Artist: Nikos Kouroussis

Location: Kolokasidis roundabout, Agios Dometios. Nicosia district.

Category: Turkish Invasion, Modern sculpture

Photography: Evangelia Matthopoulou

The initiative for the art piece, which would symbolize Cypriot peoples’ will for freedom and resistance, was taken and realized in 1975 by the artist Nikos Kouroussis.

However, some years later the artwork was removed because weather conditions damaged it considerably. Although the artist requested its restoration, local authorities chose to remove it and replace it with an abstract synthesis.: A number of interlocking rings are diagonally arranged among them in a way to cover the entire roundabout area. According to a 2005 document the symbolical intension of the work was to promote the Olympic spirit ideals of friendship, peace, cooperation and reconciliation. In 1997-98 the necessary restoration works, due to the gradual erosion over time, ignited controversial discussions on the necessity to keep or remove the artwork altogether.

Selected sources:
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268/1968/3, Meeting Minutes November 27, 1975.
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee), 14.3.01, document June 1, 2001.
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee), 14.3.01/5, document February 25, 2003.
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee), 14.3.01/10, document July 25, 2005.

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