Past, Passing or to Come
The exhibition Past, Passing or To Come brings Cypriot artists into creative dialogue with artists living and working in Ireland. Participating artists are Christina Shiakola, Eliza Pieri, Mandalena Miltiadi, Manuel McCarthy Valderrama, and Vassilis Vassiliades. Through diverse artistic approaches and generational perspectives, the exhibition creates a shared visual field of encounter, reflection, and exchange.
The exhibition draws inspiration from Sailing to Byzantium by W. B. Yeats, in which Byzantium functions as a site of transcendence—a realm where material existence gives way to spirit, art, and memory. In the poem, Yeats contrasts the transience of youth with the human desire for spiritual permanence, describing a journey from the world of physical decay toward a space of continuity, meaning, and inner clarity.
Cyprus, situated on Europe’s eastern edge, operates as a cultural threshold where different religions, languages, and civilizations coexist across multiple historical layers. It is a place where past and future, East and West, intersect and remain in constant dialogue. Here, the pursuit of transcendence is not abstract but grounded in lived experience, illuminating memory, transition, and the enduring presence of cultures. The poem’s reference to two generations—youth absorbed in the immediacy of life and maturity seeking spiritual depth—is echoed in the exhibition itself, where artists from different generations engage in a meaningful visual conversation.
The exhibition’s presentation in Ireland acquires additional resonance, as two islands with distinct geographical and historical positions—Cyprus on Europe’s eastern frontier and Ireland on its north-western extreme—are brought into dialogue. Positioned beyond the continental hinterland, both islands have developed complex identities shaped by separation, encounter, and cultural negotiation. These conditions have rendered them spaces where divisions coexist with the possibility of connection, particularly through artistic and cultural exchange.
The exhibition gains further significance as it coincides with the Republic of Cyprus assuming the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Within this framework, Cyprus emerges as a symbolic bridge between different worlds and traditions, promoting dialogue, solidarity, and cooperation. Just as the European Union is founded on exchange and interconnected histories, Past, Passing or To Come foregrounds encounter, the persistence of memory, and the transcendence of boundaries, suggesting the potential for a shared cultural and spiritual space.
Past, Passing or To Come is realised with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Ireland and with the funding of the Deputy Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus. The exhibition forms part of the official programme of cultural actions of the Deputy Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the Republic of Cyprus assuming the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, highlighting the role of culture as a space of dialogue, exchange, and shared European values.