Activiteiten rondom voorzitterschap Cyprus trekken veel belangstellenden (en)

In the six months from July to December, it is estimated that some 40,000 people will make their way to the island as part of activities relating to the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU. Visitors to Larnaca International Airport will have the opportunity to experience an exhibition of interactive artworks that explore the emotions of a traveller and the relationship to the journey “from arrival to departure”.

In the six months from July to December, a total of around 40,000 people are expected to make the journey to Cyprus to take part in Presidency activities. With this in mind and within the framework of cultural activities during the Cyprus Presidency, six artists from three Mediterranean countries of the EU have created interactive installation works of art for Larnaca International Airport, under the title “From Arrival to Departure”.

The artworks belong to six different artists: Theodoulos Gregoriou and Klitsa Antoniou from Cyprus, Dimitris Alithinos and Eleni Panouklia from Greece and Vince Briffa and Liliana Fleri Soler from Malta.

“Each one of these works includes features such as sound, light or play that encourage interaction with the viewer, creating not just a sense of fun but pause for reflection, thus enriching the experience of the travelling public in an otherwise busy utilitarian space,” explains the Director of the Laiki Bank Cultural Centre and curator of the exhibition, Marina Vryonidou-Yiangou.

Exploring the emotions of the traveller

In the last few years, the total number of passengers travelling by air in the European Union has averaged a little less than 800 million a year. For business or for pleasure, for a short visit or permanent stay, the process of departing from one airport to arrive at another has become a part of everyday life for a number of European citizens.

The artworks, located in different spaces throughout the airport, examine the sentiments experienced by the passenger and the notion of the journey - both physical and mental - as well as the concepts of time and transition.

“The artworks that a visitor will discover while passing through the halls of Larnaca International Airport, explore the temperament and emotions of the traveller and the traveller’s relationship to the journey from arrival to departure,” Vryonidou-Yiangou added.

The exhibition is organised by the Laiki Bank Cultural Centre in collaboration with Hermes Airports and will run until the end of the Cyprus Presidency in December 2012. The artists’ CVs as well as detailed descriptions of each individual artwork can be found in the related document.