to Cyprus.
The artists behind the Howa Jani Project
Inspired by their childhood, and as a gesture to
Jewish artists from North Africa, Neta Elkayam
(vocals) and Amit Hai Cohen (piano) created two
music videos that garnering much praise and curiosity after being uploaded to the internet. From
there, the two began to put together a musical performance with musicians that were raised on the
same music. Today, along with Elad Levi (violin)
Netanel Ben Shitrit (darbuka) and Moshe Bakhar
(oud), they are the young generation which is
spearheading the revival of Moroccan music in
Israel.
With one foot in the past, and all the while continuing to deepen their understanding of the music,
the group sought to revive Moroccan music from
exactly the point at which it stopped being made.
However, they also sought to remain true to them64
selves: the children of Jews from the Maghreb,
with a desire to continue and propel the music into
the future, and write new arrangements for material that is relevant to today.
Thus, the Howa Jani Project was born. The show
is based on new arrangements of Moroccan songs,
with an emphasis on the Jews of Morocco, which
are based on archival recordings and old records
that the performers acquired through collectors
and the internet. The show also features original
pieces.
Howa Jani (“Here It Comes To Me” in Moroccan
Arabic) is the name of an original song from the
performance, written by Neta Elkayam and Amit
Hai Cohen.
Due to its unique ensemble, Howa Jani manages,
alongside the classics that are played in new and
refreshing versions, to set a new musical standard
of tradition and innovation. Each one of the artists carries they’re own personal language, yet also
leans on the tradition of their teachers, turning the
performance into a relevant and interesting contemporary musical experience.
Even the original songs, written in Darija (colloquial Moroccan), aspired to remain as faithful to
the contemporary version (based on the original)
as possible, to reach a wider crowd, to connect between the different Maghrebi communities (Jews
and Muslims) in the diaspora through music and to
expose it to as many people as possible. 65