[The Ambiguous Citizen by Helene Black, 98x98x6cmRusted steel, glass, mirror, paint, Murano glass, silver rings, aluminium frameCyprus State gallery collection]
HUNDREDS OF pieces of state-owned art works are being stored in poor conditions and run the risk of being destroyed or lost, the Green Party has warned.
Green Party Leader, George Perdikis, has sent a letter to parliamentary Education Committee Chairman, Nikos Tornaritis, urging the House to discuss relocating the State Art Gallery when deputies return from summer recess in October.
Perdikis described the situation as urgent. "Recently I visited the gallery, where I was informed that from the approximately 2,700 works of art that the gallery has, only 135 are on display in the renovated building on Stassinou Avenue. Exhibitions and exchanges of the works are not in effect because of practical difficulties, while many of the work are lent to Ministries, embassies abroad, etc."
Employees at the gallery confirmed that there are 2,749 works in total, 210 of them on display and that many works were kept in storage or are on loan to ministries and embassies.
“They are constantly at risk of getting lost, while the ones in the warehouses are not properly kept and preserved,” Perdikis said. The leader of the Greens also reported that “the art gallery is understaffed, with only three individuals employed acting as security guards/assistants and no specialised staff, such as art historians, conservationists, art managers or museologists."
The proposal is for the new gallery to be moved to the old Pallouriotissa Co-op, which is much bigger and can house all the works.
“The present situation is far from ideal,” Perdikis added. “They do not organise occasional exhibitions, tributes or retrospective exhibitions; lectures are not given, material is not published, there are no catalogues or brochures. There is no research."
The Green Party has tabled the issue for decision at the House Education Committee as a first step, he said.
“It is vital for a European country to have a gallery. If you don’t have a proper gallery, you lack culture,” Perdikis told the Sunday Mail.
THE BUILDING which currently houses the State Gallery of Contemporary Cypriot Art was designed and built in 1925-26 by the building contractor Michalakis Kouloumbris, who was also its first owner. It was used at different periods as a house, clinic and hotel. It is one of the oldest stone-built structures outside the walls of Nicosia and one of the first examples of urban architecture. The building was made the subject of a preservation order in 1972. In 1982, by order of the Council of Ministers, it was requisitioned and compulsorily acquired in order to be preserved, maintained and used for cultural purposes.
The restoration of the building and its conversion in to the State Gallery were undertaken by the Ministry of Education. It was officially inaugurated on June 28, 1990.
The works exhibited were chosen from the State Collection of Contemporary Cypriot Art by a special committee. The aim of the special committee was to succeed in the most adequate possible presentation of the artistic development of Cyprus from the beginning of the twentieth century up to the present day. The presentation covers the most important periods and trends which developed at various time.
A defining factor in the placing and often in the selection of specific works was the space, which always played a limiting role. Insufficient space also limits the way the committee can depict the development of Cypriot art.
The Education Ministry’s policy is to renew the works periodically, especially those of the younger artists so that other aspects of contemporary Cypriot art may be shown and public interest stimulated.
(By Marianna Pissa - Cyprus Mail)
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