Art spectacular
PERFORMANCE and installation art is set to transform the walled city of Gazimağusa this evening as five artists and the Rooftop Theatre Group promise a spectacular which will include projections at two historical venues.
(Im)Permanence-White Nights Famagusta features artists Adi Atassi, Aliki Kirmitis, Dicle Özlüses, Olgu Tosun, Serap Kanay and Vasilis Vasiliou and Rooftop Theatre performance artists who will investigate how public spaces are organised and shaped by story and narrative.
The show will take place from 7.30pm to 11.30pm.
An artists’ statement said that they would explore both “authorised and contentious” narratives in the built environment, social spaces and usage of the city.
The multimedia and video art event and artists’ residency is organised by the European Mediterranean Arts Association and the Rooftop Theatre.
Co-curator Gülgün Kayım said the “White Nights” concept had already been realised at the Northern Spark arts festival in
By ANNE CANALP
AN ELECTRIC performance by flamboyant guest violinist Alexander Markov is promised this week at two Bellapais concerts with the TRNC Presidential Symphony and Çukurova Symphony orchestras ahead of his solo concert on Friday.
The orchestral concerts, on Tuesday and Wednesday, are part of the International North Cyprus Music Festival.
Festival organiser Halil Kalgay said: “Usually we reserve one concert for special guests but this season both concerts are open to all and will feature the same programme so Minneapolis, an experimental two-night event which runs from sunset until 2am.
US organisers said tens of thousands of people had gathered throughout the city of Minneapolis to explore giant video projections, play in temporary installations in the streets, and enjoy experimental performances in green spaces.
Participating artists toured the walled city on Tuesday to choose performance sites which that music lovers can choose which dates suit them best.”
The dual programme features Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op 35 and Dvorak’s New World Symphony and will be conducted by Ali Hoca, whose Kıbrıs Suite will also be performed.
The two orchestras and soloist also played at a TRNC-Turkey Friendship Concert last night in Adana. will be signposted on the night. Resident Syrian artist Adi Atassi likened the creative process on day two of the residency to “knocking on the door of my subconscious and asking it”.
The EU Open Door-funded artists’ residency began last Friday with a one-week full-board programme including workshops and talks, followed by an intensive production period with curators Ellada Eva and Gülgün Kayım.
Workshops were designed to investigate or “map” alternative stories, concepts and visions of how the city is, or could be, and included visits by architect Socratis Stratis, academic and architect member of the Imaginary Famagusta project by the Hands-on Famagusta collective.
Other visitors included Yiannis Toumazis with his conceptual Framework for the New Famagusta Museum and local artists Nurtane Karagil and Aycan Garip.
A CIVIL Society Open Door festival earlier today offers information stands, concerts, dance shows, activities for children and other events today in Gazimağusa’s Namık Kemal Square, from 4pm to 7pm.
Soloist Alexander Markov returns to the Bellapais stage on Friday for his concert From Baroque to Paganini and Beyond, when he will be accompanied by pianist Yuliya Starastsenkava.
The programme will feature the Tartini Sonata in G minor Devil’s Trill, excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet, Paganini Caprices and a Gold Electric Violin with Piano “grand finale” of Markov’s own compositions.
Tickets for all three concerts are priced at 50TL from Deniz Plaza bookshops or on the door, and all begin at 8.30pm. The festival offers seven more concerts at the abbey until Friday, November 16.