Deputy Minister Hatzigiannis: culture can help address challenges

Cypriot culture is finally acquiring its rightful place as a political act that can address contemporary challenges, such as the Cyprus problem, Deputy Minister of Culture Michalis Hatzigiannis said on Thursday.

Speaking after his meeting with three Italian art journalists visiting the island, the deputy minister explained that the establishment of the deputy ministry of culture, which is only ten months old, is practical proof that Cypriot culture is coming out of the margins.

He said local culture is finally acquiring its rightful place and role as a political act that can be used, in the context of cultural diplomacy, to address contemporary challenges and, above all, for the efforts to end the ongoing Turkish occupation and the reunification of the island.

Among the deputy ministry’s priorities, are the establishment of tax incentives to the private sector for investment in culture and the development of European and international cooperation, Hatzigiannis said.

Furthermore, the deputy ministry aims to support and further promote the country’s participation in international events, such as the Venice Biennale, an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice. It also aims to the strengthen and expand the network of cultural representation of Cyprus in cities abroad and close to the Diaspora.

His statements came after he met three Italian journalists who are visiting Cyprus on the occasion of the touring intercultural exhibition “Limitrofi – only space remembers” by sculptor Stefania Pennacchio and artist Vassilis Vassiliadis, and the conference “Kairos – a meeting of Greeks of the East and Greeks of the West”.

The exhibition, which was inaugurated on Wednesday in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Culture, deals with the role of the Greek element in shaping the cultures of the Mediterranean basin and in particular the common elements between the cultures of Sicily, Calabria and Cyprus.

The art journalists are Maria Grazia Vernucio, cultural editor of Corriere Della Sera, Maria Antonietta Matarrese, editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Panorama, specialising in contemporary art and design, and Alberto Villa, journalist for the website Artribune and contributor to the online art magazines Juliet and ArtsLife. Hatzigiannis met them at the invitation of the press and information office.