Winkelman & van Hessen
THE LONG RETURN HOME Introduction In the last few weeks, The Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus in close co-operation with the Attorney General's Office of the Republic Cyprus, the Cyprus police. Interpol and the Gennan police have succeeded to uncover several icons, frescoes and mosaics, which once adorned Orthodox Churches in what is now the occupied area of Cyprus. These pieces were illegally removed following the Turkish occupation of the northern area of Cyprus in 1974.
As the representative of the Church of Cyprus related to
retrieval of our cultural heritage, I can now release some facets of how this discovery came about and provide some aspects of the wider story which has spanned the last 23 years since the wilful pillaging of the cultural heritage of our country.
While this recent event is in itself a major coup, it is not the end. Many more objects and artefacts remain in wrong hands and we will continue to pursue their whereabouts until their return.
The beginning of injustice: the cultural destruction of the occupied area of Cyprus. Since the invasion and occupation in 1974 by the Turkish army of what is now tenned the occupied area of Cyprus, many, if not all, of the artefacts belonging within 500 churches, monasteries, castles and museums of the area found their way illegally to various parts of the world.
Overall, the magnitude of the destruction can only be
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estimated (since access to undertake a detailed inventory is not permitted) but realistic estimates are:
• some 15.000 to 20.000 icons have been removed; th
• several dozen major frescoes and mosaics dating from the 6 century AD to the 15
th
century have been segmented for sale abroad and some destroyed
forever; • severa] thousand antiquities and individual objects of historical and cultural interest ranging from chalices, crosses, wooden carvings, bibles etc .have disappeared.
Apart from the individuals involved in the removal, art dealers from several countries provided a vehicle for the trade in our antiquities and religious objects for which they have received large sums of money from wealthy individuals in the last 23 years.
The beginning ofjustice: return ofthe Kanakaria mosaics. Unconfirmed reports, independent eye witnesses, tourists to the occupied area, provided confirmation of what was happening to our cultural heritage of Cyprus.
The
Government of Cyprus alerted all major world bodies involved in the protection of cultural heritage (including UNESCO) and a number of learned institutions and professors. However, direct action was limited; without knowledge of the individuals and the location of the pieces, what else could be done?
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The first major breakthrough occurred with the confiscation in the United States of America of four mosaics originating from the Kanakaria Church, dating 525 AD (see handout).
The mosaics were being offered for sale by an art dealer named Peggy
Goldberg. A civil case was started in the United States by the Government and Church of Cyprus. A Landmark victory was won and the mosaics were returned in 1992 (these returned mosaics are now exhibited in the Byzantine Museum, Nicosia).
I wish to pause here for a few seconds and give you a feeling for what we mean by pillage. Imagine a small Church surrounded by olive trees (see handout of the Kanakaria Church). You walk in, and in the semi-dome the roof of the Church, you see decorated by millions of stones (each stone of area less than one half of a square centimetre), with every colour one can imagine. The assembly of these tiny stones illustrate Christ surrounded by the twelve apostles. Today, you can see one of the mosaics (recovered in the past few weeks) of the same series as the four won in the court case in the United States. How can anybody do this?
Imagine the walls of the Antiphonites Church being hand painted in the 12 century; each and every brush telling a story. Look at these poor frescoes today; they tell their own story. How could anyone cut them from the wall and remove them so brutally in the hope to trade them for cash?
My first exposure and understanding the jigsaw.
As a Cypriot, a refugee from Famagusta, and speaking for the people of Cyprus, we have lost many things since 1974. However, there can be no greater loss than that of one's culture. It is like losing one' s identity.
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I became seriously interested in the cultural destruction when a certain art dealer in The Netherlands approached me in 1988, in my official capacity as Honorary Vice Consul, and offered to return one of the Kanakaria mosaics and one icon. In exchange he wanted to "legally" retain the mosaic of Andreas. Naturally, the response was NO . However, this was the start of a personal mission, driven very much by my strong feelings of injustice.
Up and till 1995 several important pieces have been recovered by the efforts of others:
• the four Kanakaria mosaics (6 th century); • wall paintings from the Church of St. Thomianos (now being exhibited at the MeniI Foundation in Houston, Texas); • an icon of John the Baptist (ca 1100) from the Church of Panagia Asinou.
There is one additional case pending in the Greek courts (the icon of the Virgin Enthroned, 16th century). In all cases I had collected a mass of information on how the destruction occurred, who the key players were and their methods of trading. Whilst this information was used to assist in the above cases it was still not sufficient to pinpoint individuals.
In 1995, it came to my attention that a family, living in Rotterdam, wished to sell four icons, originating from the Antiphonites Church (see handout). In order to pursue this, I needed to act in an official capacity on behalf of the owner, The Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus. His Beatitude The Archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos 1,
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gave me his trust and encouragement to pursue confiscation. In addition he provided the funds to pursue the legal matters.
To date we have achieved:
• the return of the icon Archangel Michael, successfully returned to Cyprus in August 1995; • the confiscation of the Four Apostles of Antiphonites , now pending in the court in Rotterdam, The Netherlands; • the location of the Royal Doors of Peristerona (in the Kanazawa College of Art, Kanazawa, Japan); we are working on various approaches to retrieve these Doors.
The watershed - the German connection.
Over the last few months, the Dutch art dealer approached me with a proposition to
deliver many of our important stolen treasures. He told me that a large number of arts
were located in Germany and Austria in the hands of various possessors. He could,
however, gather them all in Munich and buy them back for us.
The Dutch art dealer has no regular domicile and the possessors were unknown to us,
which meant that a legal case could not be pursued. Therefore, our only choice was to
trust this individual to deliver the pieces - 32 frescoes of Antiphonites and one mosaic of
Kanakaria (Thadeos, also known as Jude).
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His Beatitude the Archbishop of Cyprus, Chrisostornos I, the Holy Synod and the Attorney General of the Republic of Cyprus, approved the sum to be used to "buy" these arts and the approach to be followed with the hope that the Dutch art dealer would be able to subsequently deliver many more pieces without funds.
The transaction took
place in a major bank in Rotterdam where money was exchanged for Thadeos and the 32 frescoes that you see here today. Dr. Papageorgiou confinned the authenticity of the arts before we instructed the bank to pay the money upon delivery. The Dutch art dealer, secretly filmed the transaction in Gennany. Anned with the knowledge of the film and the name of the key individuals, it was then essential to involve the police and the authorities. Within a matter of days, with the co-operation of the police of Germany and Cyprus, the Dutch art dealer directly implicated the possessor, which culminated in the arrest of the possessor on Friday 10/10/1997 and discovery of many more artefacts of Cypriot origin.
The beginning of the end This case is now under subjudice. The art pieces are in the hands of the Gennan police. There are more dealers than the Dutch art dealer who have touched our heritage. We know who they are. Some have provided limited information, some have kept quiet. What is clear is that we now have records and infonnation about the initia) deals that went on. For the record, the Dutch art dealer volunteered to co-operate for his own motives. Whatever they are, however, we still believe he has more infonnation to offer. We will finish this jigsaw and there will be no more hiding behind a veil of indifference and half truths.
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We thank all those who have exposed the issues surrounding the cultural destruction of Cyprus, especially Vrij Nederland, but also Channel 4, BBC, Algemeen Dagblad, Volkskrant, The Times, The Independent, and others.
What has been possible in the past few weeks and months was achieved by a significant dose of trust and goodwill. On the official side, my relationship with the Archbishop and the Attorney General. On the unofficial side contacts with the Dutch MP's, a senior Dutch Government Advisor, Ralph van Hessen and ABN AMRO. All the individuals involved and the Dutch art dealer shared the same belief - the destruction of our culture is a crime and we have a moral responsibility to ensure that the arts are returned where they belong: to the People of Cyprus.
Last Friday, I have formally requested, on behalf of the Church, a claim on the money used to return the pieces you see today. It is a matter for all of us to reflect why we are forced to resort to such methods to retrieve what is rightfully ours. No Cypriot should have to pay for return of their Cultural heritage; albeit there is no price one would not be prepared to pay when all else fails.
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