Tereza Markidou

4.32 What Makes Humans Humane? An Inter-artistic Intervention at a Primary School in Cyprus (Paper)

Tereza Markidou – Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, Cyprus

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of an inter-artistic project A Flag of/for Humanity, which was delivered in a rural primary school in Nicosia, Cyprus during the year 2023–2024. The project consisted of an initiative to re-learn and rediscover values and skills that encompass what it means to be ‘human’ and ‘humane’ in a constantly turbulent, conflict-ridden, post-covid world by exploring the potentials of visual art and literature. The aim of the project was for the 11–12-year-old children to explore the meaning of ‘humanity’ through contemporary art and literature from Cypriot artists and writers. After that, the children created an artwork in collaboration with a local contemporary artist, entitled A Flag of/for Humanity. The project was based on the liberating power of the arts (literature and the visual arts) as experiential ways of making meaning of ourselves and the world. Artmaking and writing consist of peaceful acts through which people try to reflect and understand the world around them, to explore their possibilities, to caution about inequalities, but also to remind everyone of what is important for our co-existence. Inspired by the work they undertook through this project, some children pursue individual work on human rights at home by their own, which they then shared with the teacher and classmates at school. Such examples show the impact of these projects in learners’ lives and reminds educators that it is utmost important to support meaningful expressive practices that enable learners to find ways to be respectful, care-full and creative, especially in such challenging times.

7.18 Photographs in the Archive of the Cypriot State Collection of Contemporary Art: Histories, Identities, and Possibilities of Constructing New Meanings (Paper)

Tereza Markidou – Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, Cyprus

Abstract:

This paper critically discusses, and analyses selected photographic artworks, purchased by the official councils of the Republic of Cyprus and thus included in the archive of the State Collection of Contemporary Cypriot Art. Even though there has been some previous scholar work regarding this state archive, there has been limited research concerning its content, its genealogy and history or its functions within the post-colonial Cypriot culture and society. Unlike other organised official photographic archives, the archive of the State Collection of Contemporary Cypriot Art consists of a unique case study of primary documents, both in terms of its material/physical stance as well as its political and ideological presence. By bringing to light and critically examining selected photographic artworks from this collection in relation to the concept of ‘time’ and ‘temporality’, this paper aims to provide space for negotiating aspects of contemporary Cypriot identity and discuss its posterity in relation to the theory of democratisation of archival resources.