Disappearing wall exhibit travels to Limassol

After stopping in Nicosia last autumn, the striking art installation Disappearing Wall travels to the Molos seafront in Limassol next weekend. This event was initially planned for November 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Disappearing Wall is a project created by the Goethe-Institut on the occasion of the German EU Council presidency which ran between July and December 2020. The project combines quotes from European high and pop culture illustrating Europe’s linguistic and intellectual diversity.

The installation presents a selection of 140 quotes in 14 languages – fragments from songs and poems, quotes from films, novels and philosophical works – submitted by Europeans through the process of local open calls. This interactive installation consists of a plexiglass frame filled with thousands of small wooden blocks, which are engraved with quotes in their original language as well as in translation. After the installation’s unveiling, passers-by have the opportunity to take a block home with them. As the quote blocks are gradually being removed, all that remains is the transparent plexiglass grid that held them: the wall disappears. This process symbolically shows that the walls that separate communities, peoples and everyday people can disappear with collective effort.

The Disappearing Wall started its journey in Cyprus on October 24, 2020, in Faneromeni Square, Nicosia where it stayed for two days. Visitors had the opportunity to engage with the installation, read the quotes and take their favourite ones home. This gave them a moment to reflect on different ideas through the various quotes that together construct a multifaceted mosaic of European culture.

The presentation of the Wall in Cyprus is accompanied by a sound installation created by composer Nektarios Rodosthenous. Sounds which are characteristic of the areas where the installation is set are harmoniously blended with multilingual recordings of some of the many quotes found on the blocks.

The Disappearing Wall is based on an idea by Maria Yablonina and carried out by architect and engineer Werner Sobek. She developed this idea in a workshop, which was initiated by the Goethe-Institut. In Cyprus the installation was constructed by Marios Charalambous at Studio and Lab. From summer 2020, the installations could be seen in ten European countries: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain/Northern Ireland, Poland, Lithuania, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus.

Disappearing Wall

Interactive installation based on an idea by Maria Yablonina. Organised by Goethe-Insitut Cyprus. June 12-13. Molos Promenade, Limassol (next to Caffe Nero). 10.30am-8.30pm. www.goethe.de/cyprus/disappearingwall