Kolektiv Cité Radieuse

PAST-FORWARD: Cyprus Modernism, Unarchived

(12 May – 9 July 2023)

Past-forward: Cyprus Modernism, Unarchived restages the work of Stavros Economou (1917-2004) – one of the most significant representatives of Modern Architecture in Cyprus, at Kolektiv Cité Radieuse gallery, located inside Le Corbusier’s Unité d’habitation in Marseille.

Setting the architect’s archive in motion and making it accessible to diverse publics, the exhibition presents Economou’s multidimensional practice that unfolded at a period of intense transformation in Cyprus on spatial, socio-political and economic levels, spanning the last years of British rule until the first decades after the declaration of independance. The exhibition reconstructs fragments of the archive and the life cycles of modern heritage buildings through digital media and storytelling. This new content explores what constitutes our collective memories and suggests how a building’s multidimensional representation is an open-ended activity that rewrites its multiple temporalities and complex histories while speculating new futures. The multimedia reconstruction of Economou’s architectural archive proposes a journey into the Cypriot urban landscape and the dynamics that have contributed to its shaping from the mid-twentieth century onwards, acting as a vehicle to critically reflect on identity, modernity, post-coloniality and the common challenges Mediterranean cities are facing today.

As part of the exhibition, a 360° virtual tour of Past-forward: Stavros Economou Unarchived is launched. That was the first retrospective exhibition on Economou’s work, hosted at State Gallery of Contemporary Arts – SPEL in Nicosia (2021). This 360° ‘virtual twin’ documents the ephemeral event of the exhibition and creates a new digital repository of the archive through an interactive interface that can be accessed remotely by an international audience. In this virtual space, visitors can immerse themselves in a spatial experience to discover more original drawings, photographs, articles, written documents and new multimedia content from Economou’s archive, which can be continuously expanded in time.

Curators

Popi Iacovou, Lecturer, University of Cyprus

Georgios Artopoulos, Associate Professor, Cyprus Institute

Kolektiv Cité Radieuse,

UNITÉ D’HABITATION LE CORBUSIER, MARSEILLE, FRANCE

UNITÉ D’HABITATION LE CORBUSIER, MARSEILLE, FRANCE

Opening

Friday, 12 May 2023

Duration

12 May – 9 July 2023

Organisers

Kolektiv Cité Radieuse

Co-organisers

University of Cyprus

The Cyprus Institute

Funded by

Department of Modern and Contemporary Culture, Deputy Ministry of Culture

Supporters

Cyprus Architects Association

POEEM – Pancyprian Organisation of Freelance Architects and Civil Engineers

ETEK – Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber

Sponsors

ARCHTUBE Architectural Lighting Design

ELNIA Ltd

MUSKITA Aluminium Industries

Domochemica Ltd

Under the auspices of

Union of Mediterranean Architects (UMAR)