For a humanitarian city!

The regeneration of the Nicosia of the inhabitants and not of the investors

Pompos gets in the taxi… ‘To Time’, he says to the taxi driver. After fifteen minutes of being stuck in the traffic, ‘12 euro,’ he answers. He pays 20 euro at the entrance, sways for 2-3 hours to the music rhythms, reenters a taxi, pays again 12 euro. The next day, while watching the evening news, he complains about the immigrants and the problems of the Old City. At the same time, lying on the sofa, he raises his feet high so that his immigrant domestic housekeeper can scrub the table.

Lately, Old Nicosia has become the subject of many a discussion regarding the problems it’s facing and the necessary regeneration. Still, most of these discussions merely scratch the surface instead of penetrating into the heart of the problems, and, as usual, they target the immigrants and the youngsters that hang out there. Recently the Old City is used by many people just for entertainment purposes, them not really caring about its welfare.

Mass entertainment centers have been created at the historic center and Old Nicosia is now a pole of attraction for investors. These investors do not care about the Old City’s character, but just for profit. For them, the locals and everybody else that is active in the area are obstacles to their plans as these groups are mostly against the commercialization of their own neighborhoods. The immigrants are also an obstacle as, according to the investors’ opinion, they harm the nice image that they themselves are supposedly creating. The Media, as the sponsor of communication in their game, and the police as the physical perpetrator, provide full assistance in the investors’ attempt to overcome these ‘obstacles’.

This inconsiderate development they aim for creates a myriad of problems:

- Piles of waste in the streets, especially on weekends
- Traffic, noise pollution and air pollution due to the multitude of cars that accumulate there. Danger originates for the pedestrians in the narrow alleyways, as well as parking problems for the locals that simply want to go home
- It contributes to the alteration of the traditional character of the area, e.g. the Popular Market at the Old Town Hall’s square which is forced to close earlier due to a recently-build amusement center.


Pompos, holding his juice, walks…in the streets of central Nicosia in midsummer. As the heat gets unbearable he finds shade under a tree, in the park next to Eleftheria’s Square. He likes the trees’ shade, as a matter of fact he voted in favour of the creation of green space at the referendum for the Old GSP Stadium. Looking around he thinks that the decision of the authorities for a regeneration of the square is really good and necessary. However, he is unaware of the real plans…

The regeneration plan of the square conjectures the cutting of the park’s trees and the establishment of shops, the destruction of historical monuments and part of the Venetian wall that is situated there, and the construction of a huge, concrete airlift for cars. In the summer, with the absence of trees and the existence of so many tones of concrete, the situation will be insufferable. Trees make the air cooler and give life to the area; their presence is what makes a great square. We’re wasting so much money in order to remove what is most precious there.

As for the business with the Old GSP Stadium, that has become another big joke. Despite the result of the referendum, calling for ‘an open public space / a green space’, the authorities had other plans; they decided the construction of a skyscraper in Dubai standards, which will be visible from the entrance of Nicosia at the ‘Kalispera’ traffic lights. Once again, the will of the investors outweighed the wish of the citizens. A possible green oasis has been sacrificed on the altar of money.

We support the people’s direct involvement in the city’s daily affairs. Through general meetings and direct democracy procedures a lot can be achieved. We demand referendums for every problem and topic that concerns us. We want to control our lives ourselves, not to see them controlled by the ‘authorities’ and the
investors.

Suggestions for a more humanitarian city:

• The conservation of the traditional character of the Old City’s houses. As many houses as possible to be restored, not only from the outside but also from the inside.
• The construction of more pedestrian roads and the installment of electric buses and bicycle stations at key points around the city. In this way the number of cars will decrease and there will be an impetus for the creation of a friendlier, to man and nature, environment.
• In addition to the pedestrian roads, various small squares can be created, at places that free at last from the ‘occupation’ of cars can now be used differently, promoting socializing and human contact.
• We support the city’s regeneration provided that it protects the city’s character, it is environmentally friendly and it takes into account the people and not profit.

Planodio Steki Dromou

Bicycle FTW!

BICYCLE FTW!

A bicycle, for distances up to 13 kilometers, is faster than a car.

(a research of the association ‘Friends of the Bicycle’, Athens)

Ø It does not pollute the environment with gas emissions or noise pollution.

Ø Its manufacturing demands only a small number of raw materials and it only consumes renewable fuel (food).

Ø It’s economical as it is cheap and needs minimal maintenance.

Ø It trains the circulatory – respiratory system, the legs, the abdominal muscles and the triceps.

Ø It does not get caught in traffic jams.

Ø It parks anywhere

Ø With the bicycle you can enjoy the countryside, the wind, the shade, the smells of nature, things you do not experience when shut inside your car.

Ø You can modify the appearance of your bike whenever you like, easily and with nominal cost

Ø Bicycles add to the city’s vibes and appearance.

Ø A bicycle enables you to have an immediate contact with the crowd, to communicate and flirt, to experience the power of freedom!

Liberate yourself from exhaust gases and fumes!

Escape traffic!

Stop contributing to global warming!

Arouse the biker inside you!

Public Works: a three-day event about the city, the arts and public space

In the bi-polar centre of Nicosia the legacies of the C20th and the transformations of the C21st are challenging this divided city to introspection, vis-a-vis its claims to an international vocabulary, however ignored, and its architectonic steps forward. Moving on from the modernist legacy of challenging systems of knowledge through aesthetic experiences, art forms have developed into the manifestations of littoral, conversational or dialogue based public art. A role that art can assume is to challenge us to think of our world anew and trigger thought on our sense of community. How does Nicosia’s fragmented sense of community respond to such developments? How are we – art practitioners, cultural producers, architects, historians, theorists – responsible in shaping that community and how visual language is used to interact not only with a highly charged public space but also with the public that inhabits that space?

Public Works, will be held on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July 2010 at APOTHEKE and across the Old Town of Nicosia.
will be divided into an afternoon of curated discussions and short presentations on the 3rd July 2010 and a more active engagement with the public space of the locale on the 1st and 2nd of Julyl, attempting to explore issues re:

*Nicosia as a space and place of conflicts.
*The public sphere and the subsequent and diverse uses of art in this specific locale.
*The public(s) that inhabits Nicosia, the degrees of its representations, and how and if art can attribute a visual voice.
*Historical and theoretical paradigms of social engagement through the arts and the importance of introducing such vocabulary into the Cypriot setting.
*Art as a contact zone for conflict resolution.

The workshops and events will also include:
* A workshop with children, aiming to reclaim and construct one of the numeorus temporary car parks in the city sprouting on evry other empty lot and transform it into an ad-hoc playground.
*A tour of stencils and graffiti and their importance as a form of visual communication and social engagement in the walled part of Nicosia by graffiti artists, taggers and activists.
*A presentation by the auotnomous left group of the history of their rich relationship with the city of Nicosia.
*A sensory challenge through a collaborative dance performance.
*A street party – a hisotrically traceable mode of public engagement with the city that has attracted multiple reactions and has partly rekindled the public interest for the Old Town of Nicosia.
*An exhibition of past and present collaborative, community-based and socio-spatially involved works at APOTHEKE.
*A radiophonic engagement with the space of the walled city

Organizers:
Demetris Taliotis info@apothekecontemporaryarts.com
Evi Tselika e_tselika@hotmail.com

For further information please refer to the website of the event

http://publicworks2010.blogspot.com/
Public Works Program- 1/2/3 July 2010
Public Works
in the public space of Nicosia

1, 2 & 3 July 2010

Apotheke Contemporary Arts: http://www.apothekecontemporaryarts.com/

Contact information Evi Tselika
e_tselika@hotmail.com
+447973906568/ +35797611269

Contact information Demetris Taliotis
info@apothekecontemporaryarts.com
+447788727571 / +35799764816

Thursday, 1 July 2010

17:00- 19:00
Illegal parking lot turned to ad hoc playground
Public Works meets Hope for Peace, Office for Children’s Rights
Drawings of young people using the theme of the old city that will have been turned to large stickers will be displayed throughout the city, but particularly at the location of the workshop. This will be accompanied by exhibits from the bi-communal arts workshops that are lead by the NGO HFC-OCR.
This will act as an ad hoc playground including a 3 meter canvas that will be set up so that members of the public can spray paint messages to the city.
Young people will be welcome to join and draw different pictures based upon emblematic images of the old city. Some of these images will then be turned to T-shirts and given back to participants. This will be held right behind Ermou bar at 261 Ermou street.
Artist leading Workshop: Evi Tselika
Location 1

Friday, 2 July 2010

18:30
Talking of Public Art
Talk on Public Art in the context of Cyprus by Christina Lambrou outside the Archbishopry where the Big Mac used to reside. Location 2

20:00
Exhibition of Public Works @ Apotheke Contemporary Arts, 23 Kleanthi Christofidi
An exhibition exploring the notions of the divided city, the use of the highly charged public space both as political statements and artistic endeavors and how the element of social/ spatial engagement has been presented by creative practitioners. Location 3

21:00
Street Party and Urban Guerilla Souvla @ street outside Apotheke
A historically traceable mode of public engagement with the city that has attracted multiple reactions and has partly rekindled the public interest for the Old Town of Nicosia. Location 3

24 hour Web radio experimentation by Antonis Antoniou launched at the street party. Starting time at 21:00


Saturday, 03 July 2010

10:00-11:00
Trading Places Physical Theatre Performance in the Municipal Market
Performance will take place by Dance Theatre United (Natalie Heller) & with the contribution of Nikoleta Verikiou. Location 4

11:00- 12:30
A tour of stencils and graffiti and their importance as a form of visual communication and social engagement within the walled part of Lefkosia/Lefkosha, which will be conducted by researcher Pafsanias Karathanasis. Location 5

Roundtable @ Cafe Berlin No 2(on border)

17:00- Evi Tselika- Introduction

17:15- Dr Gabriel Koureas- Nicosia: Memory, Place, Trauma

17:45- Dr Anna Grichting- Green Line Scapes. Nicosia’s Dead Zone as a River of Memory.

18:15- Dr Cameron Cartiere- Public Art and Social Engagement in Contemporary Art

18:45- Pafsanias Karathanasis- Geographies of graffiti and street art in the old town of Lefkosia/ Lefkoşa

19:15- Demetris Taliotis- Analysis and presentation of artistic collaborative work in the Public space of Nicosia.

19:45- Sumer Erek- Presentation of the artist’s work in the Public space and how he uses social engagement

20:15- Roundtable Discussion
21:00

Location 6

Hands off Manolis!

Reporters, politicians, investors and police have launched an attack against us and other youths who spend time at Manolis square in Faneromeni and the surrounding area. This attack is not at all random. Their purpose is to terrify people, make them afraid and turn them against anything different going on in the town and also to convince people of the necessity of strong police forces in the area. It is almost certain that they are preparing the ground for another police operation, like the ones which took place last September and October.

There is no doubt why Manolis square is being targeted, alongside the whole area of old Nicosia. “The climate of insecurity and criminality delay, maybe completely ruin the plans for investments of many millions of Euros in the city’s centre” (Fileleftheros, 23/4/2010 – the quote has been translated from Greek into English). This did not surprise any of us. A week ago we wrote in our article ‘For a more humane city,’ that “For them, the citizens and others who are active in the area are an obstacle in their plans because they oppose the commercialization of their neighborhoods. The immigrants are also an obstacle because, according to their opinion, they ruin the nice ‘display’ which they have created. The media as their advertising agent and the police as their natural partner provide full cover to the investors in their efforts to overcome the said obstacles.”

Member of Parliament I. Nicolaou stated that “youths who gather there (at Manolis square) are looking for an alternative way of entertainment but no one has managed to communicate with them.” That is correct; you sirs have not been able to communicate with us because we don’t speak the same language. You, members of parliament, television channel managers and all kinds of ‘responsible’ and ‘respectable’ people can only speak the language of money and profits. As to the statement that youths have fun “until morning with the music at full volume,” this is simply a myth created by those attack ing Manolis square. Loud music is played only when there is a street party, about once a month, with permission from the local authorities and the music is turned off by 11:30.

Manolis square is a multicultural, multidimensional area which we respect and protect, and invite anyone to discover this in person. In this area one can find politically active groups of people, with their opinions and social sensitivities. These are people with their own judgment, without the need for leaders and guidance. All the people who would hate to see the area become an enormous, commercial center and prefer to socialize in open, public, free spaces are an obstacle to the investors. The feeling of insecurity is created by the media, and those who pass by the area will understand that the media’s arguments are invalid.

The media’s misinformation will not stand.

Those who sacrifice human communication and creativity in the name of greed and profits will find us blocking their way.

Reporters, politicians, investors and policemen – hands off Manolis!

Planodio Steki Dromou

The article does not mean to represent all those who spend time at Manolis. It is the expression of opinion of one group of people among those many who spend time at Manolis. (the “Planodio Steki Dromou” organization)