The deputy ministry of culture on Monday confirmed that a controversial work currently on display in Nicosia is part of the state collection but said it had no role in organising the exhibition.

The purpose of the state collection, it said, is to document the evolution of modern and contemporary Cypriot art.

The Nicosia municipal arts centre (Nimac) has defended its decision to exhibit a work by Turkish Cypriot artist Emin Cizenel, who designed the north’s flag.

Nimac said Cizenel’s work A Lost Moment was loaned to the centre for the exhibition has been displayed elsewhere in the past “without any issue arising”.

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But the deputy ministry acknowledged “the reasonable sensitivities that exist in Cypriot society”, particularly where artists may be associated “with symbols linked to the occupation”.

The exhibition is a group show featuring 16 Cypriot and international artists.

Nimac also reaffirmed its institutional independence, saying it enjoys “complete artistic freedom” and that exhibitions are not subject to approval by the municipality itself.

It added that its board would examine the matter at an extraordinary meeting in light of the public debate.

The controversy stems from Cizenel’s role as the designer of the flag adopted by the north in 1983, which has since been provocatively emblazoned upon the Pentadaktylos mountains.

The participation of one of his works prompted objections from the Ecologists before the exhibition opened, with critics arguing that displaying his work in a municipal cultural institution carries political significance beyond artistic merit.

Deputy Nicosia mayor Chrysanthos Fakas said he had asked for the exhibition to be cancelled after learning of Cizenel’s participation.

He said he had informed Mayor Charalambos Prountzos and members of the municipal council and requested that the information surrounding the artist be verified before the exhibition proceeded.

Fakas argued that the issue was “not one of censorship” but concerned the use of a taxpayer funded municipal space.

He acknowledged, however, that Nimac operates under its own board and that the municipal council is not ordinarily involved in approving exhibitions.

Prountzos distanced the municipality from the exhibition, stating he had no prior knowledge of the exhibition, did not attend its opening and that the municipal council does not approve works displayed in museums or arts centres.

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

He has also participated in bicommunal cultural initiatives.

He served on the Technical Committee on Culture, which facilitated the return of around 200 artworks from the north to their original artists, and has publicly argued that Cyprus’ cultural heritage should be protected regardless of which community it belongs to.