Pierides Foundation and KP10 collaborate on a new project, Famagusta New Museum (FNM) to contribute towards reconciliation in Cyprus. The FNM is a 20 -month-long project, funded by the Active Citizens Fund Cyprus.
According to a statement from the foundation, under the motto “I Understand and Forgive the Past, I Love and Generate the Future” FNM, readdresses the traditional role of museums in contemporary societies, while it aims at revitalizing the ghost city of Varosha, as well as connecting the old city to Varosha. In order to achieve that, the new project will create a digital museum of audiovisual archives, tours, a camp and a festival, which will allow the social, cultural and political reactivation of Varosha.
The project aims at an awakening of citizens by enabling public discourse and generating artistic, environmental and social participatory actions and interactions amongst the communities of Cyprus.
For the utilisation of FNM, Pierides Foundation and KP10 will work towards the rediscovery of Cypriots’ common past through a digital repository of personal histories, places and objects connecting the past to the present.
The digital museum will be set up through the collection of a range of materials: Memories which will be presented -amongst other ways- in audio and visual formats, photographs and texts from the past and also new findings. The museum will be accessible to everyone, and the digital archive will keep growing organically with ongoing research, collected information and collaborative contributions. The input will come both from people who lived in Varosha or other parts of Famagusta, those who live in the city now, and from the wider public whose lives were touched by Famagusta.
The main activities will involve both the public space and the personal stories of people and will comprise of physical events and hands-on-workshops on tradition and its revival. Walking tours with audio guides will enable everyone to walk through Famagusta with its past and current residents’ memories.
According to the project, a summer camp will be organised to bring Cypriot youth together to re-learn the history of Cyprus with an objective perspective; and the festival will connect both sides of Famagusta through music and visual arts.
