Contemporary Art from Cyprus: Politics, Identities, and Cultures across Borders

Description

To what extent does locality influence contemporary art? Can any particular artistic practices be defined as uniquely Cypriot? And does art from Cyprus transcend Western boundaries once it enters the global art scene? This volume uses Cyprus as a case study for the exploration of notions of identity, regionalism, and the global and local in contemporary art practice; it is not, therefore, a complete historiography of contemporary Cypriot art. Rather, this critical text provides a theoretical and historical framework that frames and contextualizes art practices from Cyprus, while always relating these back to the international art world. Numerous current and pressing issues-all relevant beyond Cyprus-are investigated in this book including, but not limited to, art as capital, the emergence of the "periphery", the importance of thriving localities, issues of memory and memorialization, archaeology, artists' identities, conflict and politics, social engagement, gender politics, and such curatorial alternatives as artist-run spaces. In doing all of this, Contemporary Art from Cyprus not only bears on current and future art practices in this region but highlights the importance of Cypriot art in a global context too.

Elena Stylianou is Associate Professor in Art & Art History at European University Cyprus and President of the International Association of Photography and Theory (IAPT). She has published widely on contemporary art and photography, as well as on museums with particular emphasis on the uses of technologies and curatorial practices. She is co-editor of Museums and Photography: The Display of Death (2018) and Ar(t)chaeology: Intersections of Photography and Archaeology (2019). She is recipient of numerous awards and grants. She has curated a number of international exhibitions of contemporary art in Cyprus and is the lead researcher of many funded projects. Evanthia Tselika is Assistant Professor at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus, specializing in art history & theory. Her research concentrates on the social practices of art, with a particular focus on the commons and conflict transformation, as well as visual cultural histories of the 20th century. She collaborates with art centers and museums locally and internationally, and is involved in coordinating and curating European level funded programs, such as the Interreg Balkan Med project Phygital (2017-2020). Her articles are published in journals such as Visual Studies and Public Art Dialogue and commissioned by organizations such as Peace Research Institute Oslo. http://evanthiatselika.com. Gabriel Koureas is Research Fellow at the Department of History of Art, Birkbeck, University of London, UK. His research concentrates on the memory and representation of conflict in the 20th and 21st centuries in museums and visual culture. His publications include works on the commemoration of the First World War, art and the senses, the gendered representation of the terrorist, the visual culture of colonial wars of independence, and transcultural memories in the contemporary art of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. His most recent publications include a special issue of the Journal of Memory Studies (2019) on Ottoman transcultural memories.

In this impressive collection of essays by artists, curators and academics, there is a bold effort to address the contested spaces and disputed histories of an island that is at the edge of Europe and the Middle East. It provides a haunting testament to local perspectives and a unique contribution to the cosmopolitan approaches in contemporary art. * Nikos Papastergiadis, Director of the Research Unit of Public Cultures and Professor, University of Melbourne, Australia * This is a timely collection during a period of increased tensions in the Mediterranean and in Cyprus. Historically and art historically informed, these essays provide critical insight into how the lived experience of both Turkish and Greek communities on the island, have necessarily impacted the subjects of contemporary Cypriot art. The book situates contemporary art from Cyprus in relation to local and international art agendas and reinforces the fundamental role that a variety of art practices can play, in expanding critical dialogue and envisaging new ways of defining 'community'. * Annie E. Coombes, Professor of History of Art, Birkbeck, University of London, UK *