Friday’s opening of a new exhibition at the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre (NiMAC) has drawn political criticism after the Ecologists objected to the participation of Turkish Cypriot artist Emin Cizenel, citing his role as the designer of the flag used by the north.

The exhibition, A Slight Indisposition, brings together 16 emerging and established contemporary artists from Cyprus and abroad.

It is due to open at NiMAC amid objections from the Ecologists, who argued that Cizenel’s inclusion carries political significance beyond his artistic work.

In a statement issued hours before the exhibition opened, the party said Cizenel is known “not only for his artistic career, but also as the creator of the flag of the pseudo-state“, describing it as “a symbol of the Turkish occupation and partition of Cyprus.”

While recognising that “art is certainly a space for freedom of expression and creation”, the Ecologists argued organisers must also consider “the political and social dimensions of their choices” when inviting artists associated with symbols “associated with the island’s partition.”

The party further stressed that “historical memory and sensitivity towards the events that continue to affect the present and future of Cyprus cannot be set aside in the name of a supposedly neutral cultural approach.”

Cizenel, originally from the village of Malia in Limassol, studied painting at the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts before continuing his education in Vienna.

Çizenel is recognised as the designer of the flag adopted by the occupied north, which itself was controversially emblazoned upon the Pentadakytlos mountain range since the early 1980s.