In the Same Place opens at Cyprus Museum

A new exhibition will be held in an old museum. Artist Katerina Attalidou will present In the Same Place at The Cyprus Museum from March 18 to September 10. Organised by the department of antiquities, the exhibition invites all to explore both Attalidou’s work and the permanent collection with free entry to the museum.

Through a series of 86 watercolours, the artist enters into a dialogue with the Cyprus Museum’s permanent collection. Her approach is emotional and sensitive as she is led by the archaeological exhibits to their places of origin. The exhibition title denotes, among other things, the coexistence of Attalidou’s watercolours with the selected exhibits in the Cyprus Museum, as well as her physical presence in the same place that the archaeological objects were discovered.

Attalidou’s works, accompanied by her own thoughts on the places she has visited and captured with her art unravel the natural, archaeological and historical dimensions of each place, reminding viewers how special and valuable the island’s natural elements are. The exhibition masterfully but delicately brings the landscape to the forefront, inviting spectators to consider how these unique natural, archaeological and historical surroundings have determined the course of the island’s history and how vital they are for studying and understanding past and present societies.

The artist’s watercolours, each with a unique journey behind it, invite visitors to appreciate the aura of place. Her works, to some extent, bridge the ‘gap’ formed when an archaeological object is removed from its find spot and is displayed in a museum exhibition space. The artist’s ‘places’ generously, but discreetly, offer the possibility of a very different museum experience, at the same time inviting viewers to move around local landscapes and observe the places around them. Her watercolours unfold the multiple layers and dimensions of each place, and their tangible and intangible qualities. Most importantly, they remind viewers of the island’s wholeness and indivisibility.

In the Same Place

Exhibition by Katerina Attalidou. March 18-September 10. The Cyprus Museum, Nicosia. Opening day: 11am. Tuesday-Friday: 8am-6pm. Saturday: 9am-5pm. Sunday: 10am-1pm. Tel: 22-865854