Cyprus through foreign eyes events and workshops at Phaneromenis70

The newly-renovated space of Cultural Centre Phaneromenis70 is opening its doors again with a series of events that celebrate the 30 editions of its ongoing project Delivering Views-Delivering Texts. The project collects photos and texts from visitors, tourists and expatriates who visit Nicosia and Cyprus and with the input of editors, intellectuals, or artists to produce booklets which offer a new approach and interpretation of Cyprus through the eyes of foreigners, to stimulate a fresh conversation on overlooked aspects of the island.

This May, the project welcomes local creatives who dive into the world of Delivering Views-Delivering Texts and produce interactive workshops and events. Looking back at the archive material the project has collected over the years is an ongoing exhibition at the space. Titled This is a Unicorn, the exhibition is curated by Kyriaki Shiopacha who was to read and provide insights on the project’s 30 chapters. From those chapters, a selected number of photographs are now exhibited at the Nicosia venue alongside her insightful analysis of the project’s general concept and ideas.

Adding to the project is a free letter-writing workshop that will take place on Wednesday between 5.30pm and 7.30pm with local writer and journaling enthusiast The Curious Curly. Postcard and letter lovers visiting the island are invited to join the workshop to get in touch with their memories and experiences of Cyprus and write a personal letter.

Through a guided journaling session, foreigners, tourists, expats and individuals who have recently moved back to the island will be encouraged to reflect on their relationship with Cyprus and how they view the island. Then, they will put it into words, writing a letter or a postcard, either to themselves or someone else and mailing it. The texts the participants will produce will be added to the next edition of Delivering Views-Delivering Texts, making them a permanent part of the project. As the workshop is addressed to Cyprus visitors and foreign residents, the session will run in English.

And then on Wednesday, in Revisiting Delivering Views-Delivering Texts, Marilena Zackheos and Nicos Philippou will read and provide insights on the project’s previous 30 chapters. Their Strangers a Little Less event will begin at 8pm, and present a new book they produced which highlights the project and includes material by island visitors.

“How does one make sense of place? Does a stranger navigate place similarly or differently than a local does? How does travel in place affect us? How exactly do we register new place? And do we turn the unfamiliar to the familiar?,” write Marilena and Nicos in the book. “The project Delivering Views by Phaneromenis70 provides a library of material that may enable the exploration of such questions. In this meta-chapter, we seek to offer a reflection on the nature of this project by analyzing a selection of published work that includes poetry, diary entries, ‘excavated’ archival material and stories as well as photography. We ask how one relates to place, navigates it as a stranger, connects with it, and how one may eventually come to own it.

“Travel allows for mental flexibility,” they conclude. “Onlookers point to a less fixed definition of Cyprus as they imbue Cyprus with their own multiplicities and as they disrupt polished representations with their own realities. They become strangers a little less to their own (multiple) selves.”

This Is A Unicorn

Photography exhibition curated by Kyriaki Shiopacha, part of the Delivering Views-Delivering Texts project. Phaneromenis70 Cultural Centre, Nicosia. Wednesday-Friday: 4pm-8pm. Saturday: 12pm-4pm. Tel: 22-018080

Delivering Letters

A letter writing workshop focused on Cyprus memories. Part of the the Delivering Views-Delivering Texts project. By the Curious Curly and Phaneromenis70. May 24. Phaneromenis70, Nicosia. 5.30pm-7.30pm. In English. Free. To register email [email protected]

Strangers a Little Less

Book presentation by Marilena Zackheos and Nicos Philippou, featuring entries by Janan Alexandra, Lida Roumani, Brigitte Walk, Eva Boy and Evi Hajipieri. Part of the the Delivering Views-Delivering Texts project. May 24. Phaneromenis70, Nicosia. 8pm. Free. Tel: 22-018080