Kaimakli revisited

With the galleries closed or finished at Easter there was just time to pop in to Julia Astreou Christoforou’s traditional weaving workshop in the square and to admire the art school opposite titled Spirit of the Bauhaus. More soon on these fine places.

Nearby at 58 Grivas Dhigeni Avenue, Kyriaki Costa had opened her place for a while with clothes summer 06 and Louisa Kaimaki was helping.

Despina Nazou writes on Kyriaki:

"Discovered her own utopian world and its values by creating and designing clothes and ideas which she thought needed to be interpreted within a very specific context, this context is female collectivity a girly band, a mood for playing and the pursuit of pure sentiment, a reminder of childhood, and the strength, magic and sensuality that are released from all this.

So her friends and acquaintances took upon themselves, with much courage and humour, against the traditional and restrictive rules of fashion photography we usually encounter in fashion magazines.

Eccentric

The women , like a mischievous, eccentric troupe, walk around the town and mingle with its imagery, and daily life. In their passage through the streets and the heart of the city, they generate their own unorthodox, urban images, they playfully become entangles in the smaller or larger rituals of their neighbourhood. Then they want to touch the sky."

Kyraiki Costa was born in 1971 in Nicosia she first studied at the Acropolis Gymnasium and Lyceum, Nicosia. In 1989 she took the Foundation Course in Arts at the Frederik Polytechnic, Nicosia and in 1960 studied at Loughborough College of Arts , UK

In 1992 Kyriaki studied at the School of Byzantine Arts in Athens where she specialised in contemporary art, utilising Byzantine art techniques, installations, video art, art and clothing.

Amongst her special projects have been:

2005: " Mini Art" project of international association of Art (IAA –Europe IAA/AIAP UNESCO)

2005: costume design at the Venice Biennale. Designed the clothes of the Ministry of Education Representatives.’

2005: designed the cover of a CD wth Greek children’s songs under the title "O Tempelis Drakos" (Universal Music)

2005: a lecture at the Agean University, Greece, Department of Anthropology "Body and Landscape" Costumes for the dance performance "Deeper than Skin Deep" – Echo Arts which performed at Florence and Limassol.

Costumes for the dance performance ‘New Choreographic Work’ and a selection of costumes used for TV and theatre productions in Athens

Kyriaki has given art lessons at the Stelios Ioannou Foundation for mentally disabled adults, participated in "Art Link to Life" a group exhibition organised by the Bank of Cyprus for people suffering with cancer. Kyriaki has also taken workshops at Cyprus University and delivered Byzantine icon lessons to government workshops. She has also made many videos.

Her personal exhibition in 2003 was at Occhi Art Space, Athens.

Her many group exhibitions include: Leaps of Faith, Unclaimed Lugagge for Artrageous Group.

Louiza

Louiza Kaimaki was born in Cyprus in 1976 she received her BA in Illustration with Animation from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. She is now exhibiting her work and she is also working as a freelance illustrator in Cyprus

In March 2006 she illustrated the book "15&1 myths and stories with animals of Cyprus" written by Tassos Aristotelous and published by the publishing house, Kiproepia, Limassol, Cyprus.

Prize

In January 2005 the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Culture and Education awarded her with the Illustration State Prize for illustrating the book ‘ A New Coat For Ben", written and published by Toby Macklin and Rachel Davey in October 2003.

In October 2002 she participated in the Annual Illustration Competition organised by the Bank of Cyprus Cultural foundation and was awarded the 1st Prize for illustrating the award-winning book "Aria Changes worlds", a fairy tale by Anna Kouppanou. the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation published the book in March 2003.

She represented Cyprus at the "BIB 2003" (19th Biennial of Illustration Bratislava), with four of the original drawings of her Illustration of "Aria Changes Worlds" and also BIB 2005 (20th Biennial of illustration Bratislava), with four of the original drawings of her illustration of " A New Coat for Ben".

In 2003 she also participated in the" 42nd Golden Pen of Belgrade" (7th International Biennial of Illustration 2003) in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, representing Cyprus with four reproductions of the original paintings of her illustration of ‘Aria Changes Worlds" and the illustrated book itself"

Early in 2003 she illustrated the children’s book " A New Coat For Ben" written by Toby Macklin and Rachel Davey and published by Co-create Ltd in Cyprus in three languages - English, Greek and Turkish.

The Mayor of Nicosia, Mr Michalis Zampelas held the promotion of the book. In April 2004 the book was exhibited at the Bologna Fair and Book Festival, in representing Cyprus.

Louiza illustrated her first book for children in September 2002: a fairy tale and a song written by Athos Hajimatheos and published by Costas Epiphaniou Publications in Nicosia.

In parallel with the rest of her activities she also took part in educational seminars - Workshops organised by the Cyprus Children’s Book Association with the participation of the Greek illustrator and author Vaso Psaraki.

She won her first special prize (Age- Group Prize) at the age of eleven in March 1989 at the 81st Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary union, Budapest, Hungary. The International Children’s Art Contest and Exhibition, Through Children’s eyes.

Since her return to Cyprus in 1999, after completing her studies, she has worked at Nicolas Panayi Studio as an art teacher, tutoring young students for university studies and for GCE Ordinary Level examinations, until recently.

In parallel, she taught life drawing classes for a period of two years. The artist was interviewed at Art Aware and is in its excellent book.

**********************************

Still on and newish

Illustrations at Academic Bookshop, Larnaca.

Constantinos Constantinides at Apocalypse Gallery, Nicosia.

Tefkros Angelides "Autobiography 2" at Opus 39 Gallery, Nicosia.

David Lester at Kyklos Gallery, Paphos, closing Saturday 29th April.

Hughes at Gloria’s with "Post Wrexham" exhibition of new paintings including "Celtic Kalikandjari Contemplate Rising Bauhausian Structure".

Stefano Paci at Gallery Argo, opening on May 4.

Charalambous Constantinou at Scali Cultural Centre, Aglandjia from 5th to 7th.

Andros Andreou at Dromena with "Stones in a Bowl" until 10th May.

Photo Captions …

colour

1:

2:

3:

Black and white

4: Kyriaki’s design for printing on a T Shirt

5: Kaimakli Square now

6; Kaimakli Square in 1930