Exhibition looks at what’s Found and Lost

In its third edition, KunstRaumGoethe by the Goethe-Institut Cyprus is presenting the exhibition Found and Lost with artists Phung-Tien Phan from Germany and Marina Xenofontos from Cyprus. Curated by Lorenzo Graf, the exhibition consists of existing and newly produced sculptures, installations and video works. Parallel to Found and Lost, creative workshops for children and adults will also take place on the theme of the exhibition.

“What I eat, what I wear, what sports I practice, which location I tag, or which vintage objects I re-evaluate: creatively and precisely composed consumer behaviours perform and illustrate how I found the way to myself,” writes Graf in the curator’s notes. “The exhibition Found and Lost with works by Phung-Tien Phan and Marina Xenofontos deals with this phenomenon.”

Through their different approaches and chosen media, Phan and Xenofontos both deal with searching, finding and losing in both the tangible and intangible sense. The processes of self-discovery and self-presentation, whether on an individual or collective level, are central to their work. Their artworks evoke feelings of lightness and simultaneously self-ironic hopelessness the closer one looks at the many layers of meaning.

KunstRaumGoethe is an event-series launched by the Goethe-Institut Cyprus in February 2020, exhibitions with contemporary artists and curators, who are connected to Germany and Cyprus. For its third edition, curator Graf from Germany was invited to develop an exhibition proposal following a research trip to Cyprus in November 2021.

A series of creative meetings curated by museum educator Valia Matsentidou will accompany the exhibition, allowing participants of different age groups to engage with the artworks through different experiential approaches. The workshop ‘…And then we will surely find our way’ invites young visitors (ages 6-12) to an exploration game. This workshop will take place on four dates, first on April 30 and May 14 in Greek, then on May 7 in Turkish and on June 4 in English.

Adult visitors will be challenged to experiment and exchange the meanings of ‘finding’ and ‘losing’ through creative activities at the Let’s get lost workshop. April 14 will be the session in Greek, May 10 in Turkish and May 24 in English. The workshops in Greek and English will be implemented by Valia Matsentidou and in Turkish by Nurtane Karagil.

Found and Lost

Exhibition with artists Phung-Tien Phan and Marina Xenofontos. Third edition of KunstRaumGoethe. Opening: April 9, 6pm. April 13-June 4. Goethe Institut Cyprus, Nicosia. Wednesday and Friday: 2pm-7pm, Thursday: 3pm-8pm, Saturday: 11.30am-2pm. Tel: 22- 674606, [email protected],  www.goethe.de/cyprus/kunstraumgoethe