24
T
he Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation
launched an exhibition to celebrate the history
of Cyprus banknotes from16May to 30 June 2014.
Entitled
Cyprus Banknotes: Environment-History-
Folk Art
, the exhibition aimed to explore the ico-
nography of the bills, through the display of the
Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation’s collection.
The exhibition presented a selection of landmark
banknotes from as early as 1914, when the very
first Cypriot banknote was issued by the British.
The event went on to explore more extensively the
iconography of a series of Cyprus banknotes is-
sued between 1961 and 1997, which focus upon
the environment, history and folk art of the island.
Through the exhibit, the Bank of Cyprus Cul-
tural Foundation aimed to connect the banknote
imagery to items included in the Foundation’s
additional collections, namely the Ethnographic
Collection, the Numismatic Collection, the Map
Collection, the Collection of Manuscripts and
Rare Books, and the Collection of Engravings,
Old Photographs and Watercolours.
Cyprus Banknotes: Environment-History-Folk
Art
was organised by the Museum of the History
of Cypriot Coinage in collaboration with the Bank
of Cyprus Historical Archive.
About the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation
Since its establishment in 1984, the Bank of Cy-
prus Cultural Foundation has developed a wealth
of activities, in keeping with the objectives origi-
nally delineated for the Cultural Foundation by the
Bank of Cyprus. The Foundation’s main strategic
aims are to encourage the research and study of
Cypriot civilisation in the fields of archaeology,
history, art and literature as well as to preserve
and disseminate the cultural and natural heritage
of Cyprus, with a particular emphasis on the inter-
national promotion of the island’s centuries-long
Greek civilisation.
The Cultural Foundation is housed in the old ad-
ministrative building of the Bank of Cyprus, which
was built in 1936 and is situated in the historical
centre of Nicosia near Phaneromeni Church.
The Foundation keeps six Cyprological collec-
tions: Coins, Maps, Rare Historical Documents,
Cyprus Banknotes: Environment-History-Folk Art
