The stray cats of the buffer zone

Social Space Kaymakkin in Kaimakli is hosting a screening this Thursday of the short film The Stray Cats Of The Buffer Zone. Along with the screening, a presentation of the zine Stray cats of Lefkoşa will also take place followed by a discussion with the producers. The 7pm event is open to all and will include some music and drinks as well as zine-browsing.

The short film is an audio-visual poem around the Cyprus division and the stray cats that occupy the buffer zone. As anarchism symbols and signs of reunification and denial of borders, the stray cats assemble a strong culture in the heart of the last divided capital in Europe. Street photographer Kyriakos Hadjielias takes audiences for a walk across the dead zone of Nicosia and shows them how he mixes his visual style using film images with the political statement that composed his art.

The publication of the zine is the tangible result of a long-term project which was fuelled by creative curiosity and a fair amount of naivety and was produced in the geographical whereabouts of the buffer zone. “What began as a topographical exploration of the zone and a visual inquiry of its geopolitical implications,” say producers, “slowly transitioned into an anthrozoological inquiry, focusing on the stray cats squatting in the buffer zone of Nicosia. More specifically, this zine explores the ways in which the uncontrolled stray cat population embody the chaos and the tension of the area, whilst also being the odd yet peculiar symbol of anarchy in the island.”

Screening and Zine

Short film screening and zine presentation. March 24. Social Space Kaymakkin, Nicosia. 7pm