“Blue Period-Woman ironing flag”, 1:11minute, 2016.
For three years 1901-1904 Picasso began to tint his paintings a pale cold blue viewing the world through blue spectacles.  A “Woman ironing” was painted in his Blue period touching upon social compassion and urban proletariat, themes currently shared by Greece and EU migration crisis. Filmed in Larnaca -Cyprus

"Silences | Here I stand ironing" 4:51min, 2016 

A woman stands in an empty white room ironing a Greek flag. While ironing she listens to an audio of a short story by Tillie Olsen “Here I stand Ironing”.  In the video we hear an extract of this story. The Greek flag to many Cypriots is the “Mother-land flag”, Olsen’s story is about a mother and daughter  and takes place in the most ordinary of settings: a mother, at home, ironing. The mother is interrupted in the course of her routine by a troubling question from her daughter's teacher.

"Asia Minor diary in karamanlidika text" 3:08min, 2015

One-off copy, 53pages, 30x43cm.  Amended exhibit found in Byzantine Museum Cyprus.  Decoding of text; a collaboration of a Greek and Turkish speaker.

"White-Desire  ICE-CREAM, Re-materializing Post-colonial Cyprus"  6:23 min, 2015 A recipe of processed food.  An exclusively pale white ice-cream recipe “imported” to be consumed by the idealized primitive subjects. This traditional ice-cream recipe was first published by the Larnaka ladies society in the early 1960’s and passed from one generation to the other (also seen on package). Still a popular recipe today. Desert-White Desire, an exclusively pale white ice-cream perhaps “imported” to be consumed by the idealized primitive subjects?

"The shroud of Cyprus/ H σινδόνη της Κύπρου"  Double video projection, 5:25 minutes  2014.

Left screen - A faded, worn, torn Cyprus flag flies in silence on a mast eternally against a blue sky. The cause of how it got to this state is not clear, has it been forgotten, a veteran of many battles, or just simply weathered?

Right screen - Via a specialized art conservator procedure, the flag has been preserved on a stretched canvas to be placed in a protective glass-frame. Like a holy shroud, a museum masterpiece, or even a family heirloom, it is aimed to be exhibited.

"Recipe for Marinated crushed olives", 3 min, 2006.

Local olives in Cyprus are prepared in this way as early as the Byzantine era. The film makes an ironic paradox between the Cyprus problem and the making of Crushed Olives; that it is split, salt has removed bitterness, and has been marinating since (1974). 

This recipe is filmed on a daily Cypriot newspaper with the following headings:

a) The European parliament has obliterated the Cyprus problem, the Cyprus problem is not a priority,

b) We are not as similar as we think…

"Olives in Syrup", 3 min, 2007 

Γλυκό του κουταλιού της ελιάς», this family secret recipe has been prepared in this way as early as the Byzantine times. Women mostly offer it to men when delicate issues are to be raised.

RECIPE FOR OLIVES IN SYRUP

Ingredients

- 250gr green olives (harvested in October while they are still green and unripe)

- 200gr water

- 300gr sugar

- Shavings of 1 lemon

- Juice of 1 lemon

- Secret magic spice

Method (as seen on film)

1. Pip olives 2. Boil sugar in water for 5 minutes 3. Lower fire and place olives in syrup 4. Add lemon juice and shavings

5. Finally add “secret spice” and simmer olives until syrup thickens.

Store in glass jars, crochet the top of lids. Do not underestimate the symbol of olives.

Serve with Greek coffee (others call it Byzantine or Turkish coffee) with a glass of fresh water on the side.

"Ελιόψωμο |Olive bread", 7:00 minutes, 2010

A retired man remembers a story while piping olives. His friends visit him and they continue chatting about the old times, politics, aneurysm and food. His wife makes olive bread while listening to them chatting away.

“Rembetiko” (three screen installation) 9min 14”, 2010

Rembetiko, is a term used today to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek folk music. Its lyrics reflect the harsher realities of a marginalized subculture's lifestyle. Breaking plates is an ancient Greek tradition. It was a way of mourning the deceased. After the commemorative feast was served, the guests would smash their plates as a way of breaking curses and scaring away evil spirits. Today, breaking plates is most commonly thought of in a celebratory way, with the Greek concept of kefi (high spirits and fun) but at the same time trying to scare off and forget the daily troubles. Each plate has an image of Pendadactylos mountain range in Cyprus, with the slogan “Do not forget”, the peak name and height.

“Μουσακάς | Moussaka”,  6:31minutes, 2012
The Greek national dish, Mousssaka,  - includes an inch of French bechamel cream sauce and 700 calories per serving. The story behind this dish starts in the early 1900. Tselementes, a Greek chef, believed that French cuisine was much more sophisticated than the simple Greek food, and developed recipes and cooking styles based on sauces and French methods of preparation to "cleanse" Greek food of Ottoman and Middle Eastern  influences that had been incorporated over centuries, influences Tselementes saw as barbaric. 

"Divide and Consume", 3:18 minutes, 2010

Sweet Recipe of  Orange peel: Ingredients : 1kg orange peel/ 1 kg sugar/3 cups water/o.5 lemon zest. Peel oranges. Roll peel into tubes and fix them together with needle and thread. Soak for 5 days, changing water daily. On the 6^th day add sugar, lemon juice and simmer until syrup is ready. The video takes on a metaphor for the politics of British colonization in Cyprus via a traditional Orange recipe. Filmed in Strovilia, Famagusta District, within the British Sovereign Bases.

“DEFINING SILENCE Famagusta-Cyprus  28.5 km/hr”, 19:20 minutes, 2009.
Defining Silence’ political approach is against fuelled nationalism and militarism. Facing the given reality of Famagusta’s ghost town under Military Occupation, a grey wolf strolls in and out of the periphery.

The End? Without a word, the wolf went straight to the grandmother’s bed, where Little Red Riding Hood found him.

"Turn a Blind Eye", 2:20 minutes, 2009

The Story Board 

1. Start with a zoomed shot of Aspelia Hotel.

2. Slowly zoom out

3. Ostrich appears

4. Pan over to the sea.

5. Zoom on tourist swimming.

6. Pan back to the beach, zooming out, ostrich is seen with the head into sand.

7. Continue zooming out to a panoramic view of Famagusta.

“330 nM”, 3 min, 2006

When the sea level rises-and there is no land to fight over. Photographs from a sea journey have their horizon cut-off. The coordinates, temperature, sea depth, time, weather conditions, wind direction and speed, Due True direction and nautical Miles from each waypoint are then recorded on each photograph. It rained only once. The Mediterranean sea, documented in this journey, like a painter’s palette, an infinite mirror of blue shades.

During the Ancient times, proto-Poodles that were first found on Greek islands. Genes of these types have survived in a very elementary way in the general population of Greek dogs. Proto poodles or Water Dogs were taught to herd fish into fishermen's nets, to retrieve lost tackle or broken nets, and to act as couriers from ship to ship, or ship to shore. Today what vets officially call the common Cyprus Poodle is a cross between a terrier and a poodle, a mutt.  Yiakoumis was once a stray dog found by the sea shores, before taken in and given a name and a home …Underdog is inspired by the anxiety a small country| small community| small group  etc feel when in contact with a large country | large society | large group etc. Will the Underdog be able to continue to exist against the massiveness of the sea? Does it really matter if the underdog goes under?

I will love my neighbor” is a hand-written repetitive message written inside notebooks of all grades in elementary schools in Cyprus. These notebooks have “I do not forget” printed on the back and front cover. Δεν ξεχνώ is a phrase slogan still used since 1974 whose objective is to support the long-term struggle against the Turkish military occupation in Cyprus.

Cyprus 17cents, 2013

The artist performs her ritual of erasing stacks of newspaper headlines with lemons.
A double-projection, one showing a close up of lemons, symbol of Cyprus, erasing an image of a Cypriot stamp from a newspaper (it costs 17 cents), the other projection a documentation of the performance.

"How do we know it is Aphrodite?" 3-channel video installation, may be viewed separately also, 2012

Video 1;   Video 2;    Video 3.   Video of installation

"Should I stay or should I go now?", 1 min, 2006

Cyprus has been described as the most militarized countries in the world, 19 soldiers per squared kilometer. Third highest world weapon holding  891000 per 1 million people.

The film was inspired after the Cyprus border opened in 2003. A playful, darkly humorous short film loaded with contradictions and symbols. With the border as a background, the protagonist sings the words of the Clash out-of tune, while running in heels on a treadmill which is symbolic of the isolated islander, as well as the Cyprus problem that seems to go nowhere.

“Electricity” 2:30 min, 2006

“Electricity”is part of a Tetralogy of four interconnected short films on contemporary Cyprus, including ”Rabbits have no memory”,  “Marinated Crushed Olives” and “Should I stay or should I go now?”. The films oscillate between narrative politics, archive documentary and the experimental.  

This short experimental documentary starts with CyBC-radio music of Occupied Cyprus, continues with electricity manufacturing sounds and ends with an Ottoman military march beat. An experimental documentary of the islands separate identities, impregnated with my own personal sadness and disbelief; the last time I felt sad was when the largest flag in the world, 1000m, was placed in my back garden. The flag is on the North Pentadactylos Mountain, the Turkish National flag and has written underneath ‘so happy to be a Turk’ and in reverse colors is the ‘Turkish-Cypriot’ Republic flag. This flag all through every night at 8pm lights up and is extremely provocative to an unresolved Cyprus problem. 

<from 1963 to 1974 the Turkish Cypriots were given free electricity. This continued also after the invasion of the Turkish army in 1974 at a cost of US dollars343 million, even though apart from the Turkish Cypriots the consumers now included the Turkish occupation forces. The Cypriot authorities still supply the occupied areas and their army with their energy needs>.

"Rabbits have no memory", 1min 55 sec, 2006

The film, enigmatic, abstract, a puzzle to be decoded, with minimal clues of “Cypriots” which most of them might even be false (casino, displaced persons (refugees) housing, rabbit, barking dogs, gun point +shot) and a text, a memory reading by a ‘patronising neo-colonial’ visiting Cyprus.

The British colonists lacked respect for the Cypriots, and this British superiority may not only be read in W.Hepworth Dixon “British Cyprus” (1887) but also in Durrell’s  “Bitter Lemons” (1957). This is a story of his experiences on Cyprus between 1953 and 1956--first as a visitor, then as a homeowner and teacher, and finally as press advisor (spy?) to a government on the verge of revolution. In brief, Durrell characterises the Cypriots as happy childlike innocents, misled by “demagogues” and the “envenomed insinuations of the Athens Radio». The English, on the other hand, are seen as always concerned with the good of the charges that they have been entrusted with.

He writes about Cypriots: “…. It was unreal. One has seen rabbits scatter like this at the report of a gun, only to re-emerge after half an hour and timidly come out to grass again- unaware that the hunter is still there, still watching.

Civilians have no memory. Each new event comes to them on a fresh wave of time, pristine and newly delivered with all its wonder and horror brimming with novelty.”  L.Durrell “Bitter Lemons “ 1957p.196

"C h a n g e  o f  a ι r  | Αέρας αλλαγής | Ηava değişimi", 1:50 minutes, 2009

The text below simply describes a post-solution era if accepted in a January 2010 plebiscite by the Cyprus population. In the 3 official languages of Cyprus.

Welcome to our new bi-communal, bi-zonal federation. We wish you an enjoyable stay and a safe onward journey.

Καλώς ήρθατε στη νέα μας δικοινοτική, διζωνική ομοσπονδία. Σας ευχόμαστε μια ευχάριστη διαμονή και καλή συνέχεια.

Yeni iki toplumlu, iki bölgeli federasyona hoşgeldiniz. Ziyaretinizin keyifli, yolculuğunuzun devamının güvenli olmasını dileriz.

"Reasons for War", 3 minutes

Religion and Nationalism are often used as excuses for War. The film explores the Greek-Cypriot dual identity to their Ethnic and Religious origin. Symbolic to this, is the Greek celebrations of March 25 that is both a National (revolution against the Turks) and religious holiday (Annunciation). Situated across the church, checkpoint (Charlie) in Nicosia shows the inherent tension of Cyprus bi-ethnic state. The nostalgic “Torn between two lovers” song is superimposed throughout the film, a 70’s tune of a time long ago, perhaps a longing to be able to live together. Many wonder whether Cyprus political problems are fueled so as to ensure that the “great powers” can better control the island, and its strategic position in the Middle East.

"14 Demosthenous street", 4 min, 2007, Greek (with French subtitles)

The film records a tour of a house in South Cyprus in which the enclaved children stayed during their secondary schooling prior to the re-opening of the first and only Greek gymnasium in the Rizocarpaso in Northern occupied Cyprus. No traces of the children’s’ stay are found in this renovated house, merely second hand memories past down to the new owners, which have tried to keep some of the old features of the house.

The film touches upon living in partition times where traces of dislocation can be found even in the most unexpected places, a common suburbia house in 14 Demosthenous street.

After the 1974 war, there were about 20.000 mainly Greek-Cypriots that were cut-off in the Northern Karpass area. These people remained in their village in the hope that following the cease-fire, they would be able to carry on with their normal life.  By 2006 only 518 people, mostly elderly, remain there.

"Taking a bird for a walk", 3 min, 2007

 In all the recorded history there has never been one day that a battle hasn’t raged somewhere in the world. Peace is very elusive…

A short, seemingly insignificant journey. A 9 year old boy tries to take a dove for a walk. He has lured the bird by feeding it along the way. Two doves then fight for the food trying to balance on the boys shoulder, the dominant one stays on. The bird is indeed hard to lure…one minute he has it and the next it is gone.

"History in the making", 3:30 min, 2008

In the foreground a poet/journalist gives a monologue as if reading from a text that has never been written. History is lost in the torrent of information. He begins with 4 dates, 2 are only correct that alludes to the hush-up, omissions, historical inaccuracies, mistakes and avoidance of giving emphasis to the facts. Important word symbol is that of the “mouth” that is the oral passing down of history from generation to generation, although this includes all the variations and distortions, arbitrary falsifications that occur while re-telling stories.

Apart from words, images from PIO (Public Information Office) archive scroll in the background taken prior to the war until recent events, mostly from demonstrations by Greek Cypriots to cross over the divide, from peaceful times and from newspaper articles on history textbooks for secondary education. Through the reality of the image and the subjective intentions of the poet/journalist, the viewer is called to reflect on the recent past history of Cyprus and to materialize the making of tomorrow’s history. If peaceful living is to be accomplished in Cyprus, which images/books shall be selected to be taught to the new generation??

"History in the making" Subtitles

"Grafting/All my children", 3 min, 2005.

Grafting is a term used when a different variety is ‘attached’ onto a rootstock.  It is used mainly on fruit trees to spread out the different varieties to mature at different times or to improve the original tree’s performance. It is an allegory to what constitutes today a family (tree). i.e. family whatever this means in this mutated era.  The film is split in 3 parts.

The left screen shows raw 1998 video footage of children and friends which were asked to sit in front of a camera and eat a pear with a large knife in any manner they pleased.

The middle screen: A grafting technique was used in an urban tree but instead of using real buds, metal, large stainless steel prosthetic blooms were grafted onto the tree branches by a professional agronomist. The right screen: A pear passing/looping through time. A line then begins to join the 3 windows of the children from the left side, through the grafted tree to the right side, where the same 3 children, 7 years on,  in a green-house, appear doing the same ‘exercise’ of eating a pear.

The film ends with a humorous animation of a tribal pest dance.

 “26 Weeks”, 9 min, 2003

A partly autobiographical film, as a pregnancy defect cannot be detected until the 26^th week. Amongst medical installations and walking on a salt lake the artist with child recalls the waiting... Salt, water, weaving, utopian visions, you are in my eyes, learn by imitation…

“Operating Theatres”   interactive CD-Rom, 2000

Visit 8 Operating Theatres and click on a short video in each of the 8 operating room:

Eye Operation/ Endoscopy/ Gastric Binding/ Nose Operation/ Gender Blending/ Leg Operation/ Split-brain and Cryonics). 

All eight videos can be played separately as short films.

“The Enchanted pear tree” 3 min, 2000

Woman eating a provocative pear with story/ text  based from Le Ciento Novelle antike 1525 by Carlos Gualteruzzi and music Canario Lute transcription from Negri.

“The hole”, 1 min, 1999

An abstract short on entrapment, time passing, and escapement.