The importance of cultural diplomacy

By Constantinos Christofides

When I was Rector at the University of Cyprus, I was visited by a foreign ambassador just as his posting was drawing to an end in 2018. As usual, we had a very interesting conversation on a wide range of issues. Apart from being a consummate diplomat, the ambassador had a deep knowledge of technology, science, history of science, innovation and start-ups, etc. He had also been deeply involved in strengthening relations between the university and various organisations in his country.

After the end of our chat, the ambassador asked me if he could photograph the paintings hanging in my office, particularly those by the artist, Andreas Ladommatos. Having spotted a genuine interest in Ladommatos’ paintings, I proposed we visit the artist at his home so we could see more of his works and the ambassador could meet him in person. He happily accepted. I contacted Ladommatos, a cheerful, polite man, who told me he would expect us for coffee at his house the next morning, just a day before the ambassador left Cyprus.

The next morning the artist warmly welcomed us to his house and spoke of his Lapithos origins, his artistic voyage and his work. He was incredibly descriptive about Cyprus nature, its rocks, trees, flowers and colours. The ambassador listened very attentively, without saying much, and within a few minutes, Ladommatos had won him over completely. I was just an observer, thinking that no Cypriot politician would ever have won him over so directly during his time in Cyprus.

In a conversation with the ambassador after the visit, he told me he couldn’t believe he had been in Cyprus for four years and only on his last day did he have the chance to meet a Cypriot artist.

“In other countries, the foreign ministries bring us into contact with leading cultural figures of a country and your ministry should be doing something similar,” he said.

Over the next few days I tried to think how things should work in an ‘Other Cyprus’. I contacted high-ranking officials of the foreign ministry and put forward my idea. I told them the University of Cyprus could organise every two years specifically for the diplomatic missions an event lasting three to four days, in which people from the cultural scene would participate. They could talk about the ideas behind their work, be it painting, sculpture, music, theatre, cinema etc. It would be an opportunity for foreign diplomats to meet people from our cultural scene, to get to know them and engage in conversation with them.

I strongly believe that you can win over diplomats much more easily with culture than with traditional politics. This is because culture opens hearts and makes them more receptive. Through this event, I am certain that foreigners would better understand the destruction of a civilisation in occupied Cyprus. It would be much more effective having an archaeologist talking to foreign diplomats about Salamis for example, rather than someone from the party production line, simply regaling the tales he spouts to the party faithful.

I remember at a special event we held at the university in 2017, we had invited all the ambassadors of European countries to read an extract from Homer’s Iliad, in their country’s language. They did it with real emotion and felt the connection with the broader European civilisation. Several ambassadors urged me afterwards that it would give Cyprus many advantages if we tried to show our cultural links with the broader European culture.

Cultural diplomacy is something more than sending an art exhibition or theatrical performance abroad. It requires more originality and the continuous involvement of foreign diplomats in what is going on here. Regrettably, my suggestion to the foreign ministry was ignored. I hope the foreign ministry will reset its objectives and take into account the above-mentioned proposal and I am certain the University of Cyprus would happily participate in this project.

This country, regardless of how small it is, continues to produce culture, has important artists and a heritage going back to the depths of time. We are not just a ‘golden-green leaf thrown in the sea’, we are something more. We are a small country with a civilisation dating back millennia. I do not want to believe that we did not deserve this civilisation. What I am certain we do deserve is a better leadership that is aware of our cultural heritage.

Professor Constantinos Christofides is former Rector of the University of Cyprus and the general coordinator of ‘New Wave, the Other Cyprus’