Exhibition from Greece comes to Cyprus

After the success of the monumental anniversary exhibition Asia Minor Hellenism: Heyday – Catastrophe – Displacement – Rebirth, co-organised by the Benaki Museum and the Center for Asia Minor Studies in Athens, the AG Leventis Gallery is co-organising and hosting a part of this exhibition in Cyprus which highlights the culture and unfolds the chronicle of Hellenism in Asia Minor. The exhibition has been enriched with relics and testimonies from the refugees who settled and started a new life in Cyprus.

It will run in Nicosia from November 18 to March 3, showcasing more than 500 exhibits and photographs. All of the exhibited pieces narrate and bring to life the peak of Hellenism before the persecutions, the dramatic period between 1919 and 1923, as well as the settlement and integration of refugees in Cyprus.

Visitors begin their journey to the splendour of Hellenism in Asia Minor, tracing Ionia and the western coasts, Cappadocia and the southern provinces, Pontus, Constantinople, and Eastern Thrace. The era of prosperity is followed by the period of persecutions, the end of World War I and the treaties, the period of the Greek landing in Smyrna and the Asia Minor Campaign, the Disaster of 1922 and the Exodus of the refugees. The third section of the exhibition focuses on the settlement and integration of the emigrants in Cyprus.

This journey is seen through images and rare ecclesiastical relics, clothing, jewellery, handicrafts, personal items, maps, photographs, archival and film material, newspapers, letters, cards and many other documents. The narrative is complemented by excerpts from personal testimonies and memories, bringing the images and silent objects to life.

Asia Minor Hellenism: Heyday – Catastrophe – Displacement – Rebirth

Temporary exhibition. November 18-March 3, 2024. A.G. Leventis Gallery, Nicosia. Wednesday: 10am-8pm. Thursday-Sunday: 10am-5pm. Tel: 22-668838