Folk art in Cyprus, flourished mainly in the 18th
and 19th Century. As an art form it constitutes the continuation of
the preceding era and was the most important means of artistic expression during
the Ottoman period, alongside Byzantine and post-Byzantine art.
The civilization and art of Cyprus has always been
influenced by the islands geographical -position in the south-east Mediterranean
at the crossroads of Eastern and Western Civilizations.
The importance of its position on the busy trading routes
as well as its rich natural resources meant that Cyprus attracted many invaders
and came under the rule of most of the great empires of the times. These
periods of occupation left behind traces which were incorporated into local art
which acquired its own original character, though an integration of elements of
the Mediterranean, the East and the West.
Techniques and forms which have remained unchanged from
ancient times to the present survive in many examples of folk art, showing both
the strength and conservative character of the Cyprus culture.
Along with its artistic importance, during the Ottoman
period, fork art also played a crucial national and social role. It made the
hard years under the Ottoman yolk easier to bear and kept the traditions of the
Greek Cypriots alive, ensuring the preservation of a way of life and resistance
to foreign occupation and thus ensuring the survival of the Greek identity.
A critical period for Cyprus folk art came towards the end
of the 19th Century with the advent of the British in 1878.
Manufactured goods began to be imported and gradually replaced local
handicrafts.
Modernization came to the towns and eventually, around the
middle of the 20th century to the villages, bringing about the
decline of folk art and pre-industrial technology. The Turkish invasion in 1974
and the occupation of a large part of the island destroyed priceless works of
art, as well as other treasures of Cyprus' cultural heritage. These were mainly
family heirlooms which had been handed down from generation to generation in
most houses in the area now occupied by the Turkish army, from the Karpass to
Kyrenia and from Morphou to the Mesaoria plain which were important centres of
folk art in Cyprus.
The various collections of folk art in the area under the
control of the Cyprus Government are therefore unique examples of the island's
cultural heritage which have not been capitalized as they should.
The largest and most important collection of Cyprus folk
art can be found in the Cyprus Fold Art Museum in Nicosia, set up in 1937. The
collection belongs to the society of Cypriot Studies and was put together by a
group of pioneering Cypriot academics.
The historic building in which the Cyprus Folk Art Museum
is housed was formerly the Archbishopship until 1960. The oldest building on
the ground floor was part of a Gothic monastery of the 15th Century
with subsequent additions over the centuries.
The collection of the Cyprus Folk Art Museum includes
select and representative examples of woven textiles, embroidery, costumes, wood
carving, basketry, folk painting, miniatures and other articles from other
branches of folk art from the whole of the island. The importance of this
collection today is even greater because many of the ideas come from the
occupied areas of Cyprus.
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