Treasure Island- Municipal Arts Centre Nicosia

I have recently started an MA degree in Digital Art & Design in the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. Last month, as part of our course we went to the Municipal Arts Centre to assist some younger students with their projects. All the students were in groups of threes and fours working on different topics. Their aim was to expand discourses of the past in Cyprus, recreate or intervene on something that was already there. They did this through performance, installation, painting and film.The group I had to work with dealt with the theme of prostitution. They dressed up a mannequin in provocative clothing and makeup and put her in a field where old whore houses used to be and filmed reactions of people passing by. Some people just passed by unfazed, some stared, some laughed, some even asked questions. So there was a variety of reactions. I helped by advising the students on where to place the camera and gave some of my opinions on what could be improved. Some of these houses were still working. They were very brave to take on such a project, as it was very controversial.

Assessment finals/Degree Show

After much experimentation, these are the works that I am going to display for my final assessment and degree show. The first four consist of photographs of myself and my mother taken from photo albums. At first, I was going to remove both faces but I felt it would have more impact if I only removed my own face. This way I want to show that as children, we do not have an identity and we depend on our parents for everything. The second set of eight photographs, are of myself gradually appearing. They are connected to the first photos in that I am 'gradually' progressing and finding myself, my own identity.

Gallery Visits

This semester, I visited Hatfield House ''The Great British Sculpture Show 2014''. It consisted of 82 sculptures by different artists. It was an outdoor exhibition, which I found quite interesting due to the fact that it was intervening with nature, trying to make superficial and natural come together. Here are some of the sculptures in the exhibition:

  

I also visited Saatchi Gallery. The exhibition was called ''Pangaea: New Art From Africa and Latin America''. There was about 15 artists and their work ranged from installation, painting to sculpture. My favorite was an installation by Coloumbian artist Raphael Gomezbarros, which consisted of hundreds of ants swarming the gallery wall. These ants represent immigrants in search of asylum. Here are some of the works:

I had the oppurtunity to also visit Serpentine, ''Haim Steinbach: Once again the world is flat'' and Serpentine Sackler Gallery, ''Marino Gamper: Design is a state of mind''. ''Once again the world is flat'' is a body of work that covers forty years of Haim's career. He started by painting monochrome squares and ended collecting and arranging found old and new objects, mass produced and handmade. I found the works of Marino quite unconventional as he put interior design in a fine art context, in a gallery their whole meaning changes. They stop being everyday objects and turn into artwork. Here are some of the works from the exhibitions:

Serpentine Sackler Gallery: 

Serpentine Gallery:

Lastly, I visited the ''The Photographers Gallery''. It was a 5 floor gallery with photography from various photographers. I particularly liked the ''Regeneration'' series which consisted of works from 6 image makers experimenting and pushing the boundaries of conventional photography. Here are some works from the gallery: