There's an exhibition of paintings opening tonight at the Kypriaki Gonia Gallery on Stadiou, so we go. The artist is Yianis Pelekanos, and we know nothing about him, but our social calendar is not too full for such little interludes, nor is Maggi's and she joins us.
the paintings are a delight - naive scenes of pre-industrial rural and village life in Cyprus - warm, nostalgic and busy, with a strong narrative element. So there are scenes of farmyard activities, complete with household tasks in one corner of the picture and field work in another. And there's the scene of the young Cypriot man arriving home from abroad - to the consternation of his parents and former girlfriend as he is accompanied by a blonde foreign wife and small children. The previous sweetheart stands to the rear, her welcoming bouquet bitterly discarded on the floor. And there's even a political painting - a record of protesting women being removed from the railway tracks outside a trai station, complete with British soldiers and a union jack. (There is now no railway i Cyprus, as it was removed after the end of British occupation).
The artist is there, and another man (gallery director?) white haired and affable, greeting arrivals, chatting and stopping to explain one of the paintings to us. We also meet another artist - a Cypriot living in Exeter with his wife and six children, who is here doing a fascinating job making painted records of archaeological artifacts, capturing qualities the camera misses.
Maggi back afterward for a game of Scrabble.
JAWORSKI TRAVELS