‘Lost’ artworks go on show in split Cyprus 45 years on

The works had languished in the basement of a cultural centre in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot northern third of ethnically divided Cyprus.

It has taken more than 45 years, but 219 paintings thought lost or stolen – including some of the most significant works produced by Greek Cypriot artists – have gone on display.

One work by artist George P Georghiou has been hailed as one of Cyprus’s “most iconic paintings”.

The oil-on-plywood painting encapsulates the Greek Cypriots’ armed uprising against British colonial rule during the latter half of the 1950s that culminated in the Mediterranean island’s independence.

“This is some of the most prized art in Cyprus and Greece,” said Yiannis Toumazis, a senior Greek Cypriot official on a committee trying to foster trust through culture between the divided island’s Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

A man looks at paintings during an exhibition of culturally significant paintings that were recently exchanged as part of an effort to boost confidence between the ethnically divided island nation’s two communities, at the Ledra Palace Hotel inside the UN-controlled buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus — A man looks at the paintings at the Ledra Palace Hotel inside the UN-controlled buffer zone in Nicosia, Cyprus (Petros Karadjias/AP)

A sample of the paintings were unveiled at an exhibit at a disused hotel straddling the UN-controlled buffer zone that cuts across the capital Nicosia.

Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci, leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, were on hand to launch the exhibit.

The works had languished in the basement of a cultural centre in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot northern third of ethnically divided Cyprus.

They were put in storage there after being rounded up from private collections and public galleries after a 1974 Turkish invasion that was triggered by a coup aiming at union with Greece.

Cyprus’s President Nicos Anastasiades, centre right, and Mustafa Akinci, centre, the leader of the ethnically divided island’s breakaway Turkish Cypriots, attend an exhibition and audio visual recordings of culturally significant paintings that were recently exchanged as part of an effort to boost confidence between the ethnically divided island nation’s two communities, at the Ledra Palace Hotel inside the UN controlled buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus — President Nicos Anastasiades, centre right, and Mustafa Akinci, centre, leader of the ethnically divided island’s breakaway Turkish Cypriots, at the exhibition (Petros Karadjias/AP)

But an agreement last year aimed at boosting trust between Cyprus’s Greek and Turkish-speaking communities saw the paintings re-emerge.

“To see the paintings returned was one of the most sentimental moments of my life,” said Androula Vassiliou, the committee’s Greek Cypriot co-chair.

In return, Turkish Cypriots received rare archival footage from state broadcaster CyBC of Turkish Cypriot cultural and sporting events dating from 1955 to the early 1960s.

The footage is a visual window to a past that had until recently lingered only in memory, said Turkish Cypriot committee co-chair Kani Kanol.

A man stands in front of a painting during an exhibition of culturally significant paintings that were recently exchanged as part of an effort to boost confidence between the ethnically divided island nation’s two communities, at the Ledra Palace Hotel inside the UN-controlled buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus — The artworks are back on display after languishing in a basement (Petros Karadjias/AP)

Mr Akinci, the Turkish Cypriot leader, hailed the exhibit as a “manifestation of the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots’ respect for each other’s artistic and cultural values”.

“The common language of art, which is universal, serves as a unifying force,” he said.

The exhibit was a bright spot amid prolonged uncertainty over whether moribund reunification talks for the island would be relaunched soon.

“Art and cultural activities can tangibly contribute to efforts of achieving peace and reconciliation,” said Mr Anastasiades.