Exhibition of portraits and stories of migrants opens in Nicosia
Nicosia 2030, candidate city for European Capital of Culture, together with refugees and migrants who were forced to leave their homelands and rebuild their life in Cyprus, present the exhibition “Face Forward …into my home” which includes photographic portraits and stories of migrants. The exhibition will open on October 10.
Nicosia Municipality says in a press release that “the portraits by Yiannis Kourtoglou, are the result of the integration programme that Nicosia 2030 organised in collaboration with the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens (EMST) and the kind support of the UNHCR Country Office in Cyprus.”
The exhibition and the programme are part of the Parallel Programme of the 5th Nicosia International Festival, it adds.
It is noted that the opening of both the 5th edition of Nicosia International Festival and the photography exhibition will be inaugurated by the Deputy Minister of Culture Dr. Vasiliki Kassianidou on October 10, at 19:00, at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre.
“The programm
e consisted of a series of workshops and was attended by refugees and migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East in the context of which participants were invited to share with their emotions, memories, hopes and aspirations inspired by artworks from the EMST collection and the Cypriot collection of the State Art Gallery,” the press release continues.
These included artworks by Klitsa Antoniou, Christina Dimitriadis, Panos Kokkinias, Nikos Kouroussis, Lia Lapithi, Maria Loizidou, and Maria Tsangaris which are related to migration and other contemporary issues.
The programme was initially designed and implemented by EMST | National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens in 2017 in collaboration with the UNHCR in Greece. Since 2017, it has travelled to several cities in Greece and abroad. The idea – programme implementation and the curation of the original exhibition – programme belong to Marina Tsekou, Curator of Education ??S? and Giannis Vastardis, Photographer – Special Therapist.
“In Cyprus the programme
was supported by the European Funds Unit of the Ministry of Interior, the Asylum Service of the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection, the Greek Embassy in Cyprus, the Representation of the European Commission in Cyprus, UNHCR Country Office in Cyprus, and the Social Welfare Services of the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare,” the press release notes.
The exhibition will be open until 31 December 2024, Monday – Friday between 10:00-13:00 and one hour before each performance at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre.
Source: Cyprus News Agency