Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee: Of signs, symbols and landscapes

Contents: A. Projects 2016-2006 1. Symbols remixed, or the Hour Book project (work in progress) 2. Metromentality participatory project 3. Without a resting place/monument 4. Incongruous patterns in the House of HadjiGeorgakis Kornesios 5. The Erratic Landscape 6. Video An Anthem 7. Video In the Land of “No, No!” 8. Ostrale participation : a. Slaughterhouse № 5 b. Meissen Rocks 9. Public Interventions: a. This water refreshes b. This Life is Good: a peripatetic poem c. Systematically Arranged 10. Obsessive Patterns 11. Illustrations and book covers B. Texts, press, bibliography (reference by others) 12. A text by Evi Haggipavlu 13. Press clippings and reference by others C. Bio

“Symbols remixed, or the Hour Book project” (work in progress)

Symbols remixed, or the Hour Book project In the past few years I have been increasingly interested in the historical use of symbols in the visual language and more specifically sacred symbols.

I am particularly interested in how these have been affecting people but also how they change meaning, function and impact once placed in a different context. Most importantly, can they affect people today and in what way? Departing from a left-brain strategy and scientific inquiry, this artistic exploration involves a more intuitive approach, where research is only employed as a component in the “ideas’ marinade” as JWYoung calls it 1.

Further to exploring the use of ecumenical symbols such as the star of David or the ever-seeing eye, as used in Christianity, Judaism and the Islam, I got interested in the visual work of Gustav Jung and his use of symbols, as presented in the Red Book but also in older sources such as the Medieval tradition of the Book of Hours.

Observing how these symbols were re-emerging in different traditions, and under different philosophies, being borrowed, reused or simply appearing out of the blue, I wish to see them getting remixed in a not-so-new postmodern approach to create relevant meanings for the contemporary person.

Book of Hours A series of works on handmade paper in this line are related to the medieval tradition of the collection of prayers, meditations and incantations, known as the Books of Hours. In these works ancient symbols are combined with abstract, expressive brushstrokes, whose unpredictable composition counterbalances the rigid structure of sacred geometry. Unlike the medieval books, it sources its images and symbols not solely form Christianity, or the Kabbalah, but from an array of traditions, like the ancient Egyptian mysticism, Buddhism, Sufism, and other. All compositions are circular, referring back to the circle as a primordial vessel of everything.

Samokov 2015 In another thread of this project the medley of symbols appears in several canvases produced during the 1st and 2nd International Symposium of Painting and Sculpture in Samokov, (2015, 2016) where I revisit the subject of the quest of identity through an investigation of the visual language of the Mosque, byzantine churches and icons and the Synagogue to observe the complex intermingling of diverse cultural elements.

During my first stay in Samokov I examined visual elements from the Mosque, the Synagogue and the Museum’s icons to re-combine them in a contemporary view of Samokov in a painting, named “The Omnivident watches over Samokov”.

Separately, rubbings of monuments or common day objects and surroundings were also made as a means to record what has been and what will be lost, or even goes unnoticed, what was recorded as ‘monument’ and what not, albeit being a crucial part of the town’s experience and character.

Samokov 2016 In the second edition of the Symposium, I created two round compositions, and named them Samokov Mandalas. One was influenced by the dome of the Samokov Mosque, depicting a floral star of David, encircled in sun rays, but in my work other symbols from the town were reshuffled and remixed to create an almost Buddhist account of the composition. The second one, a circle in a golden square, depicted an ‘alafranga’ 2. An 6

actual model was used, flipped downside to create a quadrilateral symmetry composition, which reinforced the idea of the mandala.

Given that apart from a few houses that are deemed as monuments, this heritage is left to perish in many houses of Samokov, that are forsaken and falling apart. This mandala aims to make us contemplate on the idea that in the past people of the place were home proud, and sought to include beauty in their dwellings in contradiction to the present, where it seems dwellings are constructed or repaired to bare function.

The Pentecost triptych

Lastly, a triptych placing old symbols and iconographies in a new context, is the one I created for the Senate of the European University, Cyprus.

The composition is inspired by the iconography of the Pentecost, but executed in a more expressive manner and in a mixed media technique. In the centre of the composition is the Kosmos, which in the Byzantine iconography of the Pentecost represents not just the world, but the human potential of the earth, which is supposed to bejewel the Creation. Clearly it is my wish, that the Senate is always inspired to take wise decisions for the common good. This is why the faces of the senate members are not delineated. A body established to serve the common good is faceless, deprived of personal egos and agendas in its ideal form.

Endnotes: 1. Young, JW (1940/1960) A technique for producing ideas, 1st edn. Waking Lion Press, West Valley City 2. The term usually refers to a symmetrical floral decoration often seen on the façades or interiors of affluent ottoman houses. It is associated with the binary exposition of the terms Alaturca and alafranga, musical and cultural concepts specific to the Ottoman Empire and its people. The terms describe a distinction between Eastern culture and Western culture in the Balkans. They are also associated with the old-fashioned (alaturca) and the modern (alafranga). In that sense, in the 18th Century Alafranga was seen as “exemplifying modernist ideas and trends” in contradiction to Alaturka which was seen as “exemplifying backward-looking traditionalism”—the opposite of alafranga. Odly enough, alafranga decorations in Bulgarian National Revival Houses are now considered part of the tradition and the folklore.

The Omniscient Watches Over Samokov, acrylic on canvas, 80x120 cm, 2015 Previous page: You Annoint My Head with Oil, acrylic on handmade paper, 21x30 cm, 2014 7

Vescica Pisces, acrylics on handmade paper, 21x30 cm, 2013 8

Triquetra, acrylics on handmade paper, 21x30 cm, 2013 9

Rubbing 2: Arabesque, charcoal on paper, 100x70 cm, 2015 10

Rubbing 3: Ornament, charcoal on paper, 100x70 cm, 2015 11

Rubbing 1: Paving Stones, grafit on velum paper, 2 rolls 410x110 cm each, 2015 12

Rubbings, Installation View, Samokov Municipal Art Gallery, 2015 13

Samokov Mandala II, mixed media on canvas, 120x120cm, 2016 14

Samokov Mandala II, mixed media on foam board, diameter 100 cm, 2016 15

The Pentacost Triptych, mixed media on canvas, 360x120 cm, 2015. Left panel and detail 16

The Pentacost Triptych, mixed media on canvas, 360x120 cm, 2015. Right panel and view of the whole composition.

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“Nicosia Metromentality�

Metro Mentality Metro Mentality was a participatory project initiated by the artist group Saramarasamsara (Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee and Elizabeth Hoak-Doering) which utilized small-scale crowd-sourcing and the functionality of Google, to make a pro-active difference in the status-quo of Nicosia. The Metro Mentality project is a prototype for an “app”, which can be developed once funding is secured.

Metro Mentality was first presented at the exhibition Treasure Island at the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, in 2014.

Metro Mentality promotes a novel way to explore and inhabit Nicosia. Its website is a platform for a map, which is progressively enhanced and updated by the communities living in the city. Initially contributions will were crowd-sourced at exhibition venues in the north and south parts of Nicosia. Users were able to add text and images to the street map of the city, within and just outside the Venetian walls.

Because of its history of inter-communal strife, violence, and war, Nicosia has not benefitted from much urban infrastructural development. However, contesting narratives and wide variety of cultural interactions have produced deep and contrasting histories within a comparatively small area. The idea of a “metro mentality” comes from big cities, where the time between stops is short, where the stops may be very different in character, and where the stops are often situated because of the function of a place. In Nicosia it does not take long, on foot, to come across what might elsewhere be called a “stop”.

In creating an imaginary metro map, this project aims to please the flâneur, and to be useful for anyone who wants to get to know the city better. It shares the local understandings of, and uses for landmark areas of Nicosia; and, in some cases, may landmark the places ‘officially’ by bringing attention to their common appreciation. The metro map format, which sits over a half-tone street map, also brings the city down to a set of walk-able trajectories, illustrating how close everything actually is (both in time, and in space).

Here, photographs and images are shown from the launch of the project, both in virtual and actual space.

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Nicosia metro mentality work station at the Exhibition “Treasure Island’ at NiMAC, 2015. Oposite, sticker distributed. Previous page draft map of the project 21

Nicosia metro mentality promotional materials travelling through the city during the exhibition “Treasure Island’ at NiMAC, 2015.

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Nicosia metro mentality workstation in the Northern part of Nicosia, at the bookshop Rustem, during the exhibition “Treasure Island’ at NiMAC, 2015.

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Nicosia metro mentality promotional materials on social media.

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Nicosia metro mentality web page home screen 25

“Without a resting place/monument�

Without a resting place/monument Background In 2012 Sevgül Uludag, the journalist that uncovered and publicised many mass graves, invited me to take part in a bi-communal art project about the missing persons of Cyprus. While many artists in the past have dealt with the issues of the missing –especially from our side- this was infact the first bi-communal missing persons’ project. I was astonished to find out that there is a bi-communal committee of relatives of missing persons that are coming together trying to share their pain and fight together for the restoration of their relatives’ fate.

After visiting with Sevgül many locations of mass burials and talking to many relatives, I did some research and decided that I want to do a conceptual piece for this project, even though painting was also an option.

But it seemed to me that the project is too important to confine it just between the walls of a gallery. Furthermore to me it seemed too dangerous to indulge in painting such a sombre subject.

After my research it became clear to me that a main and common concern relatives of missing persons have is the fact that the location of the burial is either unknown or – if known – unmarked. The tragic death of these people is thus unacknowledged. Closure for the relatives was always denied, since for decades they were not given information on the whereabouts of their relatives, many of them still keeping things ready for their return. Closure on a societal level was also not offered despite the fact that a bi-communal committee has been working on exhumations and identification of found remains with the DNA method. The responsible people for the mass murders have not been prosecuted, but each side was contented just to blame the other. Thus, the issue of the missing persists as an open wound.

Concept Having this in mind I went with the idea to create a mobile monument. A stationary monument would be destroyed and we could be prosecuted, which proves that the wounds are unacknowledged. So this mobile monument would travel around the island, to acknowledge unacknowledged wounds. It is also like the souls of the missing, without a resting place. A marble plaque loosely referencing the artwork of Braco Dimitrijevic This Could be a Place of Historical Importance, reads instead: The place is of no importance, the person of no relevance, our history a broken record unless we change the tune. In that sense I am recontextualising the piece of Dimitrijevic and on his ironic comment about the role that chance places in history, I am actually suggesting that not chance but a deliberate coveting has prevented the place from becoming of historical importance in actuality. And that it would be a place of historical importance, if we - people and authorities in both communities were able to face our history, the wrong doings of both sides and to offer some reparation both to relatives and society.

Realisation The mobile monument travelled round the island and was placed even for a short while at the sites of the mass graves and affected villages. In some occasions groups of relatives and artists, accompanied me and we had a sui generis commemorating ceremony, documenting the whole thing with photographs. The photographs were later shown in the exhibition the “Colour of Truth” organised by Goethe-Institut Cyprus and the “Together We Can”- Association – the bi-communal Initiative of Relatives of Missing Persons and Victims of Massacres and War at Goethe-Institut Cyprus, 17-31/3/2013. There are plans to host the exhibition in other cities in Cyprus and also take it abroad.

In-Process This begun as a simple participation in a group project for me but gradually grew into something that I’d like to develop further. More photographs of the travelling plaque in various afflicted locations will make up an artist’s book, accompanied with stories destined to fade.

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Petrofani Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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Neo Chorio Kythreas Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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Neo Chorio Kythreas Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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Petrofani Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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Petrofani Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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Ayia Napa, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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Ayia Napa, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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Oroklini Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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Oroklini Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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Incogruous patterns

Patriarchy that has reduced woman to her body parts thus limiting her to a mere reproductive function constitutes the background of this exhibit.

Evy Haggipavlu

Incogruous patterns Patriarchy that has reduced woman to her body parts thus limiting her to a mere reproductive function constitutes the background of this exhibit.

Evy Haggipavlou

I took an interest in patterns when working on the project “Obsessive Patterns: Beautiful strange Homeland” (see page...)

As then stated in the press release: “I have become increasingly interested in patterns as a way to visually express routine behaviours, unexamined preconceptions, or, what is most difficult, the disparity between the truth “taken” by the heart (at times in spite of fact), and that “taken” by reason on the basis of fact”.

The examination of patterns took on many forms, however one basic shape that prevailed was a very stylized, beautified to the point of art nouveau version of the human genital system: First the female, as an overused symbol of commoditisation of desire and therefore power and then the male, as a counterpart of this power game.

These patterns served sometimes as a background - in the form of wallpaper for other manifestations of behavioural patterns, such as the paintings created for the show “Obsessive Patterns” or applied to other middle class objects, such as plates, as presented in the show “At Maroudia’s”. [at Maroudia’s] Exhibition –part of the Terra Mediterranea – In Crisis programme – was curated by the group Re Aphrodite (a curatorial and research group, which focuses on issues of art and difference) at the Ethnological Museum – House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios and was done in collaboration with the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, the Pierides Foundation and the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus .

According to the curators the exhibition included: existing and new contemporary art works as well as research and had an element of historical and museological reflection. The exhibition deals with the unwritten feminine histories of Cyprus and their private and public structure. It makes use of the layered history of the house to challenge old myths and narratives and develop new ones, while reflecting on a number of real and perceived crises. It touches upon social, educational and ethical concerns around sexuality, gender issues and conflicts. The works deal with the effects of tourism on tradition, heritage and nationhood; concerns about the body: its portrayal, beauty, mortality, and sexuality; the trivial and the kitsch, as well as issues of difference in more general terms.

In that framework my work, a plate inserted in one of the Museums vitrines, along with byzantine ceramics, commented on the fetishization of the human body, the primal obsession with sexuality and the obsessive repetition of symbols that points out to their commercialization. (more in: Terra Mediterranea / In Crisis Exhibition Catalogue. Yannis Toumazis, ed. Nicosia: Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, 2012, p. 242).

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Incogruous Patterns, ceramic plate, 2012 At Maroudia’s exhibition, Ethlological Museum, Nicosia, Cyprus 41

Incogruous Patterns, ceramic plate, 2012 At Maroudia’s exhibition, Ethlological Museum, Nicosia, Cyprus 42

Incogruous Patterns, ceramic plate, 2012 At Maroudia’s exhibition, Ethlological Museum, Nicosia, Cyprus 43

Incogruous Patterns, ceramic plate, 2012 collection of the artist 44

Incogruous Patterns, ceramic plate, 2012 collection of the artist 45

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“The Erratic Landscape”

The Erratic Landscape This project is a work in progress that consists of several artworks working together to create an ambience and will be presented in the form of a solo exhibition. It takes as its starting point the urban environment of Nicosia.

It has been noted that “The man-made landscape – the ordinary run-of-the-mill things that humans have created and put upon the earth – provides strong evidence of the kind of people we are, and were, and are in process of becoming. In other words, the culture of any nation is unintentionally reflected in its ordinary vernacular landscape”1.

In other words the environment that surrounds us is shaped by the way of thinking, the ideology and the philosophy of people inhabiting it. it is shaped by either group efforts (of organized or civic society or the state) or by people acting as individuals. Whether our city is ugly or beautiful, depends on how we understand ugliness and beauty, the personal and the common, our outlook, values, belief system2 and our identity. The history, the collective consciousness that led us to certain decisions, all sip through our contemporary landscape. On the other hand, what we see, is not necessarily what other people see, actually not even remotely the same3. In that sense interpretation of the landscape is not that simple.

According to Durkheim:

if…the synthesis sui generis which every society constitutes yields new phenomena, differing from those

which take place in the individual consciousness…these facts reside exclusively in the very society

itself…indeed, what collective representations express is the way in which the group thinks of itself in its

relation to objects which affect it4.

It is obvious then that the landscape gives clues about our identity. The question is: do we identify with this identity? Through a series of works I am attempting to shed a light on this unreconciled environment.

Paintings of urban landscapes: The urban landscape relates to and reflects your beliefs. It is a mirror of our understandings of society, history, culture. The landscapes presented are indications of a disconcerted society therefore full of contradictions and inconsistencies. A recurrent symbol is the overused flag, whether Greek or Turkish that accompanies purely domestic paraphernalia.

1 Peirce K Lewis , Axioms for Reading the Landscape (see: http://www.uccs.edu/~faculty/chuber/ ges398/PierceLewisAxioms.pdf ) 2 http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/landscape/ 3 http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/realityhyperreality-2/ 4 A.Giddens (ed.), Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1972, p. 70 48

The Erratic Landscape, installation view, work in progress 49

From on top of the city walls (detail) From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 70x50cm, 2012.

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From on top of the city walls From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 70x50cm, 2012.

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Parking, From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 38x66cm,2012.

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Bairaktar Christmas, From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 70x61cm, 2012.

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Bairaktar Christmas II, From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 70x61cm, 2012.

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Bairaktar Christmas, From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 70x61cm, 2012.

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Patriotic Landscape I From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 22x27cm, 2012.

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Kiosk, From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 25x35 cm, 2012.

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Patriotic Landscape II From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 50x50 cm, 2012.

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Patriotic Landscape III From the series “The Erratic Landscape “, acrylic on canvas, 50x50cm, 2012.

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Kiosk From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 50x60 cm, 2012.

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Kiosk From the series “The Erratic Landscape“, acrylic on canvas, 180x140 cm, 2012.

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“An Anthem”

An Anthem (video)

A group of high school children sing the Greek national anthem in front of a Neoclassical Building, their school, adorned with Greek, Cypriot and Byzantine flags. The scene looks like an ordinary, traditional Greek Cypriot school celebration.

Yet, as the camera takes us closer a viewer familiar with such scenes/memories of local schooling may begin to feel discomfort, ask if the children are “real” Cypriot or Greek children, or of more diverse ethnic origins.

As they sing we read on the lower part of the screen the translation of the anthem. The somber text of the poem, death presented as sublime and heroic, contrasts the aloof faces of the young teenagers.

The second part which begins seconds after the ‘performance’, acquaints us with the origin and identity of each kid - or at least, their hazy definition of it. Identity is pinpoint by place of birth, origin of parents, or even personal preference. ( ‘I am Romanian’ says one kid, ‘ my mother is Romanian and my father Serbian’).

To the unresolved problem of the Cyprus issue, a new reality calls to be faced: the economic migrants. Greek Cypriots still haunted by uncertainties about their own identity are now faced with the challenge to integrate a new group. While the community wavers between its “double” identities (Cypriots or Greeks), a new social reality, the one of economic migrants, arises.

The persistent Greek-orthodox schooling which has shaped numerous generations and their collective memory and the gripping preoccupation with the preservation of identity, seem to become irrelevant as a new type of Cypriot emerges. Questions of integration and assimilation surface in a country eager to be both European and patriotic.

The video can be presented as a single channel work, or as a double channel work, where the second part, consisting on the interviews, is shown on a second projection. (http://vimeo.com/48529846)

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An Anthem, video projection of 2:00 min, video still, 2012 65

An Anthem, video projection of 2:00 min, video still, 2012 66

An Anthem, video projection of 2:00 min, video still, 2012 67

“In the land of ‘No, No!’ ”

In the Land of No, No! (video)

In the Land of No!’ video is created using the technique of stop motion animation. The video deals again with issues of identity, migration, nationalism and captures moments/snapshots- in the so-called “Ohi area” in Nicosia, named after a famous kiosk. The site is emblematic of Nicosia and Cyprus more generally and reflects and illustrates recent Cypriot history and the current reality. In ‘In the land of “No” postwar Cyprus is outlined by a series of disparate elements and cultures in a strange symbiosis. The camera pans to present these elements one by one in a fragmented way, and gradually constructs a complex puzzle of the contemporary urban landscape. These disparate elements coexist strangely in the area and highlight Cyprus society, erratic and irreconcilable with itself: a minaret near the ”proud to be Greek” kiosk indicates the existence of a mosque, ironically known as “Bairaktar . The latter, together with a palm tree reminds us that the Greek character of the place had been disrupted in the past and more recent history Next to the “Ochi” stand a group of lethargic immigrants creating a further dimension to the already bewildering puzzle of identities comprising the site. As the narrator describes what he sees, which is parallel but not identical to what the camera portrays, the different identities and cultures co-inhabiting this place become more distinct. The break-off of the stop motion animation, which omits some frames, and the fragmentation of shots creates a sense of incomplete and disjointed world which is changing rapidly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wy7L7fGnA8

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In the Land of No, No, video projection of 2:50 min, video still, 2010 71

In the Land of No, No, video projection of 2:50 min, video still, 2010 72

In the Land of No, No, video projection of 2:50 min, video still, 2010 73

“Slaughterhouse № 5”

Participation in the international festival OSTRALE In 2011 I took part in the international festival of visual arts Ostrale, which takes place in Dresden Germany every year. I presented my work along with other 122 international artists selected from 600 applications.

OSTRALE commenced in 2007 as a local initiative and has ever since achieved a broad reach within a short period of time. The exhibition represents the whole spectrum of contemporary art in an interdisciplinary way. Hundreds of national and international artists are invited to take part in the festival, which takes place at a meaningful architectural and historic industrial venue. Last year 16000 people visited the exhibition while this year the visitors exceeded 17 000.

In its fifth year the festival deals in the sense of the 1969 published roman by the US-bestseller-author Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) “Slaughterhouse Five” with the field of apparently free of structure - between historic and contemporary communicating states. The story of the novel “Slaughterhouse Five” plays for real on the present day area of the OSTRALE during the bombardment of Dresden in the night of the 13th to the 14th of February 1945.

The theme symbolizes the continuing timeline of the development of the ailing buildings of the ErlweinSlaughterhouse where the OSTRALE takes place every year - which is developing to an all-year centre for contemporary arts. It is the idea and the aim of the OSTRALE to establish art as the property and resource pool of a modern society as well to organize and use its innovative power economically and socially on a regional and international level.

Part of the concept of the exhibition is the creation in situ of artworks by artists. Thus, some selected artists were invited a month prior to the opening to the so called ‘art camp’ to create their artworks. I also took part in the art camp and produced a series of works especially for Ostrale. In five paintings I touched upon the peculiar atmosphere of the slaughterhouse while in the installation ‘Meissen Rocks’ the frailty of the local but internationally known porcelain is subverted taking the form of river rocks of Elbe.

Comments on my work were published in the German press among which an interview in „Sächsische Zeitung“.

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“Slaughterhouse № 5” , acrylic on canvas, 40x50 cm, 2011 77

“Slaughterhouse № 5” , acrylic on canvas, 40x50 cm, 2011 78

“Slaughterhouse № 5” , acrylic on canvas, 40x50 cm, 2011 79

“Slaughterhouse № 5” , acrylic on canvas, 40x50 cm, 2011 80

“Slaughterhouse № 5” , acrylic on canvas, 40x50 cm, 2011 81

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“Meissen Rocks”

Meissen Rocks, installation, rocks, paint, tissues, glue, dimensions variable, 2011 84

Meissen Rocks (detail) 85

Public Interventions:

a. “This water refreshes” b.”This Life is Good: a peripatetic poem” c. “Systematically Arranged”

Art interventions in public places A poem about emptiness and loneliness and how it persists despite the otherwise good life one might have was the inspiration for my first public art projects created in New York in 2009 in the framework of my residency in SVA (School of Visual Arts). The curatorial team of AiOP (Art in Odd Places) who was collaborating with the residency later accepted my application for a second project, conceptualised specifically for their festival SIGN 2009.

I had many ideas about creating a public art project on 23rd swirling in my mind, but one gradually became stronger: I started to look for ways to make the poem written for me come alive and re-invent it in some way, visually. As I walked on the streets, mentally reciting the poem, it attained new meanings in the big city of New York, where most people seemed to be satiated materially, but still empty inside. In big cities loneliness seems graver. I imagined the poem in space, where people would see it, in their environment, and stop for a moment to ponder on its minute truths. I had walked up and down 23rd street and had noticed how people didn’t see much, didn’t notice much and just went on their way, hypnotized. I imagined creating new experiences for the site, enlivening it, by inserting my poem in unusual places. I had taken a lot of pictures of 23rd street. Of things unusual, or usual, architecture details, shop fronts, empty planters, puddles. I took pictures of hydrants that seemed very characteristic for New York, so typical, no one notices them anymore.

And then, the picture of the hydrant suddenly clicked with one of the poems’ lines: This water refreshes, but cannot reach the depths your presence touches.

I replaced the sign above the hydrant, and instead of ‘Siamese connection’ one would read this totally impractical, totally poetic and out of place line. I loved how it corresponded to the place. How it cunningly became part of it.

From that moment I was sure that I could indeed find a unique place for each cadence and thus enliven the whole poem in space, retaining the peripatetic quality I imagined in the beginning. I started walking on 23rd street, purposefully, trying to find the perfect place for each cadence. This would not be literally corresponding to the poem, but more symbolically, metaphorically. Gradually, I created a series of renderings, where on different locations of 23rd street one could read lines from the poem and each time I tried to integrate them as much as possible in the environment. I wanted to get to the point where it would seem not like the location was found for that cadence, but the cadence was written for that location.

After I had found my locations, all I had to do was decide how I would practically resolve the issues. In most cases I tried to mimic the typography and colour of the existing signs, in others I tried to integrate my texts as subtly as possible. By connecting the lines of the poem with already existing signs I infused the poem with new meanings. For example a guy carrying a sandwich board on which it is written: this life is good, but cannot meet me body and soul Nobody usually thinks about what kind of life these badly paid, usually illegal immigrants, lead. The sign on his back that does not try to sell you anything, as usual, makes you for the first time ponder on that. Or the brown carton of a homeless person saying: And therefore I stand waiting with the stars in the desert of my hours is in essence an overt cry of disillusionment and despair, complete desolation, which is actually what these signs mean when they write hungry, sick, jobless. In that sense, I tried to reactivate certain aspects of life on 23rd street and the big city in general, by infusing the poem in the already existing, desensitized signs.

After the presentation of this project that really resonated with the pedestrians of 23rd I was inspired to 88

transfer this idea of altering the signs and infusing a poetic lines into the lives of passers by on 14th street as well.

After discussions with the curatorial team we decided to concentrate on the water hydrants of 14th street and have lines from different poems replacing their informational signs. I started walking again back and forth, this time on 14th street, trying to find the right places for the right stanzas, the ones that would click. For instance outside a bar I placed a sign saying: your eyes full with dew and wine The stanzas would thus once again create a strange dialogue with the surroundings.

All poems and stanzas used are by Stephen Gee

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This water refreshes, art interventions in public places, part of festival Sign, NY 2009 90

This Life is Good, art interventions in public places, during SVA Residency, NY 2009 91

This water refreshes, art interventions in public places, part of festival Sign, NY 2009 92

This water refreshes, art interventions in public places, part of festival Sign, NY 2009 93

This water refreshes, art interventions in public places, part of festival Sign, NY 2009 94

This water refreshes, art interventions in public places, part of festival Sign, NY 2009 95

This water refreshes, art interventions in public places, part of festival Sign, NY 2009 96

This water refreshes, art interventions in public places, part of festival Sign, NY 2009 97

SOPHIA HADJIPAPA-GEE A peripatetic poem BR OA

25TH STREET

M AD I SON S QUAR E P A RK

This Life is Good :

DW AY

24TH STREET A

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C

E

 

6TH AVENUE

7TH AVENUE

Y

SVA

21ST STREET

WA

22ND STREET



AD

 

B RO

23RD STREET

5TH AVENUE

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Next to information signs or advertisements, identical signs are placed, mimicking the informative typography and colour of the original ones. In place of the real text there is a verse from a poem, corresponding literally or metaphorically to the site, creating a poetic and strangely perplexing atmosphere for the passerby. In order to experience the piece in sequence one must navigate back and forth the street according to the routes specified by the map. (From A to B to C etc.) This kind of navigation requires not an ‘efficient’ straight line moving about the city, as we are used to, but a sort of meandering, piecing it together through exploring and treasure hunting, a childhood joy that we have long forgotten. oten.

This Life is Good, art interventions in public places, locations’ map, NY 2009 98

This Life is Good, art interventions in public places, during SVA Residency, NY 2009 99

This Life is Good, art interventions in public places, during SVA Residency, NY 2009 100

This Life is Good, art interventions in public places, during SVA Residency, NY 2009 101

This Life is Good, art interventions in public places, during SVA Residency, NY 2009 102

This Life is Good, art interventions in public places, during SVA Residency, NY 2009 103

This Life is Good, art interventions in public places, during SVA Residency, NY 2009 104

This Life is Good, art interventions in public places, during SVA Residency, NY 2009 105

Systematically arranged This public intevention was a group project undertaken by the artists’ group UnDo formed i by the Faculty of the Graphic Arts program of the Department of Arts, European University Cyprus. The artists involved were: Tasos Anastasiades, Yianna Christoforou, Demetra Egglezou, Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee and Elena Stylianou. The art intervention at the Cyprus Library, included a video and sound projection and an unconventional piece of performance art, aiming to challenge traditional notion of space and locality and at re-inventing the library, traditionally considered as an old, quite and dusty place. The event was about bridging the gap between a particular place, its people and their everydayness. The Library opened its doors for one day on a Sunday afternoon (October 24, 2010 ) at the Cyprus Library to become an alternative setting without loosing the essence of its character; it is and will always be a place of knowledge.

Petrofani Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

106

Both pages: Systematically Arranged, art intervention in public space, projrction on Cyprus Library, 2010 107

“Obsessive Patterns: Beautiful Strange Homeland�

Obsessive Patterns: ‘Beautiful Strange Homeland’ The exhibition ‘Beautiful Strange Homeland’, presented in OPUS 39 is part of an artistic project entitled Obsessive Patterns. The project dealt with the existence of delusive attitudes towards feelings, situations, and experiences that lead to specific, sometimes odd patterns of behaviour. The frailty of human perception and knowledge - which endures despite all training, as presented in my previous exhibitions (‘No More Tears’ and Other Delusions, Trifling Sanctuaries) - was examined here not only on a personal level but through investigating whole systems of social behaviours. In the visual domain this is translated through a constant subversion between text and image or meaning, idea, preconception and image.

I have become increasingly interested in patterns as a way to visually express routine behaviours, unexamined preconceptions, or, what is most difficult, the disparity between the truth “taken” by the heart (at times in spite of fact), and that “taken” by reason on the basis of fact. At the core of that research was the examination of a particular type of pattern: Specific ‘visual irregularities’ that we see around us that result from social, aesthetic and gnoseological abnormalities, a theme that is still present in my work.

The exhibition featured paintings, digital prints, videos, installations and even visual poetry.

Petrofani Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

110

Confidential Conversations, acrylic on canvas, 40x30cm, 2008 111

In the Land of “NO, NO!”, acrylic on canvas, 30x40cm, 2008 112

In the Land of “NO, NO!’I , acrylic on canvas, 10x10cm, 2008 113

Ofton Mobile in idyllic Landscape, acrylic on canvas, 50x60 cm, 2008 114

Bucolic Ofton Mobile, acrylic on canvas, 17x23 cm, 2008 115

Makarios & Bird�, acrylic on canvas, 10x10cm, each, 2008 116

Breath In, acrylic on canvas, 2008 117

Please Throw the Bodies in the Oven, photograph, from the series obsessive patterns, 2008 118

Scizzors are sharpened, photograph, from the series obsessive patterns, 2008 119

Video Still from the video ‘Another Lonely day in Nicosia’, 2008 from the series obsessive patterns 120

Video Still from the video ‘Barriers, 2008 from the series obsessive patterns 121

Monomaniacal (Obsessive) patterns: Beautiful and Strange Homeland. Part One*

By Evi Haggipavlu Patriarchy that has reduced woman to her body parts thus limiting her to a mere reproductive function constitutes the background of this exhibit.

Its title, Monomaniacal (Obsessive) patterns: Beautiful and Strange Homeland Part One, pacifies us as it pushes away the fear of an end by creating the expectation of a sequel regardless of whether or not this will come. As for “monomania” it reveals the current interpretation of being and truth characterizing our times; the thoughtless, one-sided almost totally indifferent way we no longer see.

Having put on the mask, we are ready to go on a journey through the ruins of our consumer culture. The mask protects us from pollution. Its oxygen clears our head and for rare moments, the truths of this exhibit touch us. We come face to face with a series of visual distortions, collections of objects, ideas, patterns without coherence that we encounter daily without interest. Sophia challenges us to pay closer attention to these.

Through her art our warped everydayness becomes de-mystified—thus comes closer to us – as she manages to bridge the temporal and spatial distance separating works of art of a specific kind from their audience.

Through reproductions, juxtapositions, contradictions and depictions of the absurd in all its forms, Sophia seduces us into following her in the midst of difference—the space in which she works—and allows us to become interested in what is going on around us.

What do we see when art becomes interesting, when, in other words it is created the midst of difference and has as its object the ontological dimension of our existence as something that concerns us?

A gigantic Easter chicken right next to the statue of Archbishop Makarios the III violently introduces us to the post-colonial, hybrid, after-the-NO -vote, consumer oriented, culturally almost dead, but despite all these still nationalistic and highly religious Cyprus of today. In this depiction the glorious past tries in vain to coexist with the present of super-stores, with the bargains, and the Cyprus Mall. Each on its own desperately attempts to seek the historical context out of which it sprung, together, they disclose to us the plastic culture of the Greek/orthodox Cyprus that supported the NO option.

The Greek flag with the cross, right next to a TV cable at the top of a roof with a minaret at the background suggest that the total is always larger than the sum of its parts. The double negative of the depiction makes the symbiotic co-existence of the opposites more than possible.

The question, however, returns to haunt us, what does it mean to live and create in difference? A hint is given in one of Sophia’s videos, “I tried to recall the last time I remembered myself.” Our current understanding of reality can be seen as something akin to a double forgetting, we forgot, in other words, that we have forgotten.

How could we possibly remember – what though – in the semiotic chaos in which we live? More importantly, how can we remember that we forgot being bombarded by plastic chairs everywhere, vans with ovens for “ofton,” Easter chickens that scare children and adults alike? Maybe we forgot that we have forgotten because we can no longer bear the thought that Che Guevara is reduced to a picture on a lighter, or that love can last no longer than a day, maybe that is why, maybe these are the reasons that explain our forgetfulness.

How do we relate to the temporality of existence today? How do we remember? With monuments that we 122

drive by quickly and slogans that have long since lost their political efficacy yet we insist on using whenever and however we see fit. Sartre claims that the human being has two options in life: you either live, or tell stories about life. Lived experiences of all kinds, feelings, memories, political, love and other traumas of life, are not “things” that can be safely put away in a word, a monument, or a slogan painted on a decaying wall.

Our life can never be reduced to an ossified concept we are ordered to remember. We live at the time of commanding reminders—multilayered slogans appearing on store windows alongside the credit cards the store accepts presenting themselves as obvious in meaning. Along with goods for sale and holiday travel packages, we could, we are assured, buy political consciousness, historical memory and ways of thinking.

‘I AM NOT FORGETTING’, has become, ‘DO NOT FORGET’. The ‘NO’ option melodramatically orders, ‘DO NOT’. The, ‘Karavas forever’ and ‘I love Keryneia’, have turned into imperatives to ‘LOVE KERYNEIA’and ‘KEEP KARAVAS FOREVER IN OUR MEMORY’. We are told what we must remembernot to forget, ‘PLEASE THROW THE BODIES INTO THE OVEN’, says another one of the commanding reminders.

Despite all the reminders and guarantees that go along with them, something still feels off, we are beginning to distinguish the decay on the walls, the chicken, if we pay close attention to it, is capable of invading our dreams turning them into nightmares. We anxiously search for the oxygen mask before we go to bed. In rare moments, we are still almost certain that we have forgotten something, in vain we try to remember what, the persistent anxiety wears us down, we fall asleep.

Sophia will not let us though, she does not give up. In one of her videos she speaks of our times’ double forgetting as the multidimensional and almost total alienation we feel in our lives; from ourselves, the people close to us, and in our sterile working environments. The lack of meaningful connections in the most fundamental aspects of our existence leads us to isolation and introversion. Because of this, our desires, feelings, memories assume the guise of a momentary nostalgic dream that can only express itself as an inner monologue in color, as a thought or vision that we have in moments that we manage to escape from our suffocating everydayness. It is impossible for us to remember ourselves or others. Since creativity is no longer the fundamental pre-condition of our personal or working relationships, for someone to survive she has to destroy all signs of life from inside of her—the potential for a life with meaning opening up with the art of difference— by imprisoning herself within imaginary boundaries that acquire real life and prevent her from crossing them. It has become imperative for one to learn to live indifferently.

What could save us? The anxiety of the human being for whom existence is an issue, our inner tears that have the ability to rekindle our passion for life—as another one of Sophia’s videos suggests—and finally works of art, like those of Sophia, that are inspired in difference and have the potential to remind us of all those things we almost lost and conveniently forgot about.

* This is the text of the speech delivered at the opening of the exhibition of Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee “Obsessive Patterns: Beautiful and Strange Homeland” on 10th November 2008 by Evi Haggipavlu, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the European University Cyprus at the gallery Opus 39, Nicosia.

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book covers and illustrations

book covers and illustrations Over the years, working in a graphic design department and coming from a literary family I have been asked to create illustrations for poems or contribute to the covers of books with a new, especially comissioned, or already existing artwork. I have done this with great pleasure and by developing a distinct and independant style of my fine art work. Here, for reasons of economy of space are presented just a few examples from that line of work.

126

Βασίλκα Πετρόβα-Χατζήπαπα

Η μοναδική λέξη Βασίλκα Πετρόβα-Χατζήπαπα

Μαρία Σιακαλλή και Σενέμ Γκιοκέλ

Ποίηση

Η μοναδική λέξη

Senem Gökel ve Maria Siakalli

Şiirler

ΕΝΩΣΗ ΛΟΓΟΤΕΧΝΩΝ ΚΥΠΡΟΥ BASIM KIBRIS YAZARLAR BIRLIĞI

Περί λύχνων αφάς Λευκωσία 2010

Book covers 127

Περί λύχνων αφάς Λευκωσία 2010

Illustrations (details), from the poetry book One and Only Word, Sofia, 2009 and Nicosia, 2010 128

Illustrations (details), from the poetry book Life on Hold, Sofia, 2004 129

B.

Texts, press, bibliography (reference by others)

134

135

Petrofani Village, 2013 From the series “Without a resting place/monument “, site specific installation, work in process.

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137

Saechishe Zeitung, 27/6/20111 .

138

ΠΟΛ

ΝΟΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ 2008

«Όμορφη και Παράξενη Πατρίδα» Η νέα εικαστική πρόταση της Σοφίας Χατζήπαπα-Gee

Έλληνες γραφείς στη Σερβία

θα είναι η τιμώμενη χώ4η έκθεση βιβλίου του ου, που θα πραγματοον Οκτώβριο του 2009. ελετή λήξης της 53ης έκρέσβης της Ιαπωνίας (τιώρα στη φετινή έκθεση) το «ανοιχτό βιβλίο» στον ή της Ελλάδας στη Σερ-

ας πρεσβευτής Χρίστος υλος ευχαρίστησε τη διης έκθεσης βιβλίου και είο Πολιτισμού της Σερημαίνοντας ότι «η διάή θα συμβάλει στην ανάπολιτιστικών σχέσεων ωρών που υστερούν σε με τις πολιτικές και οισχέσεις». ναγόπουλος τόνισε ότι ίγει ένα βιβλίο, ανοίγει κόσμος» και εξέφρασε τητα ότι οι ιστορικοί δεύο λαών θα εκφραστούν ομέα του πολιτισμού. αίνοντας το ενδιαφέρον ας για την ανάπτυξη των ών σχέσεων με τη Σεραναγόπουλος αναφέρίδρυση, στο Βελιγράδι, υ ελληνικού Ιδρύματος ύ και στην ανακαίνιση υ «Νεμπόισα», όπου θαο Ρήγας Φεραίος και έχει στορική σημασία για τους

ση βιβλίου στο Βελιγράεί ένα από τα μεγαλύτετικά γεγονότα στη Σερ3η έκθεση φέτος επιν 147.000 άτομα.

Η

έκθεση «Όμορφη και Παράξενη Πατρίδα» αποτελεί το πρώτο μέρος μιας ευρύτερης έρευνας με το γενικό τίτλο «Μονομανή Μοτίβα» και πραγματεύεται την ύπαρξη μιας πλανερής αντιμετώπισης των συναισθημάτων, καταστάσεων και εμπειριών μας, πράγμα που δημιουργεί οιονεί μοτίβα συμπεριφορών. Η εικαστικός καταπιάνεται εδώ, όπως και στην προηγούμενη της εικαστική εργασία (No More Tears and other Delusions, Επουσιώδη Καταφύγια), με την αδυναμία της ανθρώπινης πρόσληψης και αντίληψης του γύρω κόσμου η οποία εμμένει σε λαθεμένες εντυπώσεις, παρά τη συσσωρευμένη πείρα και εκπαίδευση. Στη νέα δουλειά η λαθεμένη αυτή πρόσληψη εξετάζεται όχι πια σε ατομικό επίπεδο, όπως την είδαμε στα Επουσιώδη Καταφύγια, παρά μέσα από ολόκληρα συστήματα κοινωνικών συμπεριφορών. Η ιδέα αυτή μεταφράζεται εικαστικά με μια συνεχή ανατροπή λόγου και εικόνας ή ιδέας, μηνύματος και εικόνας. Η έκθεση περιλαμβάνει έργα ζωγραφικά, ψηφιακά, βίντεο, εγκαταστάσεις, ακόμη και εικαστικά ποιήματα. «Κατά τη διαδικασία αυτή όλο και περισσότερο με απασχόλησε η εικαστική έκφραση στερεοτυπικών συμπεριφορών, εύκολων και αβασάνιστων προϊδεασμών και πάνω απ΄ όλα η διάσταση μεταξύ της αλήθειας που εκλαμβάνεται με το συναίσθημα και

Γνωρίστε

Ο ΚΥΠΡΙΑΚΟΣ Οργανισμός εκδρομές στους χώρους πο πριδα Αφροδίτη με τη συνο ματιζόμενα λεωφορεία . Η ε μερα Σάββατο 1 Νοεμβρίου και τις Κυριακές 9, 16 και 23 Νοεμβρίου 2008. Οι εκδρο μές περιλαμβάνουν επισκέ ψεις σε μουσεία, αρχαιολο γικούς χώρους και χώρους φυσικής ομορφιάς που πε ριλαμβάνονται στη διαδρο μή Αφροδίτη. Για πληροφο ρίες και δηλώσεις συμμετο χής αποταθείτε στα κατά τό πους γραφεία Πληροφοριών του ΚΟΤ: Λαϊκή Γειτονιά ( Λευ κωσία) τηλ. 22 674264, Λάρ νακα τηλ. 24 654322, Λεμε 932841 Η εκδρομή σήμερα Σάββ σκεψη στο Αρχαιολογικό Μο σείο Λευκωσίας και στο Μο κού Ιδρύματος της Τράπεζας Κυπριακού Οργανισμού Του

«Στο επίκεντρο της τρέχουσας

έρευνας είναι η εξέταση ενός συγκεκριμένου μοτίβου: συγκεκριμένες οπτικές ατοπίες (ανωμαλίες) ως αποτέλεσμα κοινωνικών, γνωσιολογικών και αισθητικών αγκυλώσεων»

αυτής που στηρίζεται σε γεγονότα. Στο επίκεντρο της τρέχουσας έρευνας είναι η εξέταση ενός συγκεκριμένου μοτίβου: συγκεκριμένες οπτικές ατοπίες (ανωμαλίες) ως αποτέλεσμα κοινωνικών, γνωσιολογικών και αισθητικών αγκυλώσεων», αναφέρει η καλλιτέχνις.

Η Σοφία Χατζήπαπα σπούδασε Ζωγραφική και εκπόνησε διδακτορική διατριβή στην Ιστορία και Θεωρία της Τέχνης, στην Εθνική Ακαδημία Καλών Τεχνών στη Σόφια. Έχει συμμετάσχει σε πολλές ομαδικές εκθέσεις στο εξωτερικό και στην Κύπρο. Αυτή είναι η πέμπτη της ατομική έκθεση. Έχει διδά-

ξει στο Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου και το Cyprus College, ενώ από το 2007 κατέχει θέση επίκουρου καθηγητή Εικαστικών Τεχνών στο τμήμα Τεχνών του Ευρωπαϊκού Πανεπιστημίου Κύπρου. Η έκθεση θα παρουσιαστεί στη γκαλερί Οpus 39 από τις 10 μέχρι τις 22 Νοεμβρίου.

O Νικόλας Παναγή στη Μπιενάλε Καΐρου ΣΤΗΝ 11η Μπιενάλε Καΐρου, τα εγκαίνια της οποίας θα πραγματοποιηθούν στις 20 Δεκεμβρίου 2008, η Κύπρος θα εκπροσωπηθεί με το έργο «White Light» του καλλιτέχνη Νικόλα Παναγή. Πρόκειται για δυο ταυτόχρονες βιντεοπροβολές, οι οποίες καταγράφουν και απεικονίζουν, η μεν πρώτη, με τίτλο «Chinese Workers», τη διαδικασία παραγωγής χειροποίητου χαρτιού στην Κίνα και η δεύτερη, με τίτλο «Baklava Pastry», την προετοιμασία του φύλλου του μπακλαβά σε ένα παραδοσιακό ζαχαροπλαστείο της Λευκωσίας. Η επιλογή έγινε από την αρμόδια Συμβουλευτική Επι-

Phileleftheros Newspaper, 1/11/2008 139

τροπή Επιλογής Έργων και Καλλιτεχνών. Η Επιτροπή αισθάνεται ότι το συγκεκριμένο έργο υπηρετεί, με έναν υπαινικτικό και διακριτικό τρόπο, το θέμα της Μπιενάλε («The Other»), αντιπαραβάλλοντας δυο φαινομενικά αντίθετες πρακτικές, οι οποίες όμως, χάρη στη διαμεσολάβηση της ματιάς του Καλλιτέχνη, αποκαλύπτονται στο θεατή σχεδόν πανομοιότυπες. Με τον τρόπο αυτό ο Παναγή κατορθώνει να εγείρει, και ταυτόχρονα να απαντήσει, σειρά ερωτημάτων που άπτονται της διαφορετικότητας των πολιτισμών και της κατανόησης μεταξύ τους.

Σώο το Co

ΟΙ φόβοι ότι η μεγαλύτερη σ λογή χειρογράφων του Λ νάρντο Ντα Βίντσι έχει αρχί να διαβρώνεται από μούχλα ναι αβάσιμοι, διαβεβαιώνει ιταλικό μουσείο όπου φυλά σονται τα έργα.

H Biblioteca Ambrosiana του λάνου ζήτησε από μικροβιο γους να εξετάσουν το Cod Atlanticus του Ντα Βίντσι ότ ορισμένοι μελετητές προει ποίησαν για την εμφάνιση μ ρων λεκέδων σε φύλλα π στατευτικού χαρτιού με τα οπ είχαν επενδυθεί τα χειρόγραφ Οι κηλίδες που έμοιαζαν μούχλα αποδείχθηκε τελικά προέρχονταν από άλατα υδρ

υ αντιβλημάσία επί-

τιση” από τον Λόγο στη Μουσική (π;vς θα μπορούσε, άλλωστε;). Πρόκειται δηλαδή και πάλι για την πρόσθετη δυνατότητα της (και) ερμαφρόδι-

γική μοίρα

ην εξεύρεση του κοινού πολιτισμικού παροτή που ανέφερα πιο πάνω. Αυτή ήταν η βασια της ομιλίας του υπουργού Πολιτισμού κατά ταληκτήρια σύνοδο του Συμποσίου καθώς και άδας πνευματικών ανθρώπων και πολιτικών υζήτησαν το θέμα της πολιτιστικής εξέλιξης ίβανο σε μια ειδική συνάντηση στα πλαίσια του σίου. αραλληλισμοί με τη δική μας πολιτική υπόήταν εμφανείς. Αλλά πολυάριθμες ήσαν και φορές στην Κύπρο και στον πολιτισμό της από ους συνέδρους, κυρίως εκείνους που ασχοαν με την περίοδο από το 1700 π.Χ. ώς το Χ., όταν το νησί μας είχε συνεχείς και στενές ές με την ακτή του σημερινού Λιβάνου. Σ’ όλες ραλιακές θέσεις του Λιβάνου όπου γίνονται σήαρχαιολογικές ανασκαφές τόσον από Λιβάνιο και από ξένες αποστολές, η πλειονότητα των μένων αντικειμένων αποτελείται από κυπριαεία και άλλα έργα τέχνης. Αυτό μπορεί ακόδιαπιστώσει κανείς επισκεπτόμενος το Εθνιαιολογικό Μουσείο της Βηρυτού και το Αρχαιό Μουσείο του Αμερικανικού Πανεπιστημίου ρυτού. τα τέλη του 9ου αι. π.Χ. οι Φοίνικες, που κασαν στον σημερινό Λίβανο, εγκατέλειψαν καδες τη χώρα τους και αναζήτησαν νέες πατρίολόκληρο τον χώρο της Μεσογείου, κυρίως σε πλούσιες σε μεταλλεύματα. Η πρώτη χώρα υνάντησαν ήταν η Κύπρος , όπου εγκαταστάστο Κίτιον και στη συνέχεια εξαπλώθηκαν στην ούντα, στο Ιδάλιον και στην Ταμασσό, ακόμη η Λάπηθο. ντιθέσει προς την Κύπρο, όπου διεξάγονται ματικές αρχαιολογικές ανασκαφές για έναν , με αποτέλεσμα να εμπλουτισθεί σημαντικά αιολογική βιβλιογραφία, οι περισσότερες αναές στον Λίβανο διεξήχθησαν κατά τα τέλη του αιώνα, χωρίς να έχουν ακόμη δημοσιευθεί επινικά. Γι’ αυτό και η αρχαιολογία του Λιβάνου, ς οι υπερπόντιες σχέσεις του και η χρονολόων αντικειμένων των ανασκαφών, βασίζονται άλο βαθμό στη γνώση που έχουμε για τα κυά αντικείμενα. ιτυχία του συμποσίου συνετέλεσε ώστε να δηγηθεί μια ενθουσιώδης ατμόσφαιρα για τη μεων «διεθνών» σχέσεων του Λιβάνου κατά την ότητα. Ήδη ο Υπουργός Πολιτισμού δήλωσε ο συμπόσιο με θέμα τις διαπολιτισμικές σχέτον χώρο της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου θα διεαι τακτικά στη Βηρυτό κάθε 3 ή 4 χρόνια. Η ς θα αποτελεί ένα σημαντικό μέρος έρευνας λέτης, γι’ αυτό και η συμμετοχή των νέων Κυεπιστημόνων θα ‘ναι επιβεβλημένη και άκρως ελής. Ελπίζεται ότι τα Πρακτικά Συμποσίου μοσιευθούν σε ογκώδη τόμο εντός του 2009. αταλείποντας τον Λίβανο και αναλογιζόμενος κράν και πλούσια πολιτιστική του παράδοση, α συνεχώς την σκέψη μου την Κύπρο, που έχει σου πλούσια παράδοση, αλλά και την ίδια τραΒΑΣΟΣ ΚΑΡΑΓΙΩΡΓΗΣ οίρα.

και πάλι σε βινύλιο. «Ο Δρόμος» (1969) των Μίμη Πλέσσα και Λευτέρη Παπαδόπουλου με τις αξεπέραστες ερμηνείες των Γιάννη Πουλόπου-

έκτη συνέχεια, με τον χαρακτηριστικό τίτλο «Passion», βρίσκουμε έντεκα μουσικά θέματα και τρία τραγούδια.

ΕΝ ΜΕΤΕΩΡΙΣΜΩ Του Χριστόδουλου Καλλίνου, μελετητή Λογοτεχνίας

Μονομανή μοτίβα Η ΣΟΦΙΑ Χατζήπαπα-Gee παρουσιάζει στην γκαλερί Opus 39 τη νέα της εικαστική δουλειά «Όμορφη και παράξενη πατρίδα», που εντάσσεται στο πλαίσιο ευρύτερης εικαστικής έρευνας με τίτλο «Μονομανή μοτίβα». Η καλλιτέχνις σχολιάζει εικαστικά τη λανθάνουσα πρόσληψη μιας σειράς εκφάνσεων της πραγματικότητας από το συλλογικό υποκείμενο και τις συνέπειες που έχει στις συλλογικές συμπεριφορές, καθώς επίσης στο πολιτισμικό, κοινωνικό και πολιτικό περιβάλλον. Στη βάση αυτού του εννοιολογικού άξονα, συνδέει φαινομενικά ανόμοια υλικά και εκφραστικές και εικαστικές προσεγγίσεις. Εκμεταλλεύεται εικαστικά, πέραν της κλασικής ζω-

γραφικής απεικόνισης, τη φωτογραφία σε καμβά, την video-εγκατάσταση, καθώς επίσης την εικαστική ποίηση. Η έννοια του «obsessive pattern» είναι εγγενές στοιχείο που εμφανίζεται σ’ όλα σχεδόν τα έργα που παρουσιάζει η νέα αυτή ενότητα της δουλειάς της. Η λέξη obsession συνήθως περιγράφει μια κατάσταση του πνεύματος, όπου κάποιος εγκλωβίζεται σε μια ιδέα, επιθυμία ή συναίσθημα που τον κατατρέχει, δηλώνει δηλ. μια ψυχωτική ανθρώπινη συμπεριφορά. Η εικαστικός επικεντρώνει την εικαστική της έρευνα σε συλλογικές, κυρίως πολιτισμικής φύσεως, ψυχώσεις. Η προηγούμενη δουλειά της είχε περισσότερο ενδοσκοπικό χαρακτήρα και επικεντρωνόταν σε εικαστικά μοτίβα που περιορίζονταν στην ιδιωτική σφαίρα του καλλιτεχνικού υποκειμένου -εξού και ο τίτλος «Trifling sanctuaries» (Επουσιώδη καταφύγια). Η νέα δουλειά, δείχνει μια στροφή από την ιδιωτική σφαίρα σ’ αυτή του δημόσιου βίου. Στα «Επουσιώδη καταφύγια», η εικαστική αφήγηση σχολίαζε κυρίως προσωπικές στιγμές του καλλιτεχνικού υποκειμένου, όπου με διάφορα τελετουργι-

Phileleftheros Newspaper, 26/11/2008 140

κά-συμβολικά ενέτασσε τον θεατή στον εσωτερικό του κόσμο. Η ίδια χαρακτηρίζει τη νέα εικαστική πρόταση ως «έρευνα», λέξη που περιγράφει κατ’ εξοχήν την επιστημονική δραστηριότητα και δηλώνει εγκυρότητα αντικειμενική στον τρόπο που γίνεται η πρόσληψη της πραγματικότητας. Όπως αναφέρει, ένα από τα κύρια ζητήματα που εξετάζει σ’ αυτό το project είναι: «…η αδυναμία της ανθρώπινης πρόσληψης και αντίληψης του γύρω κόσμου, η οποία εμμένει σε λαθεμένες εντυπώσεις, παρά τη συσσωρευμένη εμπειρία και εκπαίδευση. Η ψευδής ή λανθάνουσα συνείδηση σε σχέση με τα πραγματικά γεγονότα και η επίδρασή τους στη διαμόρφωση της πραγματικότητας». Αυτή βέβαια η θέση, όταν προέρχεται από έναν καλλιτέχνη, μπορεί εύκολα να προκαλέσει αμφισβήτηση σε μια εποχή που η τέχνη έπαψε να ισχυρίζεται ότι μπορεί να εκφράσει τη μια και μοναδική αλήθεια ή τρόπο θέασης της πραγματικότητας. Όμως, χωρίς αμφιβολία η καλλιτέχνις προσλαμβάνει και σχολιάζει την πραγματικότητα με ιδιαίτερο τρόπο. Η μη αληθοφανής αναπαράσταση δημιουργεί αίσθηση ανοικείωσης και ανατρέπει την παγιωμένη πρόσληψη του κόσμου των φαινομένων, αναζητώντας τις βαθύτερες αιτίες συγκεκριμένων οπτικών ανωμαλιών (ατοπιών) και τα συμπτώματά τους στο πολιτισμικό και κοινωνικό περιβάλλον. Η δουλειά αυτή αναδεικνύει την παραδοξότητα μιας κοινωνίας που όντας ασυμφιλίωτη με τον πραγματικό εαυτό της, στην πορεία της προς την ενηλικίωση, διαμέσου μιας ψευδαισθησιακής ιδεατότητας καταλήγει στο kitsch, το grotesque ή και στο τραγικό. Το έργο που τιτλοφορείται «οφτόν mobile» λ.χ., προβάλλει μια παράδοξη -υβριδιακή πολιτισμική κατάσταση, συνέπεια της βίαιας συνάντησης του πολιτισμικού πριμιτιβισμού που χαρακτήριζε την κυπριακή κοινωνία μέχρι πρόσφατα, με τη μετα-νεωτερική πολιτισμική κατάσταση. Η ιδέα του obsessive pattern, εντοπίζεται και ως μορφή διαταραγμένης σχέσης μιας κοινωνίας που αρνείται να συμφιλιωθεί με τον πραγματικό εαυτό της, με εκδήλωση στην αισθητική και πολιτισμική σφαίρα μιας υπερφίαλης συμπεριφοράς που ενώ επιδιώκει μια ψευδαισθησιακή αισθητική ιδεατότητα καταλήγει στο πολιτισμικό kitsch. Τέλος, στη video-εγκατάσταση με τίτλο «Another lonely day εντοπίζει την αδυνατότητα του συλλογικού υποκειμένου να διακρίνει τη διάσταση του Φαίνεσθαι από το Είναι των πραγμάτων, παραγνωρίζοντας ακόμη και την αξία του υπέρτατου αγαθού του ανθρώπου: αυτού της ζωής. Ένα λουλουδένιο στεφάνι βρίσκεται καταμεσής πολύβουης λεωφόρου. Η ύπαρξή του είναι σχεδόν αθέατη, αφού τα αυτοκίνητα το προσπερνούν με ιλιγγιώδη και θανατηφόρα ταχύτητα. Όπως ακριβώς οι άνθρωποι τρέχουν καθημερινά να προλάβουν ασήμαντα πολλές φορές πράγματα, με τίμημα την ίδια τους τη ζωή.

City Free Press, November 2008 141

Phileleftheros , 23/11/2008 142

Phileleftheros , 9/11/2008 143

5/57

postcard cy ™OºIA XATZH¶A¶A-GEE KAI STEPHEN GEE

™ÙÈÁÌÈfiÙ˘Ô ·fi ÙÔ ‚›ÓÙÂÔ ™ÙË ¯ÒÚ· ÙÔ˘ «OXI», Ô˘ ·ÚÔ˘ÛÈ¿ÛÙËΠÚfiÛÊ·Ù· ÛÙËÓ ¤ÎıÂÛË «Chypre 2010, L’art au present», ÛÙÔ ¶·Ú›ÛÈ, ÙÔ ÔÔ›Ô Ï·Ì‚¿ÓÂÈ ¯ÒÚ· ÛÙË ÁÓˆÛÙ‹ ˆ˜ «ÂÚÈÔ¯‹ ÙÔ˘ Ÿ¯È». «™ÙË ¯ÒÚ· ÙÔ˘ OXI», Ë ÌÂÙ·ÔÏÂÌÈ΋ K‡ÚÔ˜ ‰È·Ê·›ÓÂÙ·È Ì¤Û· ·fi ÌÈ· ÛÂÈÚ¿ ÂÙÂÚfiÎÏÈÙˆÓ ÛÙÔȯ›ˆÓ Ô˘ ‚Ú›ÛÎÔÓÙ·È Û ·Ú¿ÍÂÓË Û˘Ì‚›ˆÛË, ·Ó·‰ÂÈÎÓ‡ÔÓÙ·˜ ÌÈ· ·ÏÏÔÚfiÛ·ÏÏË, ·Û˘ÌÊÈÏ›ˆÙË Ì ÙÔÓ Â·˘Ùfi Ù˘ ÎÔÈÓˆÓ›·.

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Politis newspaper, 27/3/2011 From the project Postcard Cy, organised by Politis.

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Cyprus Weekly, 7-13/11/2008 145

Politis, 9/11/2008.

146

Politis, 22/11/2008 147

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Bio

Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee

CURRICULUM VITAE Name :

Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee

Current position :

Associate Professor European University Cyprus

Address :

12, Annis Komninis, Nicosia, 1060

Telephone :

+35799566904

Εmail :

s.hadjipapa@gmail.com

Webpage:

www.facebook.com/Sophia-Hadjipapa-Gee-165804493487052/ (currently new personal under construction)

Education : 10.1994 – 1.

2000:

B.A. and Master of Arts in Painting National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia Final Mark obtained: Excellent

10.1994 – 1.

2000:

Educational Certificate for teaching art in elementary, high schools and specialized Art schools.

National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia

12.2000 12.2003:

PhD in Art History and Fine Arts, National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia

Experience : Teaching: 1/10/2013onwards

Associate Professor, Fine Arts, European University -Cyprus

1.10.20071.10.2013:

Assistant Professor, Fine Arts, European University -Cyprus

20.7.200530.9.2007:

Fine Arts Lecturer, Cyprus College

5.1.200520.7.2005:

Teaching Fellow, Cyprus College.

10/2004 – 10/2005

Teaching art to young children at the Cultural movement of Aglantzia.

7.9.20043.12.2004:

Teaching Fellow, University of Cyprus, Department of Education.

Teaching assistant to undergraduate students in the Painting Department, as part of 12.2001-12.2003: the PhD students' duties Academy of Fine-Arts, Sofia.

Self-employment, Teaching Fine Art to students and adults in own private art studio.

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1

Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee

9.2000-9.2001: Taught Courses:

           

Painting, Art Education, Painting Fundamentals, Drawing Techniques, Design Principles, Introduction to Art, History of Art and Culture I&II. Idea Generation Techniques Graphic Design History Art History (thematic, MA Level) Environment, Ecology and Visual Arts (MA Level) Street Art and Public Art Interventions

Administrative: 1/9/20141/8/2016: 1/9/2014onwards:

Chair of the Department of Arts, EUC Coordinator of the Visual Arts in Education Program, EUC Coordinator of the Graphic Design Program, EUC

1/10/20071/10/2008

Chair of the Department of Arts, EUC

1/10/20081/10/2012

Vice-Chair of the Department of Arts, EUC

1/10/20051/10/2010

Coordinator of the Graphic Design and Advertising Program, EUC

Areas Of Concentration / Research Interests: Visual:

Reinterpretations of Byzantine iconography in contemporary, secular painting, sacred symbols and geometry Representation of the latent city: migrants, settlers, hybrid identities, urban symbolism

Art History and Theory:

Art as a means of social change Modern Greek and Bulgarian Art. National art movements and their relationships to the quest for national identity.

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Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee Byzantine and Post Byzantine reminiscences in the modern art of Bulgaria and Greece in the framework of the national art movements.

Professional Association: since 2000

Cyprus Chamber of Arts (member, served as general secretary of the board from 2006 to 2009 and as member of the Evaluation and Assessment Committee from 2009 to 2012)

since 2003 since 2007

Union of Bulgarian Artists (Member) Cyprus Society for Education through Art (Member)

Awards / Distinctions 1/2000-1/2003

Scholarship of the Bulgarian Government.

Awards:

Young Artist of the Year 2003, Irida Gallery, 2003, Sofia.

Residencies: August 2016 August 2015 September 2009

2nd International Painting and Sculpture Symposium, Samokov, Bulgaria International Painting and Sculpture Symposium, Samokov, Bulgaria

1st

SVA, New York, USA

July 2011

Ostrale, Dresden, Germany

Languages: 1. Greek: 2. Bulgarian: 3. English: 4. Italian: 5. German: 6. French:

Native Native Fluent (General Certificate of Education in English Language, University of London) Very good: Italian Cultural Institute, Sofia, Certtficato di Frequenza Good: Zentrale Mittelstufenprufung, Goethe Institut Basic: 4-year courses in High school.

Research:

Publications (books): Publications (chapters in books):

Ph.D. thesis: "Projections of Byzantine Art in the Greek and Bulgarian Painting: In Search of National Identity. (1920-1940)".

Supervisor: Prof. A. Daniel, Associate Supervisor: Senior Research fellow Dr. I. Genova.

Trifling Sanctuaries (Exhibition Catalogue), Pantheon Gallery, Nicosia, 2006. 

‘A History that cuts both ways: Racism in Cyprus’ in: Franziska Pirstinger und Gerlinde Uhlir (eds) Camille Claudel III: Aesthetic Education in European Dimensions Graz: Eigenverlag, 2009. p. 50 (http://www.itae.at/ty3/images/stories/downloads/pdf/book_camille_claudel_I II.pdf)



I am my style" in YK:EXM, EYRETERIO. Publication of the project "Under Construction: Alternative Museum Spaces" organised by The Chamber of

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Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee Fine Arts, The Municipal Arts Centre and the Ministry of Culture and Education of Cyprus, 2007

Publications (Articles, Monographs, Reviews, etc): Authored:



"The Use of Byzantine Iconography to express national aspirations and identities in Bulgaria and Greece in the 1920s and 1930s: Phōtēs Kontoglou and Vasil Zakhariev" in: Claire Norton (ed.) Nationalism, Historiography and the (Re)construction of the Past, New Academia, 2007



"Turning religious art into national. Modifying the model and altering the context" in: Art and Context, Conference Proceedings, 2nd Youth Conference of the institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Academic Publications "Prof. Marin Drinov", Sofia, 2004, pp. 111-119}.



Artistic-research-overview for Cyprus in the framework of the Share Network Research overview, 2012 (can be retrieved at http://www.sharenetwork.eu/artistic-research-overview/cyprus ) Red to the Extremes (introductory text to the) Young Cypriot Artists Exhibition Catalogue, 2011 The Meanderings of a Line ((introductory text to the) Young Cypriot Artists Exhibition Catalogue, 2010 Juicy Painting, (introductory text to the) Young Cypriot Artists Exhibition Catalogue, 2009

  

Publications of Visual Work (Reference by others):

         

Terra Mediterranea / In Crisis, Exhibition Catalogue. Yannis Toumazis, ed.

(Nicosia: Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, 2012) Ostrale'011, Slaughterhouse Five, exhibition catalogue, Dresden 2011 Y.Toumazis & A.Michael (eds.) Chypre 2010, L’art au present, exhibition catalogue, Nicosia 2010.

M.Schiza, 50 Years of Visual Art Creation, Exhibition catalogue, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Cyprus Republic, organised by the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts. 2010 – Nicosia E.Nikita, Diary 2010 –Women Artists of Cyprus, En Typois, Nicosia: 2010 Ed Woodham, Erin Donnelly, Radhika Subramaniam(eds.), Art In Odd Places: Sign, Art in Odd Places, NY: 2011 Let’s Talk about Immigration, international exhibition (catalogue), Municipal Gallery of Thessaloniki, Greece, 23.2.2007- 10.3.2007 Irina Genova, Liubinka Stoilova (eds): Presences/Absences: Women Artists and Architects in the Modern Art of Bulgaria, Sofia State Gallery, November 2006.

Cyprus Art in the 20th century, New Cyprus Association, Nicosia: 2005.

Cyprus Artists, Pantheon Gallery, Nicosia, December, 2002.

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Curriculum Vitae

Journal Publications (authored) :

Conference Presentations:

Newspaper Articles : Authored:

Dr. Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee 

Young Cypriot Artists, Exhibition Catalogue, 2007



"From the religious art towards the “native”. The case of Canko Lavrenov and Polikleitos Rengos", Art Studies Quarterly of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 3, 2004 "Theofilos, an ideal of Greekness", Balkani, Sofia,4, 2004.

"Kontoglou, Romantic or Fanatic?", Art Studies Quarterly of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 4, 2003.

 



“Metro Mentality: a participatory project”, Presented at the 13th ELIA Biennial Conference ‘Location Aesthetics’, Glasgow, 12-15 November, 2015



"Painting with guilt or without: Contemporary Visual Realities for the Young Painters of Cyprus". Presented at the Conference "Visual Arts in Cyprus, Contemporary trends, Problems and Perspectives", University of Nicosia, 16-17/5/2008.



"Common strategies employed in transforming religious art into national: The case of Kontoglou and Zahariev". Presented at the Conference "Nationalism, Historiography and the (Re)construction of the Past", Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, University of Birmingham, Birmingham 11-12/9/ 2004



"Turning religious art into national. Modifying the model and altering the context". Presented at the Second Youth Conference of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Conference title: "Art and Context", Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, 21-22 February 2004.



"Similar processes and premises underlying the formation of the idea of national art in Greece and Bulgaria". Presented at the “5th Annual Postgraduate Conference on Central and Eastern Europe” School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, University College London, London, UK, 5-8/11/ 2003.



"The revival of Byzantine elements in the Greek and Bulgarian painting in the framework of the quest for national identity. (1920-1940) ".Presented at "Modernist Movements and the Byzantine Tradition", International Symposium in the State Museum of Contemporary Art, 18-23/12/2002, Thessaloniki, Greece.



Venice Biennial: Collectivity and Fragmentation. An Encyclopaedic Palace or a Magical One? , Politis Newspaper, 10/06/2013 (http://www.parathyro.com/?p=21600 )



How to manage the crisis psychologically, Phileleftheros Newspaper,

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Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee 26/5/2013 (co-authored) 

«The mistake we didn’t make»: Art as an axis of communication between peoples". Phileleftheros Newspaper,22/09/2006



"Third International Symposium of Painting, Patra 2006". Politis Newspaper 5/10/2006

Reference By Others:



A big collection of newspaper articles referencing my artistic work available upon request

Invited Talks, Seminars & Colloquia :



"Trifling Sanctuaries revisited", Public lecture presented at the 19th Congress of IAPMA, (30/07/2007 – 3/08/2007), Wadham College Oxford, UK "On the tracks of Byzantine Cyprus" ARION Study Visit (7/05/200711/05/07): Teachers` training in Environmental Education through art and culture. Pedoulas, Environmental Education Centre.

"Visual Point: We from the viewpoint of the Other" at the conference: Culture, Arts and Education, organised by CySEA: 10/03/2007, Cultural Centre of Hellenic Bank, Nicosia.

ART AWARE: Public Lecture/ Presentation of own work, Goethe Zentrum, Nicosia, 11/2006.

Participation in the 3rd International Painting Symposium, September 2006, Patra, Greece.

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Research programmes and Grants

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Urban Emptiness in Nicosia as part of the Urban Emptiness Network (urbanemptiness.org); Camille Claudel III, 2009 (Erasmus IP ) Share 2010-2013 (Culture, Life Long Learning)

Other Scholarly/Creative Activities Exhibitions: Individual and Group shows : Personal exhibitions:

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One and Only Word, Opus 39 Gallery, Nicosia,Cyprus, 12/4/20010 24/4/2010 One and Only Word, Sofia Press Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria, 27/10/2009 2/11/2 Obsessive Patterns, Opus 39 Gallery, Nicosia, 10/11/2008-22/11/2008 Trifling Sanctuaries, Pantheon Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus (13/10/200627/10/2006) Small Domestic Rituals, FREEZ BAR, 29/6/2006 – 29/7/2006.

'No more tears' and other delusions, Irida Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2004.

Spiritual topography, Opus 39 Gallery, Nicosia, 2000.

Nude, Gallery of the Friends of Fine Arts Organisation, Nicosia 1999

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The Now Inscribed within Us, Samokov Municipal Museum, Samokov,

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Curriculum Vitae

Selected group shows and participations:

Dr. Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee

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Bulgaria, 2016 The Land and the People, Samokov Municipal Museum, Samokov, Bulgaria, 2015 Art in Odd Places: The Artifacts, Governors Island, New York, 2014 Treasure island, Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, Nicosia, 2014 The Colour of Truth, Bicommunal Exhibition about the Missing Persons of Cyprus, Goethe Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus, 17/3/2013-31/3/2013.

Global Positioning System (So You Say You Want a Revolution), Westside Gallery, NY, 28/7/2012 - 18/8/2012.

At Maroudia's: parallel to Terra Mediterranea in Crisis, House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios (the Ethnological Museum), Nicosia, Cyprus, July 4/7/2012-30/12/2012.

London Greek Film Festival, London, UK, 17/10/2011-25/10/2011 Ostrale 2011, International Exhibition of Contemporary Visual Arts, Dresden, Germany, 1/7/2011-4/9/2011.

Chypre 2010, L’art au present (curated by Y. Toumazis and A. Michael) , Espace Commines, Paris, 22/12/2010 – 9/1/2011 50 Years of Visual Art Creation -Exhibition on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Cyprus Republic, organised by the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts (Curated by Marina Schiza), Myloi Cultural Centre, Nicosia, 4 – 18/10/2010 Systematically Arranged - Art Intervention at the Cyprus Library, with the Artists’ Group UnDo (Faculty of the Department of Arts, European University Cyprus) , 24/10/2010.

Holds a Thin Line ,Goethe Institute of Ankara, Turkey, 29/5-4/6 /2010.

Dolores Project, City Hall of the 18th District of Paris, France, 25/11/20095/12/2009.

Sign 2009 - Public Art Festival curated by Art in Odd Places, New York, 1/10/2009- 26/10/2009.

Sign 23 & Open studios of Summer Residency of SVA, New York, 6/8/2009 London Greek Film Festival, London,13/11/2008-16/11/2008.

DiverCYty, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 30/9/2008 -10/10/2008.

Videoholica - supporting video program of the Biennial ‘August in Art’, Varna, Bulgaria, 1/8/2008-31/8/2008.

27 Place Del’ Europe Project, Paris 8/10/2007 Self-portraits, Municipal Arts Centre, Nicosia, Cyprus, 1611/2007-4/5/2008 Art Aware II, Famagusta Gate, Nicosia, Group Exhibition, 11/06/200722/06/2007 Lets talk about Immigration, international exhibition, Municipal Gallery of Thessaloniki, Greece, 23/2/2007-10/3/2007 Presences/Absences: Women Artists and Architects in the Modern Art of Bulgaria, Sofia State Gallery, 11/ 2006.

A dream come True, The Basement, 24/ 9 / 2004, Vienna, Austria.

Figurative Painting, Association of Bulgarian Artists, Sofia 2003.

The Day After, Association of Bulgarian Artists, Sofia, 2001.

Participation in The Absolute Painting, a project of Absolute Vodka, Bulgaria, 2000 Youth Biennale "VOX HUMANA", Ostrava, Czech Republic, 2000.

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Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee

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2nd International Painting and Sculpture Symposium, Samokov, Bulgaria, 2016 Urban Emptiness in Nicosia, (2015- onwards) Coordination and organisation of the 1st Cultural Month of EUC, 2015 (organizing a full month of cultural activities for our University, including concerts, film screenings, talks, exhibitions, a symposium, children's theatre and activities etc. Coordinating the organising committee, drafting a programme, contacting participants, arranging venues, preparing press releases, finding funding, coordinating working teams, creating recipient databases, thank you letters, etc).

Curating and project coordination:

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Annual Exhibition of Young Cypriot Artists, Akamantis Conference and Exhibition Centre, Nicosia, 2008 -2011

Project coordination:

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llustrations for the Bulgarian poetry publication “Orehovi Dumi” (Walnut Words) and in Greek “I Monadiki Lexi”(The Only Word), by Vasilka Hadjipapa, Sofia: Plamak Publishing, 2009 and Nicosia: peri Lychnon Afas, 2010 respectively.

Illustrations for the poetry book of Otlojen Jivot (Life on Hold) by Vasilka Hadjipapa, Sofia: Balkani, 2004

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Illustrations and covers of books

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Hristos Hacιpapas, Dengesiz Adιm Ve Diğer Öyküler, Nicosia: Işιk Kitabevi, 2013.

Maria Shakalli and Senem Gökel, Poetry, bi-lingual edition of the Union of Cyprus Writers, Nicosia, 2012 Ibrahim Aziz, Matia sto Paraskinio, Peri Lychnon Afas: Nicosia 2011 Christos Hadjipapas, Ta pigadia tis istorias, Gavrielides Publishing: Athens, 2012 Vasilka Petrova Hadjipapa, I monadiki lexi, Peri Lychnon Afas: Nicosia 2010 Christos Hadjipapas, To Astathes vima, Gavrielides Publishing: Athens 2009 Josef Josefides, Anemoessa: Anthology of Turkish Cypriot Poetry, Nicosia 2007 Savvas Pavlou, Filologika kai Alla, Nicosia, 2005.

Vasilka Hadjipapa, Otlojen Jivot (Life on Hold), Sofia: Balkani, 2004.

Christos Hadjipapas, Eros en Kamino, Athens: Livanis, 2001 Christos Hadjipapas, Sto mati tou fidiou, Athens: Kastaniotis, 2000

Covers of Books:

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Curriculum Vitae Editorial Boards: Consultancies / Organising Committees and boards.

Dr. Sophia Hadjipapa-Gee Editorial Board of ARTION magazine, published by the Chamber of Fine Arts, Cyprus  Committee for the composition of the New Curricula in Art (academic advisor).  Organising Committee of the 4th International Motion Festival, EUC, Nicosia, 2017  Organising Committee of the 3nd International Motion Festival, EUC, Nicosia, 2015 (also awards committee for video art and experimental film selection).  Scientific committee for the International symposium Curatorial Practices Reframed: Politics and Pedagogy in Curating Contemporary Art (1-2 November, 2013, EUC, Nicosia)  Selection Committee for Biennials of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Cyprus (2013-2015, and 2016-2018)  Organising Committee of 2nd International Motion Festival, EUC, Nicosia, 2013  Organising Committee of 1st International Motion Festival, EUC, Nicosia, 2012  Jury in the Blue Art Awards, 16/06/2007, Nicosia  Member, the Organising committee of "Under Construction: Alternative Museum Spaces", ( Project organised by the Chamber of Fine Arts, the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, in collaboration with the Pierides Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Culture.  Member, the Organising committee of "Weavings" Art Competition organised by the Chamber of Fine Arts, the Ministry of Education and Culture and EMAA.

Extra Curricular Activities:

Reading, Dancing, Cinema, Theatre, Meditation, Reiki

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