Re Aphrodite: 1 Οκτωβρίου

Re Aphrodite: 1 Οκτωβρίου
in collaboration with APOTHEKE CONTEMPORARY ARTS

On October 1st 2011 - a day marked by expressions of nationalism and military power - we invite you to reflect on Cypriot femininities through art.

Aphrodite, the Olympian goddess of love, beauty and dispute, has roots that can be traced to the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the Sumerian Inanna, the Phoenician Astarte (Ashtart), and even further. Her story and lineage are inextricably tied to the island's position and history, and reference to her in Cypriot culture is frequent and continuous throughout the ages. Her most recent incarnations include tourist-targeted marketing, and political metaphor.

This exhibition considers Cypriot femininities as they are embraced, denied, rejected, exposed, and as they allow insight on the way that Cypriot ethno-national identities and socio-political realities are shaped.

1 Οκτωβρίου, an exhibition falling under the Re Aphrodite project, attempts to look beyond prevalent representations and easy tropes to collect works which comment on unlikely, unsettling, controversial or empty Cypriot dualities, pretences and debates. Thus positioned within a blur of things gendered and things political, the exhibition aims to raise issues around art, heritage, nationhood, sexuality, traditionalism, and conflict. It draws upon unlikely visual plays on how the tourist culture and the souvenir image of Aphrodite become mixed up in art. On how femininity and womanhood are contested in Cyprus and how local artists interpret these ideas and thus expose the false fragility and pragmatic exploitation that affects not only the female in Cyprus but also the island as an entity.

The participants include Christos Avraam, Melita Couta, Katerina Iacovides, Chrystalleni Loizidou, Nikos Philippou & Yianna Nicolaou, Presence in Absence, Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert, Constantinos Taliotis and Evi Tselika.

Information:

Re Aphrodite- 97611269 / 99586369
@reaphrodite
http:/reaphrodite.blogspot.com/

Address: APOTHEKE, Κλεάνθη Χριστοφίδη 23, Λευκωσία, 1011