28
T
his year marks 60 years since the launch
of EOKA’s national liberation Struggle,
which overthrew the British yoke and led to the
establishment of the Republic of Cyprus. The
ideology behind the Struggle, the patriotism,
self-sacrifice and love for their country,
language, nation, democracy and above
all
Freedom
, inspired a whole generation.
Through this unique value system, the heroic
fighters of EOKA earned their place in history,
bequeathing to all of us the most recent epic
of Hellenism. The struggle for Union with
the body of Hellenism and the Uprising for
Freedom against decolonisation was not easy.
The struggle, which inspired practically all
Greek Cypriots – even pupils in schools –
was difficult, but also inspiring because of its
sublime goal... to find themselves upon the
steps that led to Freedom…
The Byzantine Museum and Gallery of the
Archbishop Makarios lll Foundation attempted
to relay just this in its exhibition
It was the 1
st
of April…
on 31 March - 28 October 2015.
Besides the Collections of the Gallery and
the Library of the Archbishop Makarios III
Foundation, exhibits also came from the
Holy Archbishopric of Cyprus, the National
Struggle Museum, the Society of Cypriot
Studies, the Cultural Foundation of the Bank
of Cyprus and Dali’s Municipal Historical
Museum and Records. The exhibits were
enriched by works and relics from 17 private
collections (Agis Philippides, Akis Asproftas,
Anastasia Hamatsou, Andreas Anaxagoras,
Andreas Eliades, Andreas Nicolaides, Andreas
Pitsillides, Eleni Christoforidou-Neophytou,
Efthymia Salafori-Georgiadou, Maria Stavrou,
former ambassador Charalambos Christoforou,
Renos Kyriakides, Savvas Chrysanthou,
Spyros Lazarou, general Loukis Avgoustides
and Christodoulos Hadjichristodoulou).
The exhibition aimed to depict the most critical
and decisive period in the modern history of
Greek Cypriots - a period which led to the
liberation of the island from the British - and
to draw lessons and parallels through paintings,
sculptures, engravings, photographs, books,
newspapers, documents and various relics
from the EOKA struggle (uniforms, equipment,
prisoners’ handicrafts and handmade flags).
Section A briefly set out the passion of Cypriots
to achieve a Union with Greece –
Enosis
– as
expressed through the October 1931 incidents,
the Cypriots’ participation in World War 2, the
1950 referendum and Greece’s recourse to the
United Nations in 1954, seeking the right of
It was the 1
st
of April…
Exhibition to mark 60 years from the start of the EOKA struggle
Photos by the Press and Information Office of the Republic of Cyprus
