Formerly Intimate Spaces, Contemporary Makers of Culture: The Country House of Adamantios Diamantis

Within the framework of the project Rural Platforms / Places for Co-creation and Reconnection, the research laboratory Cut Contemporary Fine Arts Lab of the Fine Arts Department of CUT organized a one-day International Symposium at the country residence of Adamantios Diamantis at Ayios Theodoros Pitsilias, recently acceded to the Cyprus University of Technology, under the title: Formerly intimate Spaces, Contemporary Makers οf Culture: The Country House of Adamantios Diamantis.

The symposium focused on issues of cultural management with reference to contemporary cultural-artistic creation and museology. Specifically, it seek to open a dialogue around the development of sustainable and meaningful actions, initiatives and structures in relation to the local community and in relation to the preservation and management of the artistic, intellectual and material heritage of cultural practitioners.

The first time Adamantios Diamantis (1900-1994) visits Ayios Theodoros is in the summers of 1931 and 1932. His sketches from these visits form the basis for important early works, such as Anamalliara se Gaidouri (1932) and Phyteftries (1932-33), while later they offer material for thematic orientation. He purchases the country house in Ayios Theodoros in 1964 at a time, as noted, of artistic stagnation and of searching for his painting’s basic principles. As he characteristically writes to Greek poet Giorgos Seferis in the same year: "I feel the need to take root". The layout of the house also testifies to its different uses: a space for creation, isolation, contemplation, rest, recreation, hospitality and contact with nature.

What could be the use of this house today? What kind of actions and structures could be developed so that it continues to be a hub of artistic thinking and creation, contributing to the preservation of the painter's rich legacy? How could it become a center for research on issues related to contemporary artistic activity, but also a place to connect Ayios Theodoros with the artistic community both in Cyprus and abroad?

These are some of the questions discussed at the symposium which was organized with the support of invited researchers from Cyprus and abroad.

Presentations and round table discussion with:
Lydia Chatziiakovou, ArtBOX (Greece)
Valentina Sokratous, Ethnological Museum of Thrace
Dr Gabriel Koureas, University of Nicosia/ Birkbeck University
Dr Theopisti Stylianou Lambert, Cyprus University of Technology
Stella Evangelidou, Frederick University
Dr Christina Lambrou, Visual and Material Culture Research Centre, Kingston School of Art
Moderator: Dr Elena Parpa, Cyprus University of Technology/University of Nicosia
Organisation: Cut Contemporary Fine Arts Lab / Dr Klitsa Antoniou

A guided tour of the house of Adamantios Diamantis preceded the symposium. The symposium will take place in an adjacent hospitality area. There will be signage for your convenience.