NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – The abstract figures of naked women spinning to the rhythm of a five-member band shocked many people almost 60 years ago when they first saw the artwork on the walls of a popular Cyprus restaurant-club.
The valuable and very rare concrete relief of Christoforos Savva, Cyprus’ most avant-garde artist of the 1960s, was hidden for decades in the underground recesses of Perroquet nightclub in abandoned Varosha – an inaccessible ghost town that has been under Turkish military control since 1974 , a war ethnically divided the island nation.
But with the controversial partial opening of Varosha last November, the artwork returned to the surface after a report in the local newspaper Politis. Now, the man who says he commissioned Savva’s art is asking the authorities for help to remove it and transport it to the country’s national gallery for all to see.
Former Perroquet owner Avgerinos Nikitas, 93, a Greek Cypriot, appealed to a committee composed of Greek and Turkish Cypriots tasked with protecting Cyprus’ cultural treasures on both sides of the division to help remove the 13 sections.
“In return, I promise to give these pieces to the National Collection as a small contribution to Christoforos Savva’s enormous body of work,” said Nikitas in a letter obtained by the Associated Press, addressed to the committee and also to the Cyprus ministry of education.
But the whole venture could be undermined, as the Greek Cypriot family who own the Esperia Tower hotel, which hosted the Perroquet club, insists that the artwork legally belongs to them. They say they will not allow their “private property” to be removed and transferred and are warning of legal action.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Panayiotis Constantinou told the AP that his lawyer warned them that the hotel, the club and everything inside is family, regardless of the cultural value of the Savva artwork.
“We respect and value culture, but this is a private property about which we were not asked how to remove it and, moreover, someone else claims it,” said Constantinou.
Art historians consider Savva to be one of the most influential artists of the time, who brought the world of traditionalist art and inland to modernity in the years immediately after Cyprus became independent from British colonial rule in 1960.
Painter and sculptor, Savva moved away from established representational art styles, encompassing influences such as cubism, which he acquired during his stays in London and Paris during the 1950s, in his voluminous works of art. He died in 1968.
“Savva was an innovator who always sought to break new ground and challenge the conservative times he lived in,” said Andre Zivanari, director of the Point Center for Contemporary Art.
Savva’s work reflected the joy of life of Varosha, which at the time was the most popular and progressive tourist resort in Cyprus – a favorite with visitors from Europe and elsewhere, said Yiannis Toumazis, art history professor and Cypriot member Greek culture committee.
All of that changed in the summer of 1974, when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of the union with Greece. The Turkish armed forces occupied an empty region of Varosha and kept it virtually closed until November last year, when Turkish Cypriot officials reopened a stretch of beach to the public.
The move caused a great deal of consternation among Greek Cypriot residents in the suburbs and protests from the island’s internationally recognized government amid concerns that the northern Turkish Cypriot hardline leadership intended to bring the entire area under their control.
The former first lady and co-chairman of the Cyprus cultural committee, Androulla Vassiliou, told the AP that the agency would examine the possibility of bringing aid to the southern part of the island as soon as new Turkish Cypriot members were appointed.
Previous members of the Turkish Cypriot committee collectively resigned last December for what they said was a divergence of views with the new Turkish Cypriot leadership on its aim to conduct negotiations to resolve the division of Cyprus away from a federation-based agreement.
The recovery of works of art that disappeared amid the war’s confusion is not without precedent. Last February, the culture committee successfully engineered the return of 219 paintings – including some of the most significant works produced by Greek Cypriot artists – that were considered lost or stolen in the north.
In return, Turkish Cypriots received rare archival footage from the state broadcaster CyBC of Turkish Cypriot cultural and sporting events dating from 1955 to the early 1960s. The exchange was hailed as a tangible way to increase confidence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
Toumazis said Savva’s return to aid would be another milestone in boosting confidence, but it would be even better if people could return to their properties in Varosha.
“It would be nice if the people themselves returned to what they had, instead of having any artwork transferred to them,” he said.