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T
he International Festival “Kypria 2011” was one of the major cultural events in Cyprus dur-
ing the third quarter of 2011. This year the Festival gave its enthusiastic audiences the op-
portunity to enjoy concerts, dance and theatre performances by distinguished artists from Cyprus,
Greece and abroad.
Cyprus Today
includes an account of the award ceremony for the Nemitsas Prize for Excellence in
the Arts and Sciences, which was organized for the second consecutive year by the Nemitsas Founda-
tion. The event took place at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, where the President of the Republic
of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias, conferred the Prize, a prestigious international honour, on this year’s
Laureates, Cyprien Katsaris and Martino Tirimo – the two acclaimed pianists also performed after gra-
ciously accepting their awards. Our review of the ceremony includes an interview with the Chairman
of the Nemitsas Foundation, Mr Takis Nemitsas, who outlines the aims and vision of the Foundation
and discusses its recent activities.
This issue continues to follow the progress of the culture of Cyprus from 1960, the year of its indepen-
dence, until today, with an article by Irene Hadjisavva about the island’s traditional architecture and
an article by Johan Adler examining the bonds connecting the ancient Ptolemies of Egypt to Cyprus.
Odd Irtun (1925-2011) was a Norwegian poet who spent every winter in Cyprus over a ten-year period,
and his great affection for the island is reflected in a collection of his poems published in this issue of
Cyprus Today
. Irtun was a man of letters and a lyric poet who loved Cyprus deeply. In addition to his
poetry, he wrote numerous articles about the history, culture and politics of Cyprus, many of which
were published in Norwegian newspapers.
Also covered in this issue are articles about a number of stellar cultural events that took place in Cyprus
over the summer of 2010. The 15
th
International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama once again brought
ancient Greek drama to life, and each performance was intensely coloured by the provenance of each
international theatre company that participated in the festival. The beginning of September saw the
return of the Paphos Aphrodite Festival to Paphos Castle, this year the home, for three nights, of the
National Theatre of Prague, which performed the beloved opera
The Tales of Hoffmann
. “A Journey
in Time: George Seferis, Poet and Citizen” was a series of events marking 40 years since the death of
Greek poet and Nobel Laureate George Seferis, while all the best films from short film festivals across
Europe were screened at the fifth annual “Short Matters!” Festival.
This issue of
Cyprus Today
also includes an article about Cypriot soprano Julietta Demetriades, who
was awarded a medal and a certificate for her achievement in classical singing by the S.T.A.R. Foun-
dation in a ceremony at the House of Lords in London, and an extended obituary for internationally-
acclaimed Cypriot film-maker and director of
Zorba the Greek
, Michael Cacoyannis, who passed away
on 25 July.
Finally, in this issue we present the new Minister of Education and Culture, Dr George Demosthenous
– we wish him great success in his new position.
Editorial