Artist: Michlis Pambos

Location: Achna village square. Ammochostos district.

Material: Reinforced concrete

Category: Turkish invasion 

Photography: Vicky Karaiskou

In 2001, the discussions for a monument dedicated to the refugees from Achna village was already ongoing between the Community’s Committee and the artist, Pampos Mihlis, who had submitted a proposal loaded with symbolisms. 

The monument, in the form of a church-like tent, was built within the main square of the new village, at the same spot where the refugees of the nearby Achna village camped in 1974 after the Turkish invasion of the village. 

According to Pampos Mihlis, the birds symbolize hope for freedom and the regaining of human values; the sleeping child is an allegory of the unknown future; and the photographs in the women’s hands underline the virtue of Memory. Although the initial artistic proposal seems to have undergone a series of changes, the main idea and the aforementioned symbolisms were maintained. 

In the entrance the female figures are depicted as fragmented, spectral shapes that give an impression of dead souls. Their rather abstract representations contrast with the realistic depictions of the two women sharing their anguish, exhaustion and despair inside the chapel. These mothers bear strong visual affinities with the black and white photographs that became familiar through international press, documenting the Cypriot refugees after the 1974 invasion. 

Selected sources: 
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee), 14.3.01-2, document September 21, 2001.
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee), 14.3.01-4, document June 25, 2002.
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee), 14.3.01-13, document September 20, 2001.

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