A compilation of press archives related to Cypriot artist Christoforos
Savva, selected in the Cypriot press and literary periodicals between 1954
and 1968.
"This book shines the spotlight on humble press cuttings – bits and
pieces, scraps and relics – with the conviction that they do indeed matter.
It presents my 'own' archive of life-story information about the Cypriot
artist Christoforos Savva (1924–1968), consisting of more than two hundred
articles, commentaries, reports, or even advertisements that appeared in the
mainstream Cypriot press and literary periodicals between 1954 and 1968 and
relate to the artist. The press cuttings themselves were archived – found,
compiled, classified, and filed – and their contents were examined in the
course of the archival research that I conducted for my doctoral thesis in
sociology. Following my examination of the collection of newspapers and
periodicals at the archive of the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information
Office in 2007–08, I thought that the archival research phase of my
relationship with Christoforos Savva was over. For several years, this body
of unique material in its physical paper format – the 'stuff' of history –
sat undisturbed and protected in my office. My archive – in a digital format
– was, nevertheless, first made publicly available to the limited audience
of my unpublished doctoral thesis in 2011. Hence, I allowed the authentic
record, be it in the form of paper or theinformation and knowledge contained
in paper, to be rescued and preserved. Published on the occasion of the
exhibition 'Untimely on Time: Christoforos Savva' (1924–1968), this book
proves that it was not the fate of these salient records (or the artist's
life and actions evidenced in them) to remain hidden, exclusive and silent,
as chance or destiny decided their future differently."—Maria
Panteli
Published following the exhibition "Untimely on Time: Christoforos Savva (1924–1968)" at the State Gallery of Contemporary Art – SPEL, Nocosia, Cyprus, from January 31 to March 31, 2019.
Christoforos Savva (1924-1968) is widely acknowledged as one of the most
groundbreaking Cypriot
artists of the 20th Century. Having spent a great deal of the '50s in
Paris and London, Savva settled back in Nicosia in 1960 and in a
relatively short period of time produced an impressive and highly diverse
body of works, ranging from paintings to sculptures, experimentations with
wire, cement, and leftovers from fabrics—apart from forays in the field of
furniture design and
architectural interventions. The coexistence of styles and the wide range
of themes and references that appear in Savva's work seem to suggest that
strictly formal questions were not his main concern. It could be said that
the core of his practice constantly shifted toward a place that was beyond
both the form and the content of any individual work. Taking his activity
as a whole, there is a sense that this "beyondness" encapsulates his role
in Cypriot society and in the local artistic system that was being
organised at the time. In 1960, Savva founded, together with Welsh artist Glyn Hughes, Apophasis [Decision], the first independent cultural center of the newly established Republic of Cyprus. In 1968, Savva was among the artists representing Cyprus in its inaugural Pavilion at the 34th Venice Biennale.
