Nicosia wil be the site of a two-day international conference examining the impacts of British Colonial rule on the island.
Billed as "... probably the largest conference on Cyprus history covering one period..." by organisor Emilios Solomou, Head of the Cyprus Society of Historical Studies, the conference will span two-days and feature 75 speakers from all over the world.
"Colonial Cyprus (1878 - 1960)" will open on Friday 7th February, 2020, the event, held in memory of Aristides Koudounaris (1936-2018), late president and founder of the Cypriot Society of Historical Studies, will run over two days with talks being given in both Greek and English. It is a joint event involving the Cyprus Society of Historical Studies, the University of Nicosia, the University of Cyprus and Neapolis University.
The conference is coincident with the end of a three-year re-evaluation of Cambridge University's collection of Cypriot antiquities.
The University is home to one of the three major collections in the UK, featuring over 1,000 pieces held in three of the University's museums. Headed by Dr Anastasia Christofilopoulou (picture left), Assistant Keeper and Cyprus Curator for the Department of Antiquities of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the project began in 2016, funded by the A. G. Leventis Foundation. Its aim, was to holistically reassess Cambridge's Cypriot collection and re-frame it in light of recent developments in archeological theory and new discoveries in Cyprus.
The project is part the ongoing work of partnerships between Cambridge University and other institutions in Cyprus and the UK to understand the heritage and culture of Cyprus in a temporal context and highlight the island's impact on the region throughout history.
As part of the project, the Fitzwilliam Museum, which houses the bulk of the University's collection, refurbished its A.G. Leventis Gallery of Ancient Cyprus in 2019.
Colonial Cyprus (1878-1960). February 7-8. University of Nicosia. For more info: 22-841638/568 or events@unic.ac.cy.