The dark times of the pandemic have affected our lives on several levels. Times have also been difficult for people in the Arts and Letters who, since the onset of the pandemic, have not only been largely and at times unable to express themselves, each in their Art, but have seen their incomes shrink significantly, causing them to "suffocate" on an artistic and practical level.
Cyprus News Agency interviewed four artists from the fields of visual arts, literature, music and theatre who spoke about their lives and art in the midst of a pandemic. They consider the measures of support from the state to be inadequate, to say the least. They state that despite the obstacles, the struggle to stay alive continues, looking forward to better days in 2022.
Visual artist, Anna Vassiliou, said that she used the space and time of the pandemic by working so that the confinement worked in a creative way since the negative energy caused by the confinement was channeled into art.
"I worked with different materials, starting from ceramics, moving to engraving and from there to painting with the aim of participating in international competitions / Biennales, which was finally achieved in the best way", the artist said.
This creative period of time was enough for Anna Vassiliou to "set up" her next solo exhibition, which she is planning for the autumn of 2022, in Larnaca, where she lives.
This creative period of time was enough for Anna Vassiliou to "set up" her next solo exhibition, which will take place in the autumn of 2022, in Larnaca, where she lives.
Asked about the financial situation in which she has found herself due to the ongoing pandemic, Vassiliou said that "apart from a small income from teaching in programmes of the Ministry of Education" she had no other income from Cyprus.
She noted that "there should be more support for artists and culture because these are what offer light in dark years".
On what awaits the new year, Anna Vassiliou is optimistic and predicts "an upturn in terms of the course of the arts and creativity."
Poet Michalis Papadopoulos considers the support measures for artists "provocatively inadequate in the peculiar circumstances of the pandemic during which artists lost their income and livelihood."
He added that artists "have not only been deprived of their art but also of the possibility of addressing the public on which they are directly dependent, with the result that they find themselves in the worst position of all our fellow citizens."
"I think that the state, which is interested in education and culture, should show more sensitivity to the problems and the situation in which people of art and spirit have found themselves," he said. He expressed the assessment that "the pandemic which is becoming more and more prolonged, with its multiple side effects, is gradually leading us, if not decreasing, to a kind of anthropological mutation in the sense that the practical components of man, such as sociability and contact, are gradually annihilated and we will be led through a similarity of things to an amputation of the human being".
During the pandemic, Michael Papadopoulos published the poetry collection
First Words.
The poet considers that due to the pandemic and the restrictions resulting from it, "in addition to the other effects, those of mental and psychological confinement due to the impossibility of contact, in addition to the economic crisis and self-evident negative effects, it leads to a redefinition of art and literature, which become even more important because now artists must send a signal through their art that life continues through our existence and the existence of our art".
Music composer Savvas Savva said that "culture was affected overall because the theatres could not work, the concert halls were receiving reduced audiences, too many concerts were cancelled which when rescheduled so the expenses were huge and when the events were finally held they were with reduced audiences".
He added that "the Centre of Cypriot Composers was not affected financially because we work pro bono, depositing our pieces, however the performers are paid, money is also deposited for the concert halls, along with all the associated costs".
As Savvas Savva said, "the situation is difficult for everyone and the measures taken are emergency measures, they are panic measures, whereas if we look internationally there is a general policy for cinemas, theatres, galleries, concert halls, and everything to do with art, setting a maximum number of spectators".
"From there on people are scared and revenues have been annihilated," the composer continued, saying that "measures are taken based on the health situation of each country, there are oddities and strange measures but patiently as a citizen I am waiting to see how the situation will evolve."
He said he was optimistic, believing, "the future will be good considering that in the second wave of the pandemic people were hungry for art and flooded theatres and concert halls."
"If we get back to normal, the arts will flourish and I am sure of it," Savvas Savva concluded.
Actress Mara Constantinou said that "the pandemic has affected the arts sector and especially the theatres, unjustifiably in my opinion, because theatres are a place where you enter with a protective mask and do not consume any food either before or after or during a performance."
"In a theatrical performance you neither talk nor dance, so the measures are frivolous and irresponsible towards the artists and especially the actors," she said.
She added that "I consider the measures unjustifiable and even cancelled my scheduled performances because of the segregation of citizens based on decrees and measures."
"The financial support that the state provided to the artists is ridiculous - she said - and it also shows the ranking of people of the spirit for whom no one has any concern," the actress continued.
On what she looks forward to in the new year, Mara Constantinou said that "to be realistic, it will take us a long time to return to normality but we are certainly not going to give up and we will continue to exist and create whatever problems we find in front of us."
Source: CNA
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