Nicosia 2030, candidate city for the European Capital of Culture presents the photography exhibition “Face Forward …into my home”.
The portraits by Yiannis Kourtoglou, are the result of the integration programme that Nicosia 2030 organised in collaboration with the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (NMCAA) and the support of the UNHCR Country Office in Cyprus.
The opening of both the fifth edition of the Nicosia International Festival and the photography exhibition will be inaugurated by the Deputy Minister of Culture Vasiliki Kassianidou on October 10, at 19:00, at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre.
The programme consisted of a series of workshops and was attended by refugees and migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East in the context of which participants were invited to share their emotions, memories, hopes and aspirations inspired by artworks from the NMCAA collection and the Cypriot collection of the State Art Gallery.
These included artworks by Klitsa Antoniou, Christina Dimitriadis, Panos Kokkinias, Nikos Kouroussis, Lia Lapithi, Maria Loizidou, and Maria Tsangaris which are related to migration and other contemporary issues.
The programme was initially designed and implemented by the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens in 2017 in collaboration with the UNHCR in Greece. Since 2017, it has travelled to several cities in Greece and abroad. The implementation and the curation of the original exhibition – programme belong to Marina Tsekou, Curator of Education NMCAA and Giannis Vastardis, Photographer – Special Therapist (www.faceforward.gr).
The exhibition will be open until December 31, 2024, Monday – Friday between 10:00-13:00 and one hour before each performance at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre.
Nicosia 2030’s collaboration with the participants of “Face Forward …into my home” does not cease with the opening of the exhibition but continues with a series of actions. These commence with an “AFRICAN FASHION PARTY” that will fill the Nicosia Municipal Theatre with African fashion immediately after the opening of the photographic exhibition. Nicosia residents of Cypriot and African descent will take over the stage of the theatre celebrating the creativity of their fellow countrymen/women fashion designers.
