Hands Across the Divide
This project is a fine art approach to document by unreal means the real. Subject of my piece, is the difficulties in communication between the two “opponent” ethnic groups in Cyprus, and the work of the feminist NGO “Hand Across the Divide”. Hands Across the Divide (H.A.D.) struggles towards rapprochement on citizens’ level. It is the first organization in Cyprus that has managed to legalize itself as a unitary organization with only one shared basis for the North and the South (Farkas & Loizou, 2003, H.A.D., 2004).
I have chosen to represent the real situation of H.A.D.s work and of the political division in Cyprus, by the use of animation. Animation is a medium mostly connected with the unreal, with the imaginary and the fairytale. The reason I have chosen this medium lies on my conviction that in order to present a real situation, it is not essential to have a photographic proof of the world. The camera, in the same manner as our eyes, can only give a certain perspective of what is, only one viewpoint of reality. Following this logic, animation is only pointing out to the fact that it is impossible to achieve an absolute “correct” (realistic) visual report. Moreover, Animation gave me the opportunity to create an archive of visual material otherwise difficult to get by using film footage.
• Farkas, S. & Loizou, G. (2003). Cyprus: Hands across the divide: a case study in bi-communal, cross-border activism. Women & Environments International Magazine. . 2003 Spring;(58-59): 43-47. (Myria Christophini)