Historical photos of Nicosia unearthed

The Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia presents a new temporary exhibition titled Three Photographic Trails – Nicosia: People and Places. The exhibition brings together a vast array of historical photographs from the Museum’s To Mati Photographic Archive, arranged in a way that illustrates the capital of Cyprus through the passage of time. Opening on Wednesday and running until May 19, the first part of the exhibition will chronicle the years 1878 to 1950 while exhibitions to follow will reveal archives from1950-1960 and1960-2004.

The first part of the trilogy includes postcards and photographic material from 1878 to 1950. The photographs were taken either by prominent photographers who visited the island from the late 19th century onwards or by professional Cypriot photographers who captured everything that made an impression on them, details of daily life and the world of Nicosia during the British Period. John P Foscolo, the Mangoian Brothers, Felix Yiaxis, Theodoulos N Toufexis and Charles Glaszner are just a few of these pioneering photographers.

Through the photographers’ aesthetic, time stops with glimpses from the lives of people, facets of the capital and a specific reality that is transferred to the present day untouched. The photographs on display have been enlarged and each of them is accompanied by a caption with the name of the photographer, the theme and the date it was taken. Depicted in the images are scenes from a past Nicosia, its people, professions and social stratification, bazaars and trade, transportation, schools, social life, urban development and architecture.

Moreover, the temporary exhibition trilogy aims to strike a chord with visitors as it proposes a journey across time: how the small town with the colours of the East during the early years of British rule evolved. More than 100 years later, it has undergone gradual but large-scale and substantial changes. To bring the photographs and the whole exhibition to life, Tzeni Lymperopoulou Savvidou, Director of the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia, co-curated the showcase with Maria Patsalosavvi, the Museum’s Deputy Director. The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation has also provided the museum with rare film footage from the Digital Herodotus database, which, along with the photographs, brings the city of a different era to life.

Three Photographic Trails – Nicosia: People and Places

Part one of a trilogy exhibition with photographs of Nicosia from1878 to 1950. April 10-May 19. Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia, Nicosia. Opening night: 6.30pm. Tuesday-Sunday, 10am-4.30pm. www.leventismuseum.org.com