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and Karyotakis inspired the oeuvres of Ourania
Gavriel, Marlen Karletidou and Mary Plant.
Angelos Makrides, Valentinos Charalambous,
Varvara Georghiou, John Warren, Kyriakos
Thouki, Ketta Ioannidou, Anna Kakoulli, Kyri-
aki Costa, Paris Metaxas, Anastasia Mina, Rhea
BaileyAthanassiades, Antonis Neophytou, Eleni
Nikodemou, Nicholas Panayi, Katia Savvidou,
Melina Shukuroglou, Rinos Stefani, Konstanti-
nos Stefanou, Nitsa Hadjigeorgiou, Elena Chris-
tou and Stella Christofi dove into an inner sea,
penetrating the depths of existence, abolishing
the solidity of things and deciphering their hid-
den fluidity. Conversing in the language of wa-
ter, they came across the liquidity of phonemes
and the triple multiform nature of this energis-
ing element, one that effects the incessant trans-
formation of matter and concepts, in a universe
where, according to Heraclitus ‘everything flows
and nothing stays the same’. Through the trans-
parency or the opacity of water volumes, the
artists participating in Mare Nostrum redefined
identity, collective and personal, mapping a co-
hesive Mediterranean memory and conscious-
ness. They turned to the sea, the most constant
maternal symbol. It swallows grief and our little
everyday deaths. It drowns the sun every night
and gives birth to it every morning.
In his preface to the catalogue of the exhibition,
the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr
Demetris Christofias, congratulated the Cham-
ber of Fine Arts, which, as he noted “has justly
become the main strategic partner of the state
regarding the domain of fine art.” According to
the President of the Chamber of Fine Arts, Ms
Daphne Trimiklinioti:
The artists were asked to produce a visual his-
toriography of the Mediterranean, through an
open call, based on the proposal and concept
of the curator Dr Nadia Anaxagorou, while
the final assessment and selection of works of
the exhibition was made by a judging panel
consisting of two artists, also members of
EKATE, Stavros Kikas and Katina Kosta, the
art historian Catherine Nikita, and the curator.
Dr Nadia Anaxagorou writes in the exhibition
catalogue:
Angelos Makrides’s relief-creation,
Lacrima
Maris (The Tear of the Sea)
, is precursory
of Cypriot minimalist and conceptual art, as
are his sculptures, which witness, however, at
The Mare Nostrum exhibition