According to a government announcement on Saturday, the first art tour for citizens at the Presidential Palace was successfully held to mark the anniversary of Cyprus’s independence, as part of the “Presidential Palace Open to the Public” program, an initiative of the First Lady, Philippa Karsera Christodoulides.
Citizens from all over Cyprus had the opportunity to view the unique collection of works of art and antiquities, “Cyprus, the World, the Place, The Word, the Matter,” hosted at the Presidential Palace. The guided tour was led by the exhibition’s curators, Costas Mantzalos and Konstantinos Kounnis.
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In remarks following the conclusion of the first guided tour, First Lady Filippa Karsera Christodoulidou expressed her satisfaction with the turnout and the organization, and announced that due to the increased interest, the possibility of additional guided tours is being considered, in addition to the next scheduled visit planned for International Museum Day.
Ms. Christodoulidou explained that the philosophy behind the initiative is to give citizens access to highly symbolic sites, so that they can become familiar with them and feel proud of our country’s history and cultural heritage.
After congratulating the team of officials from the Deputy Ministry of Culture, the Presidential Administration, her own office, the Ministry of Education, and the Press and Information Office for the successful organization of the first institutionalized guided tour, Ms. Christodoulidou placed particular emphasis on the educational nature of the institutionalized visits by sixth-grade elementary school students, which will begin in the coming days under the auspices of the Office of the President of the Republic, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Sports, and Youth and the Deputy Ministry of Culture. Elementary school students will have the opportunity to observe, discuss, express themselves creatively, and learn about the history of the Presidential Palace and Cypriot visual artists.
Deputy Minister of Culture Klea Papaellina also expressed her satisfaction with the event’s success, who said that the Presidential Palace is a living museum of great artists and that, through the right collaborations, we can pass on this knowledge to the world.
The exhibition, titled “Cyprus, the World, the Place, the Word, the Matter” (https://presidentialart.hpcf.cyi.ac.cy/home) consists of works by important first-generation Cypriot artists, such as Adamantios Diamantis, Pol Georgios, Telemachus Kanthos, and Michael Kassialos, as well as other distinguished contemporary Cypriot artists. The works come from the Presidential Palace Collection, the State Collection, the Leventis Gallery, and the artists’ family collections.
The exhibition also includes rare ancient artifacts from the Department of Antiquities, such as Cypriot figurines and sculptures dating from the 4th millennium B.C. to the 1st century B.C., which reflect the island’s long and multifaceted archaeological heritage.
The journey also includes the interactive digital application “Time Machine,” created by the Virtual Environments Laboratory of the Cyprus Institute, using archival material from the Press and Information Office.
