From: efstse@epsilon.eecs.nwu.edu
Subject: Destruction of cultural heritage in Cyprus (fwd)
Originator: efstse@epsilon.eecs.nwu.edu
Keywords: Kanakaria, cultural heritage
Organization: NU
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 20:31:26 GMT
Expires: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 05:00:00 GMT

Forwarded from soc.culture.greek:
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Recently there was a discussion on the network about the destruction of the
cultural heritage of Cyprus.  One of the points discussed was the case of the
Kanakaria Mosaics, and the trial in Indianapolis.  The "New Yorker" magazine in
its July 13, 1992 issue had the first part of two of an article entitled
"Annals of the Antiquities Trade - The Angel on Her Shoulder-1." The article
is quite lengthy (29 pages for part 1 only!) and I will not attempt to
reproduce it. I am only quoting parts that are relevant to soc.culture.greek.
The author of the article is Dan Hofstadter, who IMO is very objective.  I hope
you will find it interesting.

        Annals of the Antiquities Trade - The Angel on Her Shoulder-1.
                           New Yorker,  July 13, 1992
p. 49.

......."During and after the invasion, the cultural property of both communities
suffered considerable damage, but the Greeks were especially grieved by their
losses.  They had a lot more to lose -the island's Greek treasures by far
outnumbered its Turkish ones- and they had also been forced to give up large
tracts of territory inhabited mostly by Greeks.  The looting of Orthodox
Christian precincts was particularly widespread -irreperable damage was done to
important Byzantine monuments, such as the Antiphonitis Monastery and the Church
of St. Themonianos, near Lysi- which suggested to the Greeks that the Turks were
pursuing a policy of anti-Hellenic vandalism.  This theory has been disputed by
some outside observers, who note the Turks' relative impoverishment and their
eagerness to build a tourist industry oriented toward countries whose
populations profess Christianity; yet the destruction of churches and the theft
or defacement of icons was a painful reality all the same.  In some cases,
Turkish troops from the mainland probably indulged in opportunistic pillage; in
others, soldiers or local ruffians casually vandalized any symbol of the hated
enemy.  More ominously, signs appeared that sophisticated international
smuggling rings were operating with near-impunity;  Turkish journalists reported
instances in which such rings had bribed minor officials.  U.N. soldiers
regularly crossed the Green Line, and a few of them seem to have been corrupted
with remarkable ease; some female couriers are thought to have availed
themselves of the traditional Turkish reluctance to search women.  Because no
country but Turkey extended diplomatic recognition to the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus, outside funding for the protection of the antiquities there was
not available.  Hundreds of important icons, in fresco, mosaic or paint on
panel, vanished from the island, and their disappearance opened a terrible wound
in the Greek Cypriot soul. .......

p.50.

.......The Kanakaria mosaics are not only votive objects, however.  They are
also a prime part of the heritage of modern Cyprus. a tiny nation born in 1960;
the icons of Cyprus were being catalogued for the first time when the Turkish
troops invaded in 1974.  The treasures of Cypriot craftsmanship are seen as the
islanders' invaluable patrimony, part of what spiritually defines them, and the
loss of any major Cypriot work of art is experienced as deeply painful.  The
spirit of a people, even a very small people, is inevitably furnished with
memories of material things -of mountains and rivers and cities and shrines- and
the appearance of an unmistakably Cypriot angel on the shoulder of some lady in
Indianapolis was not something that either the Church or the Republic of Cyprus
could tolerate.  Cyprus Filed suit for a recovery action in Federal Court in
Indianapolis on March 29, 1989. .......

p.57.

.......On August 3, 1989, Judge Noland handed down his decision and order:  That
the pieces belonged to the Church of Cyprus, and should be delivered into the
custody of that institution." .......

Repeated appeals by Peg Goldberg were denied.  The decision was finalized when
the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
-- 
Constantinos Varnavas
University of Illinois
varnavas@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.europe