A special project at the ANASSA hotel, the Local Archaeological Museum
Mario-Arsinois and Polis Chrysochous
Paphos is preparing to host a special project, from July 29 to October 27, 2023, with exhibitions and activities at the ANASSA hotel, the Local Archaeological Museum of Mario-Arsinois and the city of Chrysochous, while through a map designed as part of the project, visitors are invited to explore the wider area of Akamas. Inspirer and creator of the “ projectAcamadis | Head and Hand” is the Cypriot artist and researcher Kyriako Kostas.
The project “Acamadis | Head and Hand” is under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment. The whole project follows the principles of sustainable development by promoting respect for the environment and its protection. This is achieved either through the careful use of natural resources or through the utilization of already existing facilities and materials (natural environment, museum findings/exhibits, and old “junk” materials from the hotel unit). The reuse of materials that are then in disuse, courtesy of the Thanos Hotels and Resorts Group, is a pioneering project for the hotel industry. The artist transforms these materials into works of art through contemporary practices, redefining the artists' relationship with raw materials and their possible sources of extraction, while the hotel is a helper by participating in this special “recycling” program. An additional element particularly important in the implementation of this project is also the opening of discourse and cooperation with the community.
As Kyriaki Kostas states in her creative rationale:
“The 'footprint' of thousands of steps on the Akama Peninsula is ephemeral. A continuous series of “visits” to the wider area, starting from my childhood to the present day, produces an ever-evolving body of work. Themes such as feminism, ecology, the concept of care and myth intertwine to create an organic unity that raises questions while allowing dialogue to emerge, debates to shift, and meanings to be redefined. The project “Akamandis* | Head and Hand” ultimately invites visitors to experience and share in the place of Akama an inner, emotional experience, in an enigmatic, suggestive, silent, almost invisible way.
“… We ourselves are sea, sand, coral, seaweed, beaches, tides, swimmers, children, waves… sea sisters and mothers.”
Hélène Cixous and Catherine Clément
“The Newly Born Woman”, Theory and History of Literature (Vol. 24), 1986
* Centaurea or Acamadis is a semi-shrub endemic plant of Cyprus”
Kyriaki Kostas' new project “Akamandis | Head & Hand”, develops and evolves through invoking memory, stories and myths of the Polis Chrysochous area. The erotic element and how it is expressed through the myths of the region is of primary importance here, while water – the preeminent element of the artist's research field – connects the stories with the material nature of things. The myths of the region are many, with the most widespread being that of the Afro-born Aphrodite, who wants the goddess to bathe in a source in the Akama region, from where clean and cool water gushed forth. It was there that Adonis fell in love with the goddess as soon as he drank the spring water. This sudden alchemy of love is what gives the trigger to the project in question. Through this complex of myth springs an invisible feminism, which is validated by relevant references to the region, but also by its place names, which are mostly feminine.
The design of the project is a reflection of the artist's wanderings in the region, a practice that determined the creation of the works for this exhibition. Her works are hosted at the Local Archaeological Museum of Mario-Arsinois and at the ANASSA hotel, while at the same time participatory guided tours will be held both in the City and along the nature study paths in the Akamas region.
Using traditional and modern techniques, through an anthropological perspective, Kosta turns her interest to the “enchanted” waters and to the objects of ancient and modern culture in the wider region of Crete. son of Akamas. As a need to fulfill desires, he creates works similar to modern tamas, from which arise allegories directly connected to the ritual and erotic element that characterizes the region.
At the Local Archaeological Museum of Mario-Arsinois in Poli Chrysochous, the artist, inspired by the archaeological findings, as well as by other objects that bear witness to purification ceremonies and the direct association of water with funeral processions, proposes a series of works – modern tributes to the healing and restoration of man's relationship with the environment. Ancient water pipes from excavations of the Department of Antiquities, which are presented in the exhibition, bear witness to the actions and interventions of man in his attempt to make the place habitable. The short film by Alex Ioannou, entitled “No Drop to the Sea”, hosted in the exhibition, functions as a complement, as it explores, through the voice of Brahimis Ioannou, the technical achievements regarding the water infrastructures that transformed the Akamas peninsula and the Paphos region in the mid-20th century. With the above, a dialogue is created that unites the past with the present.
The works at the ANASSA hotel testify to a more intimate engagement of Costas with the theme of the flow of time and the intermediate space between the real and the imaginary. The artist enters the hotel's warehouses to collect materials, no longer useful for the hotel, such as bedding and various metals, which she reuses as raw material for her works, placing them in a new life cycle. The forms of the sculptural works, as well as the images created by the artist, are on the verge of representation and abstraction and transport us to a world where man coexists with mythical and unreal powers.
Along with these works, he opens a dialogue with the community and the sculptor A. Moditis, exhibiting his own works and giving them another color and materiality.
Finally, a specially designed map connects the museum and the 2 exhibitions with the wider area and with points where water sources have been identified. Through this tour, a new reading of the region emerges with myths, water and ecology as central points of reference.
Kyriaki Kosta
Kyriaki Kostas is an artist and researcher, who with an interdisciplinary approach places special emphasis on art as an anthropological practice. Her work explores and combines myth and history, philosophy, climate and ecological concerns. He creates works of art and installations in collaboration with professionals from various disciplines. He often produces participatory environments, organizing social and political interventions that critique different contexts and surrounding spaces.
https://www.kyriakicosta.com
Duration of exhibitions: July 29 – October 27, 2023
Space 1: ANASSA Hotel
Space 2: Local Archaeological Museum Mario-Arsin oi, Poli Chrysochous
Museum Opening Hours:
Monday – Friday: 08:00 – 16:00/Saturday: 09:00 – 15:00/Sunday and Public Holidays: closed
As part of the project, two guided tours will be held in the area of Polis Chrysochous and Akamas. The first tour will be conducted on Friday, August 25, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. by Antigoni Michael and the second on Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. by Konstantinos Perikleous. More information about tours and other events will be announced soon.
The project is under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment.
Sponsors: Pylon Art & Culture/Astro Bank
Supporters: Department of Modern and Contemporary Culture/Deputy Ministry of Culture, Cyprus/Education Unit for the Environment and Sustainable Development/Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus/Deputy Ministry of Tourism/Department of Antiquities/Thanos Hotels and Resorts/Terra Cypria
Editor: Evagoras Vanezis, Monica Asimenou
Map Editor: Christ Lambrou fiber
Advisor to the Department of Antiquities: Margarita Kovalis
Guided tours:
Antigoni Michael, Archaeologist – tour guide, specialist in Cultural Heritage
Konstantinos Perikleous, Terra Cypria, Biologist/conservation and wildlife scientist
Thanks: Eftychia Zachariou, Margar ita Kouli, Zoe Makridou, Natasa Michailidou, Sebastian Wurst
Graphic contact: Popi Pissouriou
Study design of storefronts: Lara Alfa
Assistant craftsmen: Xakop Kesihian, Michalis Sialos, Milena Christodoulou, Sung Yaj
Text editing (Greek & English): Daphne Montessandou
English translation: Loukia Hatzigianni
