Student art exhibition reflects on water in Cyprus

Can water inspire art? It seems so, as the new narrative exhibition Reading Waters, opening at AG Leventis Gallery’s Coco_Creativity Centre, presents student artworks related to water and the Pedieos river. Drawing inspiration from the Gallery’s Cyprus Collection and contemporary artist books, the works were created by Fine Art students from the University of Nicosia.

Opening on Wednesday, the exhibition places the element of water – and its increasing absence in Cyprus – at the forefront.

“As our rivers dry up and our water resources become scarce,” comment organisers, “the exhibition Reading Waters draws attention to how we can read water and aquatic landscapes in twentieth-century Cypriot painting, drawn from the Cyprus Collection of the AG Leventis Gallery.”

These selected paintings will be exhibited alongside a series of artist books and visual responses by the students. The students works are inspired by the cultural histories, environments and geographies surrounding the Pedieos, Cyprus’ longest river.

This pairing encourages viewers to readdress their relationship with water and their own physical body, recognising both as interdependent parts of the natural world.

Riverine landscapes, dry channels, built environments shaped around water, and the river’s natural terrain all feature prominently in the exhibition. Although the Pedieos is more a torrent than a river, as the curators note, its presence and symbolic weight remain significant.

“The profound shifts in our overuse of these resources and the drying up of our landscape becomes evident through an expanded vision of contemporary art publishing practices related to waterscapes and riverine stories,” the organisers add.

These practices include artist books, postcards, scrolls, pigment experiments, audio pieces, videos, drawings, paintings, and photographs. Together, they shape a thoughtful narrative around our relationship with water, fluidity, memory and the surrounding physical environment.

The exhibition complements the book The River Speaks: Pediaios in Time and Space by Evanthia (Evi) Tselika and Despo Pasia, which examines the history, transformation and cultural significance of Cyprus’ longest river.

Reading Waters

Exhibition on water created by University of Nicosia art students. May 21-June 5. Opening event: 5.30pm-8pm. Wednesday: 10am-8pm. Thursday-Sunday: 10am-5pm. Tel: 22-668838