o documentary / visual analysis of the Cypriot cultural practices histories etc
I would begin with my practise, talk about it a little bit, talk about how i ponder about what is the purpose of an artist, should it be to send a message, to be an activist etc etc. can one just be an artist through creating, drawing, singing with no other motive/
then i reliase that there is always a motive, a motive to communicate, translate emotion, translate experience, translate the self. art can take many shapes and forms such as poetry, music, dance, performance, painting, animation, sculpture, installation etc and the entire point of all these mediums exiss because different people find it easier to authentically express themselves in different ways. My practise revolves around painting because I prefer to translate who i am and my positionality without the need for word, to ekfrazo extononome without the need for logic or thought, but through emotion, and through the mirror of my eyes, my observations and my influences.
At least that is what has always been my perception of my practise, but through exmining my positionality, and searching for more self awarness, beneaththe I i discovered the we, and beneaththat the culture that shaped the person i am today, the culture that cultivates through the we, the communal, the shared.
SHORT STORYTIME OF MY CULTURE AND THE INFLUENCES THAT I SEE IN MY ART- MENTION THAT I WAS ONLY ABLE TO UNDERSTAND AND NOTICE THESE INFLUENCES AFTER EXAMINING MY POSITIONALITY AND REFLECTING ON THE NORMS AND VALUES THAT I WAS INFLUENCED BY CULTURARLY (normative and self awareness compency, also systems thinking competency).
Without truly intending to or being intentional, the artist, through their authentic lense and ability to observe themselves and others, can often times function as archivists of a culture, a shared feeling, A MEMORY.
One can discover the history of a land and its people through history books or articles but the true time capsule is art. because it doesnt only allow for a culture to be still and leksi pu ipe o elliot, but it allows for us to intereacgt with it, and immerse ourselves, add to it, change it, evolve it.
Through my project with GIORKIN PROTZEKT, I attempted to do just that, combine the many eras of Cyorus is in a visua way, interpreting a traditional folktale that was preserved throughout history through oral repetition, elders reciting it to their young. Pushing a tale of bravery and smarts to the people who had experienced cultural trauma and- “Cyprus has endured a history of occupation and imposed rule by successive foreign powers, each contributing to the fragmentation and reshaping of its cultural heritage.”
Through my work I attempt to give this oral everchanging story a more concrete form, but a formthat takes shape from the ever evolving culture of cyprus, by visualisingthe many periods of art, heritage and culture, and through collaboration with a group of musicians and artists, we create a space where the tale isnt oly apothanatizete through visual but also sound, scupture and installation!
EXPLAIN MORE ABOUT EXHIBITION AND SHOW VISUALS
ESSAY- ISNT AT ALL ABOUT CYPRUS OR MY POSITIONALITY- BEGINS WITH ME EXPLAINING WHY IM INTERESTED IN EXPLORING HOW ART IS A MEANS TO ARCHIVE CULTURAL MEMORY, AND THEN WHY asking things like:
- Why is cultural memory important to preserve?
- What does it mean to be a responsible cultural translator?
- Whose narratives are being prioritised or erased?
How do values, ethics, and identity inform artistic practice?————
- How colonisation, memory, language, migration, media, and tradition interact.
- How systems (like education, family, politics, or globalisation) shape the artist’s development.
- What patterns are visible in the way cultural identity forms or shifts?
old notes
Purpose: To provide a visual and narrative analysis of Cypriot cultural practices and their intercultural nature, while exploring how art becomes a vessel for memory and identity that can bridge groups that are divided politically- Huge problem in Cyprus within the political climate.- I am unsure if this will be the strongest focus as it’s a very emotional and sensitive subject for me-.
Includes:
– Opening with cultural references (e.g., embroidery, Frivolite patterns, traditional aesthetics). Sort of like a history lesson of how each stage of Cypriot history has left cultural remnants that are preserved only through art and cultural practices.
– Exploration of Cyprus as an intercultural space of homogeny.
– Oral storytelling traditions- and how they are preserved through art, dance, music (KOUZA DANCE, 40 DRAKOI ETC, FOLK TALES, SONGS).
– Visual examples of how cultural memory lives in gestures, rituals, objects.
– Segue into broader examples of how other cultures preserve memory through art- cover other traditions and sort of zoom out into the world to show that this is an effect that isn’t particular to Cypriot culture. Basically prep the ground for the dissertation’s more analytical and broad cultural focus.