From Expo ’58 to Cyprus

On the 6th of October (6.00 p.m.) a Book Launch and a Seminar by Dr. Johann Pillai will inaugurate the exhibition at Sidestreets (7.00pm) of The Lost Wall curated by Anber Onar and Emin Çizenel.

The results of a comprehensive investigation conducted by Sidestreets on Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu’s  award-winning  mosaic wall from the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair are now being revealed for the first time in an exhibition and a unique book.

The 227-square-meter mosaic wall has not been seen as a whole either actually or photographically  since it was exhibited in Brussels in 1958.  

Although this work is mentioned in numerous articles and books on art history and architecture and has been a controversial subject of discussion in newspapers over the last 50 years, the full story has only now been discovered: large sections of the wall have been found in Cyprus, and the wall has been digitally reconstructed.

In his fascinating story, full of mysteries and surprises, is being told for the first time at Sidestreets, through the exhibition and the book, which not only reveal  artistic concerns and problems, but also bring a forgotten part of history to life in the context of the socio-political atmosphere in Turkey and Cyprus. 

The interest in this work is extensive: Sidestreets’ research has now been presented by invitation in Ankara and Istanbul to fascinated audiences of art historians, architects, historians, family members of the artist and many others; and offers have already been received for the exhibition to travel, for a documentary version of the book, and for a sequel to the book.

Sidestreets Educational and Cultural Initiatives

22 Mahkemeler Önü, Nicosia, N. Cyprus

(+90)-392-229-3070/71

www.sidestreets.org