THROUGH THE ARTS

THROUGH THE ARTS

text ALEXANDER DAVIDIAN

photography DEC AUDIOVISUAL

PRESERVING, practising and reinventing the island’s crafts is the mission of Diatehnon's coordinating team.

Inspired by the creative heritage of Cyprus, Diatehnon Arts & Culture provides a hands-on encounter with the island’s traditional crafts. It’s an opportunity to experience and explore the pleasure of producing beautiful ceramics, Byzantine iconography and stringed instruments.

POTTERY RECREATIONS at the centre are inspired by ancient vessels discovered at local archaeological sites and museums.

Nestled on Kanari Street in Limassol’s Old Municipal Market area, Diatehnon Arts & Culture’s minimalist facade justifiably draws the discerning passerby. The airy interior, illumined by washes of Mediterranean sunlight, reveals an expansive work and display area for the traditional crafts taught and practised here. Once through the doors, you realise Diatehnon’s mission is an ambitious and far-reaching one.

DEDICATED TEAM Manolis and Ewelina Hadjimanolis (pictured), and Andreas Leonidou teach iconography, ceramics and instrumentmaking at Diatehnon.

“We want to educate people through the arts to increase their awareness and develop their perception of beauty, which can lead to a better quality of living,” says general coordinator, Manolis Hadjimanolis. In this case, “through the arts” is not merely a turn of phrase, but is actually the English translation of “Diatehnon”.

HANDS-ON INSTRUCTION allows Diatehnon studentspersonally to craft elegant earthen and stonewareand construct traditional Cypriot lutes and lyras.

Indeed, Diatehnon Arts & Culture was conceived by Manolis, his wife and ceramist Ewelina Birut-Hadjimanolis, and friend and master luthier Andreas Leonidou. Its mission is to grow as an interdisciplinary movement between Cypriot, Middle Eastern and wider European crafts and design for the betterment of society.

REINVENTING TRADITIONAL FORMS

After his initial scientific training in Thessaloniki, Manolis, a native Limassolian son of a chemist, eventually headed to London to study fine arts and visual culture, and has an equally immersive background in Cyprus’s traditional crafts. Upon his return to the island in 2007, he studied Byzantine iconography, learning to work in and reinvent the form, while deepening his knowledge of Cyprus’s stringed instruments.

When he eventually came upon the space that today is the home of Diatehnon Arts & Culture, Manolis spearheaded the drive to transform it into a place where ordinary people could encounter and participate in the island’s creative past. “What we do here at Diatehnon Arts & Culture is inspired by Cypriot cultural heritage; but we also want to demonstrate the links between the Middle East and Europe, and the influences of the multicultural character of Cyprus,” Manolis explains.

Three years since its opening, Diatehnon presently offers drop-in visitors and its longer-term community a plethora of traditional Cypriot-inspired, handcrafted objects to purchase, as well as an opportunity to acquire creative skills through various workshops.

FEAST FOR THE SENSES

Here, your senses come alive with the sight, scent and feel of the earthen and stoneware derived from a multitude of clays, fired for hours in Diatehnon’s on-site kiln and finished in delicate pink, white and blue glazes. Soul-searing icons on the walls are resplendent in their expressionist mauves, reds and golds, to say nothing of the blonde and auburn wood stringed instruments – Cypriot lutes and lyra – presented in various stages of creation.

Barring a few pieces, everything – made either by Diatehnon’s core team or by their students – can be purchased. This repository of talent houses unique and beautiful items and pieces of art for your own home or as gifts, in the form of elegant, hand-made plates, bowls and related vessels, as well as carved and painted wooden figures inspired by Cypriot folk motifs, and custom-made pieces. Ongoing workshops include instrument-making taught by Andreas, ceramics instructed by Ewelina, and icon painting and visual culture helmed by Manolis.

Weekly walking tours through Limassol’s centre, organised by the Cyprus Tourism Organisation and the city’s Municipality, include presentations at Diatehnon Arts & Culture that allow you to a sample the spirit of the workshops. “It’s a presentation mixed with demonstrations – an interactive experience,” says Manolis. “We show visitors, for example, how we make the traditional egg tempera paints for icon painting – using natural pigments, yolks and vinegar – and how the faces of the icons are created. “In Byzantine iconography, you gradually add light on a black background, contrary to, for example, the Renaissance approach of chiaroscuro on white. I really enjoy sharing such insights with our visitors.”

ACCOMPLISHMENT AND PRIDE

Ewelina, an accomplished professional ceramist who trained in her native Poland, notes how the tactile, hands-on processes engaged in at Diatehnon allow her students to de-stress and gain confidence in their work. “I think people have a deep need to create something physical, to see tangible results.”

Luthier Andreas’s instrument-making workshop draws participants from Nicosia, Larnaca and Paphos, often repeatedly. Together they produce traditional instruments from scratch from a variety of imported woods, while gaining a practical understanding of the mechanical and acoustic principles of sound production. Looking at the elaborate hanging diagrams of how such stringed instruments are constructed, the mere thought of crafting them can be quite daunting. Yet, according to Manolis, “surrendering to Andreas’s step-by-step instruction” is part of the joy of being his apprentice.

EXPRESSIONIST FLOURISH Students are taught timehonoured techniques of Byzantine iconography while being guided to reinvent the form.

CULTIVATING VISUAL CULTURE

Diatehnon is not just for adults to immerse themselves in crafts honed over the generations. Manolis takes special pleasure in leading presentations for schoolchildren and instructing young people in what he calls ‘visual culture’ workshops. “In this workshop, it’s not just about painting or sculpture or making something with clay; it’s about cultivating in children a deeper visual understanding of the world,” he says.

“Everything visual in our society has value. It doesn’t have to be placed in a museum or a gallery to have artistic worth. “For example,” he says, pointing at a reproduction of an ancient vessel, “this is from the Bronze Age, from about 2,000 BC. It’s beautiful, but at the time, it was simply a practical utensil. “So, in children, I want to cultivate a more open understanding of the form of things.”

In other words, no matter what your age, a profound encounter with the hand-hewn beauty of the ages, past and ongoing, Cypriot and more broadly Mediterranean, awaits you at Diatehnon Arts & Culture.

Diatehnon Arts & Culture is located on Kanari 32, Old Municipal Market, Limassol. Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am-8pm; Saturday 9am-1pm.