The “Casts Of An Island” exhibition had its grand opening on Wednesday evening, setting sail to transform the Mercedes-Benz showroom at the entrance of Nicosia into a Contemporary Art Museum for one month.
The opening ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Culture, Lina Kassianidou, on behalf of the President of the Republic.
The exhibition is prompted by the 70 years of Mercedes-Benz presence in Cyprus, in collaboration with the Cyprus Import Corporation (CiC).
Curated by collector Nikos Chr. Pattichis, the publisher of Phileleftheros, the exhibition features 25 museum-scale artworks, primarily belonging to the non-profit organisation CYCO (Cyprus Contemporary Art Center), with many pieces being exhibited for the first time. Historic and collectable models of Mercedes-Benz from the last few decades, such as the famous limousine of Zena Gunther de Tyras, will interact with contemporary artistic creations by Cypriot artists, among others.
Exhibited along with the vintage Mercedes-Benz models will be the sofa Woosh of architect Zaha Hadid (1985/86) with a parallel projection of Freedom Square in Nicosia, designed by her office.
The title of the exhibition, “Casts Of An Island,” derives from the eponymous artwork by visual artist Socrates Socratous, featured prominently at the event. Additionally, the exhibition includes works by artists Klitsa Antoniou, Banu Cennetoglu, Nikos Charalambides, Savvas Christodoulides, Zaha Hadid, Mustafa Hulusi, Demetris Neocleous, Maria Perentou, Melina Shukuroglou, Lefteris Tapas, Panikos Tembriotis, Costis Velonis, Alexandros Yiorkadjis.
The collection serves as a prelude to the larger, eponymous exhibition scheduled for the summer of 2024 in Limassol, marking 50 years since the Turkish invasion.
The exhibition will be open to the public from November 9th to 30th (Monday to Friday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.).
