Cyprus 1974: harrowing history told through prints

2024 marks 50 years since the Turkish invasion, and throughout the year several events and cultural performances remember that harrowing summer of 1974 that changed the course of history for the island and its people. An exhibition of remarkable engravings by Cypriot artists and A Tassou’s history-changing woodcut – Cyprus 1974 – has opened at the Hambis Printmaking Museum in Platanisteia, reflecting the thoughts and feelings of those engravers.

Fourteen esteemed printmakers have their works presented at the ongoing exhibition (A Tassou, Telemahos Kanthos, Stas Paraskos, Hambis Tsangaris, Kostas Averkiou, Stelios Stylianou, Andis Hadjiadamou, Panayiotis Larkou, Frixos Papantoniou, Charalambos Krasia, Kostas Economou, Lefteris Economou, Lefteris Olympiou and Paris Metaxas). Their works present memories, emotions and hopes for Cyprus, both pre-invasion and in its aftermath.

Woodcuts, linocuts, silkscreens, collages and offset prints make up the exhibited artwork all of which were selected from the Hambis Printmaking Museum’s collection. To approach a topic as big as the events of 1974 is no mean feat; it is multilayered and complex and to address it, the exhibition’s curator Hélène Reeb has split the artworks into four sections: Traditional but also Disrupted Cyprus, Coup, Invasion; Executions and Divided and Devastated Cyprus; Refugees and Missing Persons; Hopes.

“The curator aimed to present a broader image of Cyprus through the exhibition’s works, depicting the period before the tragic events, the tragedy itself, and the hope that followed,” Hambis Tsangarides said. Images depicting war, young soldiers, displaced Cypriots, Makarios, never-ending tombs transforming hills into graveyards and A Tassos’ renowned woodcut of the refugee child against barbed wire are all included in the exhibition.

A Tassos’ piece is of significant importance to the island as the image was featured on the Refugee Stamp after 1974 which generated monies for the Refugee Fund and raised awareness of the situation internationally. The Greek engraver’s original woodblock was printed in ten copies after the invasion and now one of the original woodblocks resides in the Presidential Palace.

At the Hambis Printmaking Museum in Platanisteia, the refugee child and all other emblematic artworks will remain on show until February 2025, offering a glimpse into the artists’ worlds and the history that marked the island. Many of the exhibited pieces were created in the years that followed the invasion, they date from 1972 to 2022, offering views both from the years when history was turbulent and after decades had passed.

“What is evident in the exhibition,” says Hambis, “is the love all the artists have for Cyprus and their protest against the misfortunes that befell it.

A visit to the Platanisteia museum not only traces Cyprus of 1974 but also highlights other significant work by printmakers of the island and Greece as two more exhibitions currently operate. The Greek and Cypriot Printmakers in France (1920-2000) exhibition presents works by printmakers of Greek and Cypriot origin, who lived for a few years during their studies or for most of their lives in France.

Also at the museum is the Hambis, The Illustrator exhibition which presents artworks by Hambis Tsangaris created over a span of 46 years, from 1973 to 2019. Both these exhibitions will remain open until March 2025.

At the Hambis Municipal Printmaking Museum in Nicosia the exhibition Engraved Testimonies by artists Stelios Stylianou, Charalambos Krasia and Hambis Tsangaris touches again on the Cypriot tragedies of 1974. Through three separate events, the artists will talk about their pieces and the conditions which gave birth to them.

Hambis held his talk at the Nicosia Museum in early July while Stylianou will make his presentation on July 24, and Charalambos Krasias on September 4, expressing personal tales and the scars of war through the art of printmaking.

Cyprus 1974

Printmaking exhibition by 14 esteemed artists. Until February 2025. Hambis Printmaking Museum, Platanisteia. Tuesday-Saturday: 10am-1pm and 6pm-8pm.Tel: 25-222772

Engraved Testimonies

Printmaking exhibition by Stelios Stylianou, Charalambos Krasias and Hambis Tsangaris. Talk by Stylianou on July 24. Talk by Krasias on Septemer 4. Hambis Municipal Printmaking Museum, Nicosia. 8pm. In Greek. Tel: 22-496930

Greek and Cypriot printmakers in France (1920-2000)

Group exhibition by printmakers of Greek and Cypriot origin. Until March 2025. Hambis Printmaking Museum, Plataniskia. Wednesday-Sunday: 10am-1pm and 4pm-6pm.Tel: 25-222772

Hambis the Illustrator

Works by Hambis created from 1973 to 2019. Until March 2025. Hambis Printmaking Museum, Plataniskia. Wednesday-Sunday: 10am-1pm and 4pm-6pm.Tel: 25-222772