The ‘PERSONIFICATION OF AN ERA’ project draws attention to the continuing division of Cyprus since the invasion of Turkish troops in 1974. Nicosia is now the only divided capital in the world, since the fall of the Berlin wall on the 9th of November, 1989. Across the ethnic divide there is now conviction that the gaping wound could close as negotiations have been re-established. The infamous “Green Line” separates the island into two parts: the Greek-Cypriot south and the occupied Turkish-Cypriot north. The width of the ‘Green Line’ is a no man’s land referred to as the ‘dead zone’. Fascinatingly the South and North operate in two different time zones, while the dead zone remains trapped back in 1974.
The conflict becomes Antonios’ muse and through the hybridization of documentary and studio photography, he blurs the lines between fact and fiction, constructing an anthropomorphism of the island. Having grown up in Cyprus, Antonios has been in a position to creatively fill the gap between witnessing and public discourse, to create awareness of the ongoing conflict, and to give the island a face.
The conflict becomes Antonios’ muse and through the hybridization of documentary and studio photography, he blurs the lines between fact and fiction, constructing an anthropomorphism of the island. Having grown up in Cyprus, Antonios has been in a position to creatively fill the gap between witnessing and public discourse, to create awareness of the ongoing conflict, and to give the island a face.
