Delivering Views #16 - Postcard Pack / "Foreign Influence"

Delivering Views/ Καρτ-ποσταλ / Κεφάλαιο 16 / «Ξένη επιρροή»

Η Phaneromenis 70 παρουσιάζει το νέο κεφάλαιο του προγράμματος Delivering Views, αποτέλεσμα συνεργασίας με φοιτητές του Τμήματος Ανθρωπογεωγραφίας από το Royal Holloway, University of London.

Η ομάδα του Phaneromenis 70, κατόπιν επικοινωνίας με διδάσκοντες του Τμήματος οι οποίοι έδειξαν ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον για συμμετοχή στο πρόγραμμα, οργάνωσε συνάντηση με τους φοιτητές στον χώρο του Ιδρύματος για την ενημέρωσή τους σχετικά με το σκεπτικό του Delivering Views. Ακολούθησε μια σειρά φωτογραφιών οι οποίες ελήφθησαν από τους φοιτητές κατά τη διάρκεια της επίσκεψής τους στην Κύπρο. Οι φωτογραφίες αυτές συγκεντρώθηκαν, μελετήθηκαν και στη συνέχεια σχολιάστηκαν από τους καθηγητές του Πανεπιστημίου. Το αποτέλεσμα της δουλειάς αυτής συνιστά το αντικείμενο του κεφαλαίου #16 του προγράμματος Delivering Views.

Το πρόγραμμα επιμελήθηκε η Flora Parrott, εικαστικός.

Η παρουσίαση πραγματοποιήθηκε τόσο στον χώρο της Phaneromenis 70, όσο και σε διάφορα σημεία της πόλης. 

Delivering Views / Postcard / Chapter 16 / «Foreign Influence»

The Cultural Centre Phaneromenis 70 presents the new chapter of the project Delivering Views, which resulted from the collaboration with students of the Human Geography Department of the Royal Holloway, University of London.

The team of Phaneromenis 70, after getting in contact with the professors of the Department who had a remarkable interest in participating in the project, organised a meeting with the students at the Foundation in order to inform them about the concept of Delivering Views. That meeting led to collecting a corpus of photographs taken by the students during their stay in Cyprus. Their teachers meditated and commented on these photos, and thus resulted the work which we now present to the public.

Flora Parrott, artist, contributed as the exhibition curator.

The project was presented at Phaneromenis 70 Foundation, and around the city.

In March 2017, 44 second year undergraduate students and 5 members of staff from the Department of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London visited Nicosia as part of a week-long human geography field trip. In preparation for the field trip, the students attended three preparatory tutorials, were introduced to key readings and materials, and prepared individual project proposals. With the help of staff, local experts, NGOs, and charities—and working in both sides of the city—the students developed independent research projects examining themes such as:

• Nation and Nationalism
• Geographies of Peace and Peacekeeping
• Life 'On the Edge'
• Coffee and Political Geographies of Consumption
• Gender Issues on Cyprus
• Representing Cyprus: Image

Within these thematic boundaries and in small groups, the students developed their own individual research approaches, questions and methodological framework. Using interviews, focus groups, surveys, museum and archival visits, and ethnographic methods such as observation and community engagement, the students developed a greater appreciation of the complex and contested cultural, social and political geographies of Cyprus.

The first three days of the field trip were pre-arranged by staff members and comprised a tour of the city with ‘Cycles Across Barriers’, a trip to the bi-communal village of Pyla, a visit to the walled city of Famagusta, Vorosha and a UN guided tour of the ‘Blue Beret Camp’, including Nicosia International Airport. All of which helped them shape their thinking and understanding of the cultural and political contexts that shape Cyprus and its people. The remainder of the week was earmarked for independent research where the students navigated the city in small groups or on their own, arranging meetings and visiting sites that helped them to develop their own research focus. During this time, student work began to evolve and they met with a wide range of people and organisations that helped them crystallise their project ideas. These meetings were all arranged by the students themselves and most of them only materialised during the time in Cyprus; meetings with students at the School of Architecture, Phaneromenis 70, a visit to Urban Gorillas, dancing with members of Studio 21, a film night at the University of Nicosia, a project using Facebook to bring people together using crochet installation, coffee groups, football games, and the archives at CVAR – to name just a few.

The students were inspired by the efforts of Cypriot young people to promote peace and bi-communal connections, and were humbled by the kindness and hospitality of those they met. Each student produced a 6,000-word written report based upon their research in Nicosia; a helpful stepping stone before they embark of independent dissertation projects in their third year. The students benefited hugely from their time in Cyprus – several described it as one of the most fascinating, inspirational, and stimulating weeks of their degree programme. Whilst the pre-field trip tutorials, readings and meetings had given the students a general understanding of the political landscape of Cyprus, the complexity and richness of the place was only fully appreciated during their fieldwork experience. Both students and staff were struck by the generosity of the people of Cyprus – both in and beyond the city of Nicosia – and the enthusiasm to share their stories and projects.  The Department of Geography looks forward to returning to Nicosia in 2018.

Meeting Phaneromenis 70 and contributing to Chapter 16

The meeting with Phaneromenis 70 was attended by a group of students, who wanted to focus their research project on the different ways in which Cyprus is, or has been, represented in images, buildings, and through tourist experiences. Not only did the students find the discussion with Phaneromenis 70, and the opportunity to ask questions,  incredibly interesting, it also helped them think through and shape their own research approach. It encouraged them to articulate the ways in which they were themselves constructing and reconstructing their own representations of Nicosia.

The group were asked to send a single image that expressed their own 'view' of the city. As a group we discussed this task and explored ways in which the students could avoid 'composing' the images or forcing a particular narrative. This became an interesting discussion point as the inclination is often to find a site of historical significance or to generate symbolic and poignant imagery. It was also clear that by contributing to this project with Phaneromenis 70 the students were made aware that it required a recognition of construction and it gave the group permission to be very direct, honest and instinctive in the manner in which they responded to the task.

Flora Parrot, Innes Keighren, Katherine Brickell, Rikke Bjerg Jensen, and Alasdair Pinkerton