The Centre of Contemporary Art Diatopos presents the first solo exhibition by photographer Emma Louise Charalambous titled “Amensalism”.
The exhibition is curated by Daphne Nikita and explores the power relations affecting environmental and urban politics in Cyprus.
The exhibition is divided into two parts and explores the power relations affecting environmental and urban politics in Cyprus. In the first part, ‘What’s Up With The Sky’ the artist adopts a documentary-style approach to explore issues of ecological and sociocultural importance of air pollution. Her work aims to communicate the power structures at play and stress the urgency of taking action to alternate the effects of the crisis.
Climate change has been labelled by the World Health Organization as “the single biggest health threat facing humanity.” Specifically, air pollution, a major contributor to this crisis, ranks as the second deadliest non-communicable threat to our health, accounting for approximately seven million premature deaths annually worldwide. In Cyprus alone, the European Environment Agency reports that 600 to 800 people die prematurely each year due to poor air quality.
‘What’s up with Sky?’ examines local ambient air pollution, highlighting how this deadly phenomenon often goes unnoticed in our daily lives. By presenting a combination of documentary photo ‘field notes’ alongside conceptual work – that serve as visual data samples revealing atmospheric pollutant density- this project fuses documentary and art photography. It illustrates the irrelevance of geographical boundaries in the face of environmental challenges, reminding us that we all share the same sky.
As human systems exploit the environment, they simultaneously exploit people, creating and perpetuating methods to constrict public space and suppress dissent. The treatment of graffiti in Cyprus serves as an example of this. Pavoni, Zaimakis, and Campos note in Political Graffiti in Critical Times: “The city has always been a stage where power is manifested, and aesthetically so … the encounter between art & politics is unavoidable, as both inhabit the common, aesthetic sphere of being together: at stake in this encounter is the relation between consensus and dissensus, compliance and contestation, and thus the consequent framing and reframing of the common.”
In the second part of the exhibition, the body of work ‘Power Play’ offers an alternative perspective on the censorship and power struggle unfolding in urban spaces. By presenting covered-up graffiti as unintentional abstract public art, it argues that these interventions represent an unknown performative exchange between the authority and suppressed social actors. The resulting layered formations become an integral part of our urban aesthetic, leaving behind evidence of ‘sanitisation’ and the contraction of public space.
By presenting these two intertwining bodies of work—touching upon environmental degradation and the suppression of expression—the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the interconnectedness of these issues and the broader implications of the power struggle within society and our environments.
Emma Louise Charalambous (b. 1991) developed a keen eye for photography from a young age. Even though she became a self-taught photographer in her early teens, she did not academically pursue photography until her early 20s. Her mixed background of sciences and art is reflected in her work; as her visual documentary narratives follow an analytical approach in deconstructing the subject matter, with the resulting ‘research findings’ being presented in the form of photographs.
After having her first self-published photobook “Bloodhound” exhibited at AMBIKA P3 Gallery London (2014) and later at the IAPT Photobook Exhibition in Nicosia (2018), more recently, in 2023 she partook in the Divine Duality group exhibition at Gallery 45 (Limassol), where she exhibited pieces from her long-term project “What’s Up With the Sky?”. Her inaugural solo exhibition ‘Amensalism’ will take place in October 2024 at Diatopos Centre of Contemporary Art Nicosia – a two part exhibition where she will present in completed form the environmental project ‘What’s Up With the Sky?’, alongside an introduction to a new body of work that touches upon the themes of space and censorship.
The exhibition will continue at Diatopos Centre for Contemporary Art until October 25th 2024.
Opening hours: Wednesday-Friday 4 pm-7 pm, Saturday 11 am-1 pm
Centre of Contemporary Art Diatopos,11DZ, Crete Street, Nicosia 1061 Cyprus, Tel: 22 766117
