From
Istar to Aphrodite: Treasures from Cyprus on display in New York for the first
time
October 21, 2003
An exhibition entitled ‘From Ishtar to Aphrodite – 3200 Years of Cypriot
Hellenism’ presenting art and artifacts from the island of
Cyprus will be held at the Onassis Cultural Center in New York from the 23rd
of October 2003 to January 3rd 2004. The exhibition, under the
auspices of Mr. Tassos Papadopoulos, President of the Republic of Cyprus, and
co-organized by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities and the Onassis Foundation,
focuses on the lasting effect Greek culture has had in shaping Cyprus’
cultural development. The 85 works that will be displayed, many of which are
leaving
Cyprus
for the first time, demonstrate how
Cyprus
became one of the
main outposts of Hellenism in a very sensitive and important area of the world.
During a press conference held today at the
Onassis
Center
, the President of the
Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, Mr. Stelio Papadimitriou, spoke about the
uniqueness of the exhibition that is being presented in the
United States
for the very first time and offers an opportunity to view the best of
what Hellenism has to offer.
In turn the Director of the Cyprus Department
of Antiquities and curator of the exhibition, Dr. Sophocles Hadjisavvas,
referred to the concept and objective of the exhibition which is to demonstrate
the long process of Hellenization of the
island
of
Cyprus
and its intangible,
authentic Greek heritage. Dr. Hadjisavvas noted that
Cyprus
today in the
beginnings of the 21st century, plays exactly the same role that it
played throughout antiquity: it was and remains a bastion, today of the EU to
the East, and in antiquity of Hellenic culture to the East. He added that all
life came from the Orient, and many aspects of the Oriental culture came to the
West - the West represented in antiquity by the
Aegean
.
Dr. Hadjisavvas went on to explain that the
title of the exhibition ‘From Ishtar to Aphrodite’, is a symbolic one. The
process of the Oriental influence coming to
Europe
was always via
Cyprus
, beginning in the
early Bronze Age (circa 2400 BC), due to the wealth of
Cyprus
in copper deposits,
it became a place where all the cultures or representatives from the region,
met. Aphrodite, he noted, was born
according to Greek mythology in
Paphos
,
Cyprus
and tracing the
eastern symbol of Ishtar in the origins of Aphrodite, symbolizes
Cyprus
’ role as the
easternmost bastion of Hellenism and the fact that
Cyprus
is a melting pot of
numerous cultural influences. Thus Ishtar, who was known as the bloodthirsty
goddess of war, in
Cyprus
became the goddess of
love, the mother goddess, who has been replaced by the Holy Virgin Mary today.
Dr. Hadjisavvas explained that from the 11th
century BC in
Cyprus
there is evidence of Greek burial customs, and the first manifestations
of Greek culture which from the very beginning became the intangible, supreme
heritage.
In response to a question concerning the origin
of the artifacts and in particular whether they were recovered before the
Turkish invasion of 1974 and whether excavations continue to this day, Dr.
Hadjisavvas stressed that
the invasion represents a very difficult moment for
Cyprus
. Since 1974 there
have been no foreign missions working in the occupied area of
Cyprus
. At the moment, he
added, there are two excavations in the occupied part, one in
Salamis
undertaken by the
University
of
Ankara
, which constitutes an
illegal excavation according to the script and spirit of the 1956 UNESCO
recommendations which prohibit the undertaking of any excavations in occupied
areas. He noted that it is also a violation of the 1964 Hague Convention,
specifically the 1st and 2nd Protocol, which was ratified
by many countries quite recently. The second excavation is in the
village
of
Akanthou
, which is a
prehistoric ceramic site. In the occupied area there is systematic looting which
goes against all provisions of international law, he emphasized.
The Minister to the President of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, Ambassador Pasiardis
added that
there are no foreign archaeological missions in the occupied part of
Cyprus
, but there are many
missions undertaken by the Turkish occupation army to destroy everything
reminiscent of the Hellenic past of
Cyprus
. He explained that
the Turkish invasion of
Cyprus
was a very tragic
event but at the same time, the lootings and the destruction of everything
there, officially by the Turkish occupation army, is very painful and very
tragic.
Concerning the origin of the 85 works in the
exhibition, Dr Hadjisavvas stated that they came from the Museums of Cyprus
mainly, with four objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York
and four pieces from
the
Dimitris
Pierides
Foundation
Museum
in Larnaka.
The
Onassis
Cultural
Center
hosting the
exhibition “From Ishtar to Aphrodite: 3200 Years of Cypriot Hellenism” is
located at Olympic Tower,
645 Fifth Avenue
, and is open to the public from
10am
to
6pm
, Monday through Saturday. Admission is free.
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