Tag Archives: Kouroussis Nikos (Κουρούσιης Νίκος)

Olympic Hall Sculptures

Citius, Altius, Fortiusn Alliance Citius, Altius, Fortius

Blue Paralympics Boxer

Collective Dream Free as the Wind

Japanese Girl with ribbonn Japanese Girl With Ribbon

Olympic Spirit Stainless Dreams

Synchronized Swimming Without an end

Afanis Armonie

General view of Olympic Hall Sculptures

Olympic Hall Sculptures

Olympic premises, Amphipolis Avenue, Strovolos. Nicosia district

Photography: Evangelia Matthopoulou

The initiative for the artworks was taken in 2006 by the Cyprus Olympic Committee.

Today, twelve artworks made by eleven Cypriot or Cypriot based artists are placed on the ground floor of the Cyprus Olympic premises. All of them refer to the Olympic spirit. In addition to the Cyprus Olympic Committee, each artwork was sponsored by a private entity.

In front of the Olympic premises is placed Philippos Yiapanis’ Olympic Spirit. The unveiling took place on June 10^th 2010. This artwork is the only one commissioned entirely by the Cypriot Olympic Committee.

Title: Alliance

Artist: Theodoulos Gregoriou

Sponsor: Associations of ΕΟΚΑ 1955-59 fighters

Title: Synchronized Swimming

Artist: Klitsa Antoniou

Sponsor: Nikolas K. Shacolas

Title: Free as the Wind

Artist: Maria Papacharalambous

Sponsor: Aristo Developers

Title: Japanese Girl with Ribbon

Artist: Athina Antoniadou

Sponsor: Louis Group

Title: Blue Paralympics

Artist: Lia Lapithi Soukiouroglou

Sponsor: Amberia Global Ventures Ltd

Title: Stainless Dreams

Artist: Helene Black

Material: Stainless steel

Sponsor: Strovolos Cooperative Bank

Title: Citius, Altius, Fortius

Artist: Helene Black

Material: Stainless steel, laminated glass, solar beads, UV fluorescent light

Dimensions: 195 cm x 115 cm x 35cm

Sponsor: Stelios and Chrysi Aggelodimou family

Citius, Altius, Fortius was the ancient Olympic games’ motto for all the athletes. It means Quicker, Higher and Stronger, and underlines the value of personal achievements and completion.

Title: Afanis Armonie (Αφανής Αρμονίη)

Artist: Nikos Kouroussis

Sponsor: Laiki Group

The title “Hidden Harmony” (Αφανής Αρμονίη) makes part of Heraclitus’ sayings. Kouroussis artwork attempts to highlight the importance of that ancient Greek value in everyday life.

Title: Boxer

Artist: Giorgos Kypris

Sponsor: Laiki Group

Mohamed Ali was the inspiring model for Giorgos Kypris’ work who attempts to capture the athlete’s rhythm through the repetition of the form.

Title: Collective Dream

Artist: Melita Couta

Sponsor: Phanos N. Epiphaniou Ltd

Melita Kouta’s work comments the power of the social body to encourage the athletes’ efforts.

Title: Without an end

Artist: Achilleas Kentonis

Sponsor: Hellenic Petroleum Cyprus (EKO) Ltd

Kentonis comments the athletic arena as the meeting point of humans’ best intentions and efforts.

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1st Symposium, Limassol

Kostas Dikefalos Giorgos Tsaras

Giorgos Tsiaras Kyriakos Kallis

Nikos Kouroussis Thodoros Papayiannis

1^st Sculpture Symposium

August 1999

Photography: Vicky Karaiskou & Evangelia Matthopoulou

Five artists, three from Greece and two from Cyprus, participated in the first symposium.

Costas Dikefalos (Greece), “Cultural Wave”
Costas Dikefalos spiral and wavy forms on stone are characteristic of his work. His “Cultural Wave” refers both to the actual dominant element of water of the seafront, and to the primordial dissemination and enrichment of cultures through sea trade and traveling.

Kyriakos Kallis (Cyprus), “Sculpture installation”

Kallis’ cross-like installation is based on the use of personal symbolisms and is built on successions of metal strips, wavy lamina and stone volumes. The bull head is the only figurative item symbolizing earth and the vital forces.

Thodoros Papayiannis (Greece), “Binary Unit”
The two in one figures by Papayiannis bear his distinct style of archaic geometry and rigor. Papayiannis’ endeavors in the Mediterranean culture has profoundly influenced his work since the very beginning of his artistic career and turn his human figures into archetypical totems.

Nikos Kouroussis (Cyprus), “Dialogue with time and space”
Kouroussis’ minimal synthesis is based on two minimal geometric forms, a stone cylinder and a stainless metal triangle providing a cryptic interpretation of time and space.

Giorgos Tsaras (Cyprus), “Gates”
The asymmetric and diagonally arranged gates and the intervention of the ramps in Tsaras’ work challenge the actual and symbolic function of the gate as a passage and a threshold that allows the communication between two opposite parts.

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Memorial to the 3rd Company of 211 Infantry Battalion (211 ΤΠ) dead and missing

Artist: Nikos Kouroussis

Location: Saint Varvara church, Kaimakli area, Nicosia. Nicosia district

Material: Granite and stainless steel

Dimensions: 2.20 meters x 50 cm x 50 cm

Category: Turkish Invasion, Modern sculpture

Photography: Evangelia Matthopoulou

The initiative for the memorial was taken by the association of the 3^rd Company of 211 Infantry Battalion and the unveiling took place on April 9^th 2011.

In contrast to the norm Kouroussis chose an abstract, but symbolic, form for the commemoration. The spiral arrangement of the granite layers adds motion and lightness to the column. Spiral motives throughout civilizations and art history have very distinct and shared symbolisms: The upward, coil motion symbolizes evolution, continuity, the power of life and the concept of endless time. On the other hand, in this case, the end form alludes to the DNA graphic pattern which is a very concrete symbol of biological evolution in time. Shedding all superficial, narrative and destructive visual elements which usually accompany memorials and war memorials in particular, Kouroussis captured the power and the essence of time, life and memory in a simple and minimal form.

Selected sources:
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee) 14.3.01/10, documents September 11, 2005; October 7, 2005.
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee) 14.3.01/12, Meeting Minutes June 15, 2006.
~ Αρχείο Δήμου Λευκωσίας (Nicosia Municipality Archive), 06-7.17 document June 6, 2006; Meeting Minutes June 15, 2006.

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Memorial to Evaggelos Florakis (Ευάγγελος Φλωράκης) and the National Guard officers

Artist: Nikos Kouroussis

Location: National Guard Headquarters, Lemesou Avenue, Aglandjia. Nicosia district

Category: National Guard, Modern sculpture

Photography: Evangelia Matthopoulou

The memorial is dedicated to the five military officers who died on July 10^th 2002 in the Bell 206 helicopter crash at Kouklia, Pafos district. The initiative for the memorial was taken in 2004 by the Committee of Police Officers’ Co-operative Bank of Cyprus. The unveiling took place on July 11^th 2005.

Selected sources:
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee) 14.3.01/6, document September 17, 2003; competition call document; Meeting Minutes January 26, 2004.
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee) 14.3.01/7, document February 26, 2004.

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Material-Time

Artist: Nikos Kouroussis

Location: The University of Cyprus, 75 Kallipoleos Avenue, Aglandjia. Nicosia district

Category: Modern sculpture

Photography: Evangelia Matthopoulou

The artwork is dedicated to Zenon Kitiefs (Ζήνων Κιτιεύς) and was an initiative taken by the first University of Cyprus graduates of 1996. Zinon (334-363 B.C.) was originally from Kition, a village outside Larnaka city and lived in Athens, where he founded the stoic philosophical school. The unveiling took place in June 1996.

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Rainbow – Uplift

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.

Contrary to the norm and the aesthetics of the monuments which refer to political events, Kouroussis worked in 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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Monument to Memory and Honor

old location

Artists for the Monument for Memory and Honor:

Sculptor: Nikos Kouroussis, Architect: Margarita Danou

Artist for Georgios Grivas (Γεώργιος Γρίβας) statue:

Theodoulos Theodoulou

Artist for the reliefs: Evangelos Moustakas

Artist for the paintings: Andreas Makariou

Location: Chlorakas coast, Agios Georgios/Alyki location. Pafos district.

Dimensions: 14 meters, + 1.5 meter the stainless steel rays of the Monument

2.5 meters the Grivas statue

Category: EOKA 1955-59, Modern sculpture

Photography: Adrienne Christiansen & Evangelia Matthopoulou

The initial planning and the meetings for the construction of an extensive memorial area started in 1993 among SIMAE (Board for the Historical Memory of the EOKA 1955-59 struggles), Chlorakas community and the EOKA 1955-59 Fighters’ Union. The memorial area commemorates two historical events. The first is the arrival of Georgios Grivas (known as Grivas Digenis) at Chlorakas on November 11, 1954 with a view to organize and lead EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) guerilla struggle. The second is the capture of “Agios Georgios” boat by the British soldiers on January 25, 1955. The arrangement of the place would include the already existing small museum where “Agios Georgios” boat was kept. The artistic proposals were submitted to the special committee SIMAE created for this specific reason.

Kouroussis’ Monument to Memory and Honor was placed at the exact place where George Grivas disembarked marking the start of EOKA struggle. According to the artist’s initial description, the two pillars, made of cement and coated with bronze, originate from the shape and symbolic function of a belfry – as a call to arms – while the stainless steel rays on the top would depict a ship. His proposal was promoted in November 1996 as the most appropriate of all submissions for consideration. Nevertheless during the process of the construction the ship depiction was abandoned by Kouroussis and the abstract arrangement of rays took its place. The unveiling of the Monument took place on November 26^th 2000.

Georgios Grivas statue was commissioned by SIMAE; the General Georgios Grivas Digenis Foundation; and the EOKA 1955-59 Fighters Union. It is an exact copy of Georgios Grivas’ statue at Limassol, made by the same artist, Theodoulos Theodoulou. The unveiling took place on November 26^th 2000.

The statue was initially placed in front of the Monument to Memory and Honor. After intense protests by the artist Nikos Kouroussis and the architect Margarita Danou, it was moved and placed close to the nearby commemorative wall.

The reliefs on the commemorative wall that connect the monument with the museum are sculpted on white marble by the Greek sculptor Evangelos Moustakas. They narrate the arrival of Grivas, the weapons’ transportation and the capture of “Agios Georgios” boat. They were commissioned by SIMAE and the EOKA 1955-59 Fighters Union.

After its capture, “Agios Georgios” boat was sold by the British in 1960 in an auction. The Mayor of Pafos, following Makarios’ III instructions, bought the boat and placed it in a covered area, constructed for that purpose. This initial construction was renovated and expanded in 1994 and, again, in 2000. Today it is named ”Agios Georgios Boat Museum”. In addition to the boat, inside the museum remnants of the guerrilla guns and ammunition are displayed, while black and white photographs of EOKA fighters decorate part of the walls around the boat. The paintings on the walls follow a distinct aesthetic of socialist realism and capture such symbols as the Greek flag and the cross; figures of the crew; “Agios Georgios” boat; “Sirin” ship (with which Georgios Grivas arrived in Cyprus in November 1954); and stylized scenes of the debarkation.

Approximately 200 meters from Alyki location where Georgios Grivas disembarked in 1954, Zina Kanther built a small chapel dedicated to Saint George. The Diocese of Pafos commissioned the frescoes made by George and Alexander Konstantinidis.

Selected sources:
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), August 26, 1993, p. 17.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), June 14, 1996, p. 16.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), July 5, 1996, p. 11.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), November 10, 1998, p. 2.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), November 27, 2000, p. 10.
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268/1968/13, Meeting Minutes November 8, 1995.
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268/1968/14, Meeting Minutes May 3, 1996.
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268/1968/16, Meeting Minutes February 25, 1998.
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268/1968/18, document December 11,1998.
~ Αρχείο Συμβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Μνημείων Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (Advisory Monuments’ Committee), 14.3.01/5, document February 27, 2003.
~ Ιστορικό Αρχείο ΣΙΜΑΕ (Historical Archive of the Board for the Historical Memory of the EOKA 1955-59 struggle), 17.2008.9, documents January 11, 2008; June 6, 2008; Meeting Minutes May 13, 2008.
~ Ιστορικό Αρχείο ΣΙΜΑΕ (Historical Archive of the Board for the Historical Memory of the EOKA 1955-59 struggle), 17.2009.10, document April 16, 2009; Meeting Minutes April 26, 2002; April 9, 2009; May 7, 2009.
~ Ιστορικό Αρχείο ΣΙΜΑΕ (Historical Archive of the Board for the Historical Memory of the EOKA 1955-59 struggle), 17.2009.11, documents May 12, 2009; June 12, 2009; October 27, 2009.

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Liopetri Barn

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA old location

new location

Artist: Sculptor: Nikos Kouroussis (architect: Margarita Danou)

Location: Liopetri village. Ammochostos district.

Material: Mixed material (bronze, stone gravel, straw and clay)

Category: EOKA 1955-59

Photography: Adrienne Christiansen & Evangelia Matthopoulou

The memorial is dedicated to the EOKA 1955-59 fighters Andreas Karios (Ανδρέας Κάρυος), Ilias Papakyriakou (Ηλίας Παπακυριακού), Fotis Pittas (Φώτης Πίττας) and Christos Samaras (Χρίστος Σαμάρας). The barn at Liopetri is the place where the four fighters died on September 2, 1958. Through press reports it is clear that the initiatives to turn it into a commemoration place started in 1962. At that time, Andreas Savvidis made the statues of the fighters. Their gradual erosion during the following years became an issue of concern.

In 1990, after the restoration of the barn, the Cypriot government decided to renew the old statues of the four heroes. The Ministry of Education’s first call for the artistic competition took place in 1992 and was addressed strictly to Cypriot sculptors and/or architects.

A second competition was called on June 7^th 1994 implying no conclusion was reached for the first call. Nikos Kourousiis and Margarita Danou won the second competition call.

According to their proposal the busts of the four dead should be placed inside the barn. As they noted: “This placement invokes a sacred feeling equivalent to the sanctity of the holly communion that takes place on the altar. The visitor is compelled to enter the sacred place of the heroes’ sacrifice with feelings of reverence”.

The unveiling of the monument took place on September 7^th 1997.

As a consequence of the local community and the families of the dead insistence to have the fighters placed in plain sight in the yard of the memorial place, Nikos Kourousiis committed to sculpt additionally four statues. The project was assigned to him in October 1997.

Following the artist’s suggestion, the four statues were symbolically placed in front of the wavy and abstract depiction of the flag, which by association evokes the flight of a bird. The flag, along with the circular platform the statues stand on, is reminiscent of a stage theater foreground.

In 2007 the statues were moved and placed in their current spot, at the perimeter of the memorial ground, and on individual low marble pedestals, as a consequence of the locals’ persisting objections that the memorial weakens its expressive power because of the arrangement of the four fighters in front of the waving flag.

The old photograph is available here courtesy of Dr. Adrienne Christiansen.

Selected sources:
~Αγών (Agon), August 31, 1964, p. 6.
~ Εικαστικά Δρώμενα, Ε.ΚΑ.ΤΕ, October 1999, p. 10.
~ Ελευθερία (Eleftheria), June 11, 1970, p. 5.
~ Kambouridis, Charis. «Η τέχνη των ηρώων», Τα Νέα (Ta Nea), January 13, 1999.
~ Μάχη (Mahi), July 18, 1962, p. 6.
~ Μάχη (Mahi), September 12, 1962, p. 6.
~ Σημερινή (Simerini), June 30, 1979, p. 8.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), April 6, 1984, p. 1.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), November 2, 1990, p. 10.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), January 21, 1992, p. 9.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), November 9, 1992, p. 7.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), January 19, 1997, p. 4.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), September 2, 1997, p. 4.
~ Φιλελεύθερος (Fileleftheros), August 29, 1999, p. 37.
~ Χαραυγή (Haravgi), November 1980, p. 7.
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268-1968-8, document July 25, 1991.
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268-1968-9, documents January 29, 1992; February 4, 1992; September 21, 1992.
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268-1968-10, document June 11, 1992.
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268-1968-16, documents August 20, 1997; October 16, 1997; November 7, 1997.
~ Κρατικό Αρχείο Κύπρου, Αρχείο Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών Υπουργείου Παιδείας & Πολιτισμού (State Archive of Cyprus): 268-1968-19, document September 6, 1999.
~ Ιστορικό Αρχείο ΣΙΜΑΕ (Historical Archive of the Board for the Historical Memory of the EOKA 1955-59 struggle), 17.94.7 vol. 7, Meeting Minutes March 16, 2006; July 6, 2006; July 6, 2008; September 14, 2008.
~ Ιστορικό Αρχείο ΣΙΜΑΕ (Historical Archive of the Board for the Historical Memory of the EOKA 1955-59 struggle), 17.2008. 9, Meeting Minutes May 13, 2008.

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