40th anniversary
of the Cyprus Chamber of Mining Metallurgy and Geology (UTCCTEA)
By Heidi Trautmann
It is a very welcome and
good thing to do to ‘shove something under people’s nose’ to make them aware of
something important. Our days are so full with small activities and problems
that we hardly have the time to study something carefully although we pass
these things more or less on a daily basis.
Perhaps when you go for a
walk and you allow your eyes to wander you will discover something that attracts
your attention, you stop and go closer and there is a funnily shaped stone, a
piece of rock glittering, a quartz or gypsum, and you break off a small piece
and take it home to put it on your shelves. Our house is full of such
‘memories’ some shells found in the Mesaoria embedded in rocky material, pieces
of glass or old ceramic abraded by the sea or the wind. The energies of nature have
a strong effect on our surrounding, bending the trees and polishing sandstone
into great pieces of art.
This is what I thought when
I went to see the photographic works exhibited at the ArtRooms in Kyrenia under
the title ‘Geological Heritage’. The Cyprus Chamber of Mining Metallurgy and
Geology (UTCCTEA) were considering to celebrate their 40th
anniversary with something special which would throw a light on their work on
the one hand side and at the same time attract the attention of the public for
the ‘heritage’ of their country. For the duration of one year they roamed about
some areas in the company of some photographers of the FODER Association to whom
they explained what was happening here and what had happened over the course of
millions of years to the geological structure of our island.
A magnified glimpse on and
into the material of our island, the photos speak for themselves; on their
tours they came across caves where the ancestors have lived or people have been
hiding from persecution, old houses and ruins built from material taken from
the earth and rocks. Wounds that have been cut into the mountains, the residues
of copper mining and wind sculptures in sandstone. Tales that tell the story of the island.
The exhibition is open until
September 25, open in the afternoons until late during the opening hours of the
restaurant ‘The House’.