Six bare walls in the centre of Nicosia have undergone a complete transformation over the past two weeks, as part of an initiative instigated by the Research, Studies and Publications Services (RSPS) of the Cyprus House of Representatives.
We’re ridiculously stuck in between the refugee crisis and Turkey’s accession chapters to enter the European Union.
So instead of getting its hands dirty, the EU has decided to deal with the refugee crisis by sending out a message. A message to Syrians running away from their war-torn country.
The words of a Syrian refugee in the Greek press had me rummaging for words to respond. Promptly. Before it’s too late.
At some point in my childhood, my uncle ironically put forward that Cyprus, our little Mediterranean island was to potentially sink under the burdening weight of concrete.
“Perhaps this is an aesthetically better way to approach the matter, and one that creates more substantial dialogue that potentially provoke actions rather than merely bombarding us with the most atrocious images that awe you one minute and disappear from your screen the next.”
One of the characteristics of living in the capital is its proximity to the Green Line.
The launch of a bilingual dictionary of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot dialect a couple of weeks back argued the common denominators of both communities and prosperously indicated the wish of many of us, for a united island.
“Is Germany full?” an Afghan refugee asked me as he waited for registration on the hills of the Moria Refugee camp in Lesvos.
The events in Charleston, South Carolina, where a 21-year-old shot nine African Americans in one of the town’s most historic black churches have shaken my comfort as I travel towards the state of California, just below.
Rumour has it that our world’s industrialised countries have perhaps not been under so much pressure to take action on confronting the ever growing dilemma of refugees as they are today.
I’ll be honest: I don’t know what to write about. As a journalist, this seems as such a paradox – there’s so much to write about. I recall one of my lecturers in uni telling us that as a journalist you should be able to turn ANYTHING into a story.
Two innovative products are currently being introduced into the local beekeeping market by Arkadiki Melissokomia. The Greek company has been importing products to support beekeepers on the island since 2012.
As we begin to notice the blossoming of almond trees on the island’s higher plains, wisterias are taking form on the sea fronts, and the traditional sight of flourishing olive groves seem to be taking their course too.
As I sat out in the fields of Kornos on April Fool’s Day, not to refer to its national symbolism, I was put on the spot when asked where my national or historical pride laid with regards to the EOKA struggle that began against the British military and civilian installations on the island, on the very same day in 1955.
I was hoping to see the Turkish flag on the Pendadaktilos Mountains disappear under the snow just for a bit. But that didn’t happen.
It may be hard or perhaps impossible to envision the future factually, yet it may not be as difficult to project an outcome
In essence, there is no valid barometer that can be used to define any limit to freedom of expression. Think about it: is there really such a thing as a moral imagination?
And then there was this feeling of liberty; that yes, working across the divide is nowadays a reality anyone can choose to embrace.
The education of any further generation without art in their curriculum is somewhat reducing a whole educational, philosophical, practice, and encouraging an inward looking approach to a European world which is traditionallly differentiated, country by country, by its cultural and artistic differences.
I’ve gotten used to the Chinese signs in Paphos advertising real estate opportunities — but that’s business related. Why would the suburbs of Akaki welcome people in Russian? Was it another trick to entice foreign interest?
On Sundays, he would secretly leave the back door open, and for those of us who were aware of this, we would leisurely have fresh produce when everything else around us was closed. I’ve lost count of how many times he saved me from missing that one item to perfect my culinary whims.
Beyond their sense of warmth, I contemplated their freedom of being, that ‘opposition’ to hanging out in the centre of town on the cold marble of Phaneromeni Square.
side all the sentiments we may have with regard to the tragic incident, I feel we owe Charlie Hebdo Magazine and the 12 people who died on Wednesday morning a thank you, to say the least. A thank you for stirring matters which must be addressed. Without violence. But with freedom of speach.
We’ll always be the ones with double standards, the ones with a wider perspective, the ones who accommodate themselves to foreign bedrooms only to get a grasp of a nuclear family.
Even though gravity may not allow our little rock to sink any time soon, I cant seem to dismiss the image of Caretta-Caretta turtles trying to approach the sight of a coastline made of obstructive facades, reclaimed land and a man-made nature.
Humanity has gone insane. And I have lost the words of being honest.
To make it clearer, you’re standing in front of the opened shutters of one of the numerous carpentry shops on the alley. There’s lots of people surrounding you but like you, they’re all looking towards the shop.
No musician will be competing, and everyone will be revealing a part of themselves.
It must be one of the only bays in Paphos which you can see from one end to the other without being obstructed by the never-ending hotels, apartments, restaurants.
Agreed. Surprises ring alarm bells, whether in the negative or positive. I assume that what you do about these surprises is indicative of how the course of your daily trot is defined.
“Do we have any culture in Cyprus?” I ask myself again. Perhaps it’s the ‘But’ that has, on both occasions, managed to head the question that rubs me the wrong way. “Any?” What do you mean “Any”?
But what happens when you come across a photo of your sexy friend in uniform holding a gun in his hand; Smiling?
If a pâtissier was to refer to one of his culinary delights as a chocolate decadence for instance, there’s a guilty pleasure to be embraced there, and that’s the point.
While our country, and the world, is going through a period of crisis, our festival, against all odds, is growing and expanding as an institution consistently supporting the art of animation.”