By Heidi Trautmann

In cooperation of Peace Centre of Cyprus and EMAA (European Mediterranean Art Association) a bi-communal project “Graffiti for Peace” was carried through to bring to the open Cypriot Youth’s perception of peace and reconciliation.

The idea was to bring together young Greek and Turkish Cypriots in a four-phase-workshop to work on and discuss the theme that is occupying the island of Cyprus and many countries involved for endless years.

In phase I expert graffiti artists were explaining the art of graffiti, a means usually used by young citizens in public places to vent their anger and often regarded as being part of a subculture. In phase II the artists were demonstrating to the young people the various techniques and ways of graffiti on wall panels made available for the project in the buffer zone at the Ledra Palace, for example the stencil and painting techniques, using symbols and words to underline the theme of the project. The young participants then had the chance to express their own ideas which they obviously enjoyed tremendously.

Phase III on June 23 was a last day for the young Greek and Turkish Cypriots to show their talents and their understanding of reconciliation with finally declaring the exhibition opened to the public, celebrating their cooperation.

The following weekend, June 29 and 30, the wall panels will be taken to Limassol and Famagusta for display to the public. If you want to learn more about the project, please contact:

Petros Irakleous

Project manager

Mail: graffitiforpeace@hotmail.com

Phone number: 99875558

Ozgul Ezgin

EMAA President

Mail:ozgul.ezgin@gmail.com

Phone number: 00 533 864 04 18

This initiative was made possible through small grants by Youth Power and funded by UNDP-ACT.

The photos are by EMAA and Tahsin Islamoğlu