It is with great pleasure that I am with you today, on this historic day for the Lebanese community.
This is because the initiative of the late Stas Paraschos and Akis Kleanthous to create a cultural village in the community, as well as other people of culture and the local authority who embraced their vision, is taking shape today.
A vision that we adopted from the very first moment, wanting to build on and develop the rich legacy that the internationally renowned creator from Anafotia, Stas Paraschos, left in Lemba and in the artistic landscape of our country in general.
Following his rich activity abroad, where he managed to distinguish himself among the artistic and academic world of Great Britain, Stas Paraschos founded the Cyprus College of Art in Paphos.
In this context, he succeeded in inspiring and attracting a multitude of established and young artists, as well as visitors, promoting Cyprus as a place for the development of contemporary artistic production.
It is this rich legacy that continues from now on.
I note that the creation of the Cultural Village, with a total budget of four million euros, provides, among other things, for the development of building infrastructure that will form the core of the School of Fine Arts.
The complex of upgraded infrastructure will also have multifunctional facilities, workshops, exhibition halls, as well as living and accommodation spaces for teachers, students and other artists.
In this context, and in combination with the use of the archaeological site and the existing research centre, Lemba will become a real lung for the development of contemporary artistic creation, as well as a place of production and interaction of cultures.
History and culture constitute the cornerstone on which the identity of every people is built.
It is for this very reason that the preservation of the history, the particular cultural heritage, as well as the promotion of the contemporary culture of our homeland, has become the focus of our own efforts as well.
Through a series of actions within the framework of a coherent policy, culminating in the establishment of a Deputy Ministry of Culture, we have achieved a more effective and more upgraded management of culture, while giving a boost to cultural activity, artistic creation and the international promotion of our culture.
I am absolutely sure that with its completion in 2023, the Cultural Village in Leba will contribute to further highlighting this hidden dynamic of Cyprus, this hidden dynamic of Leba, which, as the President of the community rightly mentioned, goes back to earlier, ancient times.
In conclusion, I would like to propose - and it is your responsibility to do so - that the cultural village be called the cultural village of Stas Parashou Lebas. It would be the minimum honour to the man who left his mark not only in Cyprus but also internationally.
There is no doubt that Lemba with its attractiveness in landscape, in tradition, in culture will be a community under reference with the operation of the new centre, the cultural village of Lemba Stas Parashos.
(PM/EP/SX)
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