The Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria (CCMV) and SEKA Victoria held the opening of the exhibition “Cyprus, the island of Aphrodite” on Saturday, July 20 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
The exhibit, developed by the Pedagogical Institute “Hellenism of Anatolia from the Aegean to Pontus,” portrayed the history and culture of Cyprus through the passage of time. It hopes to bring in the community and school groups in order to educate and keep Cypriot history alive for years to come.
The exhibition was carefully curated by Kostas Pataridis and coordinated by Giota Stavridou, Kaiti Georgiou, Androniki Charalambidou, Urania Papageorgiou, Konstantinos Kalymnios, Lucas Nikolaou, Pavlos Andronikos, and Panagiotis Giannoudis who all contributed with artefacts and support.
The opening night was a success with a number of official guests in attendance. Among these were Bishop Evmenios of Chora; Panayiotis Palates, Commissioner of the Citizen from the Republic of Cyprus; Antonis Sammoutis, High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus in Australia; Emmanuel Kakavelakis, the Greek Consul General in Melbourne, as well as state and federal ministers including Maria Vamvakinou, Evan Mulholland, Kat Theophanous, Anthony Cianflone, and Telmo Languiller.
Speeches were made by the guests, including the President of the CCMV, Theo Theophanous and the President of SEKA Victoria, Pavlos Andronikos.
Stories and recollections of the Turkish invasion were shared amongst the attendees who endured the 1974 events.
The proceedings were then graced by the presence of esteemed artists Marios Haralambous (vocals) with George Timotheou on the piano. Musical pieces by Achilleas Yiangoulli with Jason Lambrou on the piano were also deeply moving.
The President and Committee of the CCMV awarded Panayiotis Yiannoudis OAM, and the late Antonis Toumbourou in recognition for their contribution to the Cyprus community particularly for their efforts following the Turkish invasion.
The CCMV and SEKA also recognised the efforts and support of the Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish and Ukranian communities for standing by Cyprus during the day of mourning 50 years on.
“Cyprus, the island of Aphrodite” is located at the Cypriot Community Building at 495 Lygon St, Brunswick East from July 20 to August 14, 2024. For individual or school visits, the CCMV encourages people to get in touch at 0467 611 291.
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