https://nicolaslambouris.com Nicolas Lambouris Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:57:09 +0000 https://nicolaslambouris.com en https://nicolaslambouris.com/Red-Soil-Upon-Which-Tender-Plants-are-Grown Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:40:58 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/Red-Soil-Upon-Which-Tender-Plants-are-Grown <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3c3123b78f4392be6db3abd6b4ff0dc273d90a8be9800c13c295ee5744946e8b/Fluid-Persistence_03.jpg" data-mid="251337432" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3c3123b78f4392be6db3abd6b4ff0dc273d90a8be9800c13c295ee5744946e8b/Fluid-Persistence_03.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0bec580e8cce4df90c08f43ff13d0746f72ccd3d46827089d9d1fbe770c12d2a/Fluid-Persistence_09.jpg" data-mid="251337437" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0bec580e8cce4df90c08f43ff13d0746f72ccd3d46827089d9d1fbe770c12d2a/Fluid-Persistence_09.jpg" /><img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3fc0ef266fe766b6e6d524281390e20b68c826931795dfd9588f828ac70664a3/Fluid-Persistence_19.jpg" data-mid="251337453" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3fc0ef266fe766b6e6d524281390e20b68c826931795dfd9588f828ac70664a3/Fluid-Persistence_19.jpg" /><img width="3000" height="2258" width_o="3000" height_o="2258" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ed02fc893a2ebe7e47a128ce02552c622aad3022c596eea58fd784a79e60a27a/The-Snake-Hill--1877.jpg" data-mid="251337476" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ed02fc893a2ebe7e47a128ce02552c622aad3022c596eea58fd784a79e60a27a/The-Snake-Hill--1877.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f3d8d04c7b6a3e2654675f6808914a03a9239f61ac414caaec4b24c8a60d420a/Fluid-Persistence_24.jpg" data-mid="251337456" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f3d8d04c7b6a3e2654675f6808914a03a9239f61ac414caaec4b24c8a60d420a/Fluid-Persistence_24.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ba767d360327ac684b5e5cf7d4bd94ed193dd1912d3cb6a6faa368066e4df540/Fluid-Persistence_12.jpg" data-mid="251337448" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ba767d360327ac684b5e5cf7d4bd94ed193dd1912d3cb6a6faa368066e4df540/Fluid-Persistence_12.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="2000" width_o="3000" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3ea8f2b607abfe03975f2cd2e557b111d53d6b8af2fad71cb2925ec63a9144d8/Endemic-Acts-of-Sympathy-spiny-thistle_05.jpg" data-mid="251337427" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3ea8f2b607abfe03975f2cd2e557b111d53d6b8af2fad71cb2925ec63a9144d8/Endemic-Acts-of-Sympathy-spiny-thistle_05.jpg" /> <img width="2500" height="3000" width_o="2500" height_o="3000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f91e2211706794884ac91e1f870fa107bf6071dafed16c1bd411cee2931e4a6d/Endemic-Acts-of-Sympathy-field-thistle_01.jpg" data-mid="251337410" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f91e2211706794884ac91e1f870fa107bf6071dafed16c1bd411cee2931e4a6d/Endemic-Acts-of-Sympathy-field-thistle_01.jpg" /> <img width="2426" height="3000" width_o="2426" height_o="3000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3254996b0f63281c7dd645ffc69cc2f3c45ddce9005c7c0b07b53a953e029862/Endemic-Acts-of-Sympathy-gothic-windows_01.jpg" data-mid="251337413" border="0" data-scale="97" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3254996b0f63281c7dd645ffc69cc2f3c45ddce9005c7c0b07b53a953e029862/Endemic-Acts-of-Sympathy-gothic-windows_01.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1846d2c6bd669350e273d8fe3d81d5e45d2d435b929abd928ba74d94bf005df4/Fluid-Persistence_10.jpg" data-mid="251337443" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1846d2c6bd669350e273d8fe3d81d5e45d2d435b929abd928ba74d94bf005df4/Fluid-Persistence_10.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="2000" width_o="3000" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e7075fd61345749606a4785bbaa8074fb3abe4a161ab4f9b417b15f76a0f4225/Considering-Mutual-Plans_04.jpg" data-mid="251337398" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e7075fd61345749606a4785bbaa8074fb3abe4a161ab4f9b417b15f76a0f4225/Considering-Mutual-Plans_04.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="2000" width_o="3000" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9c3b5da2c69f113567464fb60d672cb6a04ca4a2a872f71628ca6d8ee14cffa9/Considering-Mutual-Plans_06.jpg" data-mid="251337402" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9c3b5da2c69f113567464fb60d672cb6a04ca4a2a872f71628ca6d8ee14cffa9/Considering-Mutual-Plans_06.jpg" /> <img width="2250" height="3000" width_o="2250" height_o="3000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/438233c508b582e610ca31dcc9d78627a6ddc15afb641a616c417029d00a4fbc/Considering-Mutual-Plans_16.jpg" data-mid="251337407" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/438233c508b582e610ca31dcc9d78627a6ddc15afb641a616c417029d00a4fbc/Considering-Mutual-Plans_16.jpg" /> <img width="1181" height="1772" width_o="1181" height_o="1772" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c6bedf7ecf6de1d24baf11c409036ea4bfed4cc3d56f705f5c2cb79affeefc51/Fluid-Persistence_80.jpg" data-mid="251337461" border="0" data-scale="89" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c6bedf7ecf6de1d24baf11c409036ea4bfed4cc3d56f705f5c2cb79affeefc51/Fluid-Persistence_80.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/743dc05ac3e3cbd903e99539636cd9b1eea8006cedace51271c6c4aac713e705/Instistent-Geographies-Exhibition_41.jpg" data-mid="251337466" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/743dc05ac3e3cbd903e99539636cd9b1eea8006cedace51271c6c4aac713e705/Instistent-Geographies-Exhibition_41.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9dbefc5e15bec95d81d370da4804df3deb953d0c2d687e89b586666e208df226/Instistent-Geographies-Exhibition_44.jpg" data-mid="251341732" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9dbefc5e15bec95d81d370da4804df3deb953d0c2d687e89b586666e208df226/Instistent-Geographies-Exhibition_44.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5df65601a7442c0c64260f79f8fc5feda277a99094f42bc750df50638545b7eb/Instistent-Geographies-Exhibition_59.jpg" data-mid="251337473" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5df65601a7442c0c64260f79f8fc5feda277a99094f42bc750df50638545b7eb/Instistent-Geographies-Exhibition_59.jpg" /> Red Soil, Upon Which Tender Plants are Grown (2025)archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Paper, archival pigment print, pigmented polymer plaster, found Victorian finial (African mahogany, Khaya) Considering Mutual Plans (2025) mahogany wood, brassTo Hold Your Breath in a Still Room (2025) iron, brass, dried onopordum cyprium, metal chain The work draws inspiration from Sir Samuel White Baker’s 1879 account, Cyprus, as I Saw It in 18791, in which he presents a personal exploration of the island. Through his narrative, Baker offers a rich tapestry of observations on the island’s geography, landscape, history, and political climate following its British colonization. His portrayal of Cyprus is one of stark austerity—a land bereft of trees, barren, and desperately in need of water. Baker evokes complex political, cultural, and even anthropological associations between the local Muslim and Christian Cypriot communities, their connection to the land, and the imposition of colonial rule. His meticulous descriptions of the indigenous flora—shrubs, plants, and trees—are juxtaposed against his observations of the island’s soil, at times rich and fertile, yet often dry and unforgiving. Baker also comments on the construction of the newly established Governor’s House in Nicosia, and Sir Garnet Wolseley’s (the first High Commissioner to Cyprus) endeavor to “transform the treeless surface” by planting vast groves of eucalyptus trees and date palms. In addition to Baker’s accounts, Red Soil, Upon Which Tender Plants are Grown, references a number of historical and archival documents2,&nbsp;as well as photographic collections3&nbsp; in investigating the construction of the first Governor’s House in Nicosia in 1878, set against the backdrop of British colonial rule. Seeking an imposing location, Sir Wolseley selected a hill outside the city walls—dubbed “Vipers’ Hill”4—on which to construct what became prefabricated house in Cyprus. Originally intended for Sri Lanka, the structure, shipped by the British War Office, was diverted to Cyprus upon arrival in Egypt, as it was no longer needed there. In 1931, during the Greek Cypriot revolt (Oktovriana) against British colonial oppression, the wooden building was set ablaze, leaving only its front stone façade standing. The house was subsequently rebuilt between 1932 and 1937, combining Gothic, Ottoman, and Byzantine architectural styles to reflect the island’s diverse cultural heritage —a deliberate act of political diplomacy by the British. Today, the structure serves as the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Cyprus. Drawing from these historical events, Lambouris crafts a semi-fictional narrative surrounding Costas Christoforou, a skilled stonemason from Kaimakli who worked as a sculptor during the construction of the second Governor’s House. Through Charles Santon’s transcriptions of his conversations with Christoforou, we learn that, alongside producing intricate stone friezes according to British specifications, Christoforou produced his own personal artwork meticulously carving botanical motifs on stone. These motifs, inspired by the island’s native flora, reflect not only his personal reverence for Cyprus’s landscape but also offer a subtle commentary on the colonial imposition that sought to alter the land through the introduction of foreign plant species, in an effort to "fertilize" the landscape. At the heart of Lambouris’ interpretation is an archival photograph from 1877, sourced from the British National Archives, which captures the very hill where the Governor’s House was to be constructed. Baker described this hill as a “dreary plain with some flat-topped hills.” This image, re-imagined through AI technology, offers an alternate vision—a lush, vibrant landscape as envisioned by Christoforou. Drawing on Christoforou’s detailed drawings, notes, archival records, and surviving stone friezes, Lambouris re-traces this vernacular romantic view of the island, creating a visual assembly of botanical friezes, photographic records and scultural objects, that offers a new narrative challenging historical perceptions of the Cypriot landscape. 1. Baker, S. W., Cyprus as I saw it in 1879. London: Macmillan and Co, 1879 Severis, R., Given, M., Monuments and Memories: Government House. Nicosia: Hellenic Bank, 2004 2. The CVAR Center of Visual Arts and Research Archives (CY), The National Archives - Colonial administration records (migrated archives): Cyprus, (UK) 3. The vipers’ hill or snake hill, was a hillside location near the then village of Ayioi Omologites, just outside of Nicosia. The new Government House building materialized by Governor Sir Reginald Stubbs in 1933 who succeeded Sir Ronald Storrs and is still used today as the Republic of Cyprus Presidential Palace. 4. Charles Stanton (1894–1955), a British architect and assistant to architect Maurice Webb, who worked on-site in Nicosia during the construction of the British Governor’s House. https://nicolaslambouris.com/Florae-Studies Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:40:36 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/Florae-Studies <img width="866" height="1181" width_o="866" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7613bdb3c2890f991b46dc41c8e31e000c02a4197b36bce4623219cc96ab9c84/Florae-Study-I.jpg" data-mid="251302561" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/866/i/7613bdb3c2890f991b46dc41c8e31e000c02a4197b36bce4623219cc96ab9c84/Florae-Study-I.jpg" /> <img width="866" height="1181" width_o="866" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9dbc759e00101479b68211d8223a4a6666576be8604e16e56d2e90bfde1ac969/Florae-Study-II.jpg" data-mid="251302562" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/866/i/9dbc759e00101479b68211d8223a4a6666576be8604e16e56d2e90bfde1ac969/Florae-Study-II.jpg" /> <img width="866" height="1181" width_o="866" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/69c4cfda9a83bc60850f24fa7e58076faf5942420fdcfba14b06243602ba981d/Florae-Study-V.jpg" data-mid="251302566" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/866/i/69c4cfda9a83bc60850f24fa7e58076faf5942420fdcfba14b06243602ba981d/Florae-Study-V.jpg" /> <img width="812" height="1181" width_o="812" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/25671a520e99d6874fc53719bc0da899f363a3ecfebefddd864b7fc83c8fef88/Florae-Study-VI.jpg" data-mid="251302567" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/812/i/25671a520e99d6874fc53719bc0da899f363a3ecfebefddd864b7fc83c8fef88/Florae-Study-VI.jpg" /><img width="866" height="1181" width_o="866" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0500ee40f01345c9b99fcc47c2d9015fe0e4cda00587e9a547d0ffe658777eb3/Florae-Study-XI.jpg" data-mid="251302568" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/866/i/0500ee40f01345c9b99fcc47c2d9015fe0e4cda00587e9a547d0ffe658777eb3/Florae-Study-XI.jpg" /><img width="866" height="1181" width_o="866" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/813628a720db5c9d0dd3850c60139eb11f68dd5e52b04a55eafae1a959a39cd7/Florae-Study-XXV.jpg" data-mid="251302571" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/866/i/813628a720db5c9d0dd3850c60139eb11f68dd5e52b04a55eafae1a959a39cd7/Florae-Study-XXV.jpg" /> <img width="866" height="1181" width_o="866" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f67421d9e4676c350401d68aac6c258231f34078771a3f6da154ec21e6bf61b5/Florae-Study-XXIV.jpg" data-mid="251302570" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/866/i/f67421d9e4676c350401d68aac6c258231f34078771a3f6da154ec21e6bf61b5/Florae-Study-XXIV.jpg" /> <img width="866" height="1181" width_o="866" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1e44f9471df0b82b45df0d3f24318543a8866886f0445484fd44fdd5d1a18278/Florae-Study-III.jpg" data-mid="251302563" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/866/i/1e44f9471df0b82b45df0d3f24318543a8866886f0445484fd44fdd5d1a18278/Florae-Study-III.jpg" /> <img width="866" height="1181" width_o="866" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fd5f67502f417a93abe9f4b1dd0e02d0e5933e20ed7b3851400a9e5365c278d2/Florae-Study-IV.jpg" data-mid="251302564" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/866/i/fd5f67502f417a93abe9f4b1dd0e02d0e5933e20ed7b3851400a9e5365c278d2/Florae-Study-IV.jpg" /> <img width="812" height="1181" width_o="812" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e72420065e2c18ee273fa6cdaccc09cf58499543277c40a7233bfefec479019c/Florae-Study-XXXIII.jpg" data-mid="251302572" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/812/i/e72420065e2c18ee273fa6cdaccc09cf58499543277c40a7233bfefec479019c/Florae-Study-XXXIII.jpg" /> <img width="866" height="1181" width_o="866" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3925a44cfe20fac127eac63445cde22dbb370994998255f6fb33370338909a6b/Florae-Study-XIV.jpg" data-mid="251302569" border="0" data-scale="60" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/866/i/3925a44cfe20fac127eac63445cde22dbb370994998255f6fb33370338909a6b/Florae-Study-XIV.jpg" /> Florae Studies (2025)archival pigment prints, dimensions variable Florae Study is conceived as an-other botanical archive of Cyprus—one composed not of the island's celebrated or cultivated species, but of its discarded, disregarded, roadside shrub flora: the wayside growth overlooked by both the picturesque tradition and the botanical canon. Rendered as luminous, spectral forms suspended against a void, these images recall the herbarium sheet and the photogram in equal measure, transposing living matter into a register between scientific specimen and afterimage, evidence and apparition. Each study isolates a single plant, its tendrils, seed heads, and desiccated stalks traced in a residual light that both preserves and estranges, offering the specimen as artifact rather than illustration. Official botanical illustration has long served as an instrument of classification and control, organizing nature into taxonomies that mirror colonial and scientific hierarchies of value. Florae Study turns instead to what such systems routinely exclude: the unglamorous, the volunteer, the weed—plants without economic, ornamental, or symbolic currency, and therefore without a place in the archive. Their absence from the historical record is itself a form of erasure, paralleling the selective mechanisms by which cultural memory is constructed and withheld. The work extends a lineage of attention to the island's native flora first traced through the meticulous studies and carved botanical motifs of Costas Christoforou, whose quiet reverence for indigenous plant life stood in tacit resistance to a colonial impulse to "fertilize" and reforest the land with imported species. Where that gesture inscribed native flora into stone, Florae Study inscribes it into light, gathering the unclassified plants that persist in verges, rubble, and unattended ground. In compiling this counter-archive, the work proposes that botanical memory, like cultural memory, is selective, and that what is deemed worthy of preservation is itself an ideological choice. Florae Study constructs a fragile, ongoing inventory of the island's overlooked green matter—a record not of what Cyprus chose to grow, but of what it let grow regardless. https://nicolaslambouris.com/Carnation-Songs-To-Death-We-Dance Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:57:09 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/Carnation-Songs-To-Death-We-Dance <img width="1772" height="1129" width_o="1772" height_o="1129" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/680767456918ded92ef192c706a373558eb6663014a49eb0f4c7e0cdca406a6b/Carnation-Songs-To-Death-We-Dance_INSTALLATION_02.jpg" data-mid="251344841" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/680767456918ded92ef192c706a373558eb6663014a49eb0f4c7e0cdca406a6b/Carnation-Songs-To-Death-We-Dance_INSTALLATION_02.jpg" /> <img width="1357" height="1772" width_o="1357" height_o="1772" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/59f164da58ad6deb8e1e0a6fb0d92247cf004ee57683447b75b128e27b7e04e0/Carnations-Arrangements_07.jpg" data-mid="251344810" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/59f164da58ad6deb8e1e0a6fb0d92247cf004ee57683447b75b128e27b7e04e0/Carnations-Arrangements_07.jpg" /> <img width="1357" height="1772" width_o="1357" height_o="1772" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/95f685f5d32e07057a0447e14477e81a4ec0f361c2b07479dda1ac77d253efd5/Carnations-Arrangements_01.jpg" data-mid="251344808" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/95f685f5d32e07057a0447e14477e81a4ec0f361c2b07479dda1ac77d253efd5/Carnations-Arrangements_01.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/63f64ea62c920ad34b1e333afe679975e2807c95c7019738ebd8ff06bc622c6d/Sunset_02.jpg" data-mid="251344812" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/63f64ea62c920ad34b1e333afe679975e2807c95c7019738ebd8ff06bc622c6d/Sunset_02.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1173" width_o="1772" height_o="1173" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/045cfd62fa41640089fac8bae7f4625bd8154d2d612ada605a4d8e1bf468341c/Vase-with-Carnations_01.jpg" data-mid="251344822" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/045cfd62fa41640089fac8bae7f4625bd8154d2d612ada605a4d8e1bf468341c/Vase-with-Carnations_01.jpg" /> <img width="1772" height="1083" width_o="1772" height_o="1083" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7fc4d1df5ee6e09c6bd712601b04b4378c226139e070a85f1d70afecb87b6a76/Carnation-Songs-To-Death-We-Dance_Sad-Song-for-a-Night_SPREAD.jpg" data-mid="251344807" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7fc4d1df5ee6e09c6bd712601b04b4378c226139e070a85f1d70afecb87b6a76/Carnation-Songs-To-Death-We-Dance_Sad-Song-for-a-Night_SPREAD.jpg" /> Carnation Songs (To Death We Dance) (2024)found book plates, archival pigment prints Carnation Songs (To Death We Dance) examines the social, historical, and cultural dimensions of urban Greek folk music, focusing on its recurring themes of death, violence, poverty, and emotional agony. The heartrending verses of popular (Laiko1) songs—tales of social injustice, despair, and death set to the sound of bouzouki2—have long formed the thematic backdrop to mainstream Greek entertainment, in both domestic and public settings. This is a socio-cultural phenomenon distinct to Greece and Cyprus, where celebration, in a characteristically Mediterranean temperament, weaves exuberance, singing, and dance together with lyrics of anguish, misery, and ruin. This contradiction raises the question at the heart of the project: why do we dance to death? The "stage," or bouzoukia (Greek jargon for nightclubs staging live Laiko performances), is an enchanting term among Greeks, alluding not only to a distinct form of entertainment—the epitome of Greek nightlife—but to an idiosyncratic social ritual with implications across the fabric of everyday life. It is within these premises that Greeks find an outlet for emotional release, singing and dancing alongside the headlining performers (affectionately known as "big names"), while enacting a further, distinct ritual: the throwing of hundreds of carnations onto the stage. The audience expresses its admiration by scattering trays of flowers before the singer, a custom that succeeded the earlier practice of smashing gypsum plates as an expression of collective joy. The project is conceived as a cross-disciplinary installation of image and text, in which literary re-appropriations of popular lyrics referencing death and destruction are recomposed into new textual fragments, juxtaposed against found and newly produced images of carnations and carnation arrangements. Through this exchange between written and visual language, the project examines questions of national narrative, cultural semiotics, and the rituals through which historical, social, and cultural identity is affirmed. 1. After the end of WWII and the Greek Civil War, Greece entered a period of relative economic prosperity and the middle class, which had suffered through extreme poverty in the 1940s, began living more comfortably, a fact that was bound to be reflected in its choice of entertainment. At the same time a new generation of musicians came of age that had grown up with Rebetiko, a musical and cultural expression directly linked to singing and dancing that initially spread among the urban lower and working-class populations in the early twentieth century. Its themes reflected the harsh realities of marginalized subculture's lifestyle such as crime, alcohol abuse, drugs, poverty, prostitution and violence, but also a multitude of themes of relevance to Greek people of any social stratum: death, eroticism, exile, exoticism, love, marriage, and the recent events at Asia Minor with its subsequent refugee experience. Evolving from Rembetiko, popular music (Laiko) emerged during the 50’s and 60’s, which now reflected Greece’s “modernized” social and cultural standing, an amalgamation of western and Middle Eastern cultural influences. Songs became more upbeat, and references to drug use and criminal activity slowly declined, while poverty, hardships, love and violence figured prominently as key themes. Since then, Laiko, and its various sub-genres have dominated Greek music entertainment. 2. The bouzouki, a popular musical instrument in Greece, is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and a long neck with a fretted fingerboard. It has steel strings and is played with a plectrum producing a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but pitched lower. The instrument was brought to Greece in the early 1900s by Greek refugees from Anatolia, and quickly became the central instrument to the rebetiko genre and its music branches. It is now an important element of modern Laiko pop Greek music. https://nicolaslambouris.com/Proposals Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:40:12 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/Proposals <img width="4800" height="3598" width_o="4800" height_o="3598" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ba5f5c16247e5b62ce1031bdd38415558c07cbd97318b87f80b829d70bb4fe57/Proposal-for-an-Ordinance-Desire-for-Decency_02.jpg" data-mid="251321076" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ba5f5c16247e5b62ce1031bdd38415558c07cbd97318b87f80b829d70bb4fe57/Proposal-for-an-Ordinance-Desire-for-Decency_02.jpg" /> <img width="4800" height="3155" width_o="4800" height_o="3155" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/03e56811ac62aaa3ce734a8d88cebf78435d383d8b1cd5ae9c4251ad0ad22635/Proposal-for-an-Ordinance-Desire-for-Decency_09.jpg" data-mid="251321078" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/03e56811ac62aaa3ce734a8d88cebf78435d383d8b1cd5ae9c4251ad0ad22635/Proposal-for-an-Ordinance-Desire-for-Decency_09.jpg" /> <img width="4800" height="3155" width_o="4800" height_o="3155" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1ffe00d1b123600418fc3634e66dff893f948b27ccb21ca6d5be4a655b1efd0e/Proposal-for-an-Ordinance-Desire-for-Decency_08.jpg" data-mid="251321077" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1ffe00d1b123600418fc3634e66dff893f948b27ccb21ca6d5be4a655b1efd0e/Proposal-for-an-Ordinance-Desire-for-Decency_08.jpg" /> <img width="1181" height="776" width_o="1181" height_o="776" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/05356b31861911886f764f24e29eea84555c1a2d91ebcc412c51c50e48f4b724/Proposal-for-an-Ordinance-Desire-for-Decency_13.jpg" data-mid="251333068" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/05356b31861911886f764f24e29eea84555c1a2d91ebcc412c51c50e48f4b724/Proposal-for-an-Ordinance-Desire-for-Decency_13.jpg" /> <img width="4800" height="3200" width_o="4800" height_o="3200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ff87372b537ceb187edb2d03f828a282bd50bb6beb1c0c5feeb23c4f90cd5dbe/Proposal-for-A-Forest-Notice-of-Devotion_01.jpg" data-mid="251321074" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ff87372b537ceb187edb2d03f828a282bd50bb6beb1c0c5feeb23c4f90cd5dbe/Proposal-for-A-Forest-Notice-of-Devotion_01.jpg" /> <img width="3494" height="4800" width_o="3494" height_o="4800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0d5b4d97f5c87301af2237b8c8f4a904380c329356c98e67939c001c24fc61ff/Proposal--A-Forest-Notice-of-Devotion.jpg" data-mid="251321079" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0d5b4d97f5c87301af2237b8c8f4a904380c329356c98e67939c001c24fc61ff/Proposal--A-Forest-Notice-of-Devotion.jpg" /> <img width="3599" height="4800" width_o="3599" height_o="4800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a24420a60655c0e16f17251a5617545584c8e010696ab06f2f837613b2bdf1c6/Proposal-for-A-Forest-Notice-of-Devotion_09.jpg" data-mid="251321075" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a24420a60655c0e16f17251a5617545584c8e010696ab06f2f837613b2bdf1c6/Proposal-for-A-Forest-Notice-of-Devotion_09.jpg" /> <img width="3599" height="4800" width_o="3599" height_o="4800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/630c745b15b2b35ca2789634bc59a57bda488fc20361809850ef293cb1c55627/Conditional-Proposal-Performance-of-Duty_01.jpg" data-mid="251321069" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/630c745b15b2b35ca2789634bc59a57bda488fc20361809850ef293cb1c55627/Conditional-Proposal-Performance-of-Duty_01.jpg" /> <img width="3599" height="4800" width_o="3599" height_o="4800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/94ce5fcffba3c2965903ded02757918bb8299036d8f9dbe2f2ae05fb1e4cbc34/Conditional-Proposal-Performance-of-Duty_04.jpg" data-mid="251321071" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/94ce5fcffba3c2965903ded02757918bb8299036d8f9dbe2f2ae05fb1e4cbc34/Conditional-Proposal-Performance-of-Duty_04.jpg" /> Proposals (2023-ongoing)Proposal for an Ordinance (Desire for Decency) paper pulp, adhesive and pigment, paper over wire and wooden armature, found photographic plate, found magazine page fragment&nbsp;Proposal for a Forest (Notice of Devotion)terracotta ceramic, wood, archival pigment printConditional Proposal (Performance of Duty)wood, pigment, tape, photocopy print Found materials, objects, and images comprise the raw source of a "repository of visualities"—a past-lexicon in flux, sedimented like the layered strata of an island long positioned at the crossing of trade routes and empires—subsequently transformed, reassembled, and reconfigured, as an approach to critically interrogating our understanding of the present. Through a series of intervention-sequences and tactile responses to found imagery, Proposals explores the mutability and latent potential of cultural objects, objects that carry the salt and dust of shorelines where myth and geopolitics have long been indistinguishable. By considering the conceptual significance of artifacts, archival images, literary works, and symbols—along with their cultural, social, and historical resonances—the work suggests a non-linear narrative, a disruption of the Modernist encyclopedic model, offering instead alternative modes of meaning-making. Challenging rigidly predefined notions of how material, pictorial, performative, and instructional systems affect social structures and shape archetypal models, the work prompts shifts and displacements in contemporary perceptions. Revisiting themes from art history, geology, archaeology, architecture, and popular culture, Proposals revises, recontextualizes, and recomposes existing paradigms, gesturing toward an island imaginary where ruin and reconstruction are simultaneous conditions rather than sequential ones. "Familiar visualities" are extracted from their original contexts and presented in an incomplete, fragmented, and deliberately ambiguous manner—inviting the viewer into a process of interpretive co-authorship. https://nicolaslambouris.com/Her-Stones-Were-Sapphire-and-Her-Soil-Was-Gold Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:37:35 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/Her-Stones-Were-Sapphire-and-Her-Soil-Was-Gold <img width="4134" height="2756" width_o="4134" height_o="2756" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/552dda6aee2ad7808f7f00b70a29785c5b8934078191eba484d8daffc7db4d8f/01.jpg" data-mid="251300320" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/552dda6aee2ad7808f7f00b70a29785c5b8934078191eba484d8daffc7db4d8f/01.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2756" width_o="4134" height_o="2756" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1ae46add7b7cbeb9db63f847c2acf9f841870ad8da216d15862680d6a70a39b3/02.jpg" data-mid="251300321" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1ae46add7b7cbeb9db63f847c2acf9f841870ad8da216d15862680d6a70a39b3/02.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2756" width_o="4134" height_o="2756" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0f89db9f9f17d877a523355f271a26021c9186c806a5ed051b6e7a6ed921ea1c/03.jpg" data-mid="251300328" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0f89db9f9f17d877a523355f271a26021c9186c806a5ed051b6e7a6ed921ea1c/03.jpg" /><img width="3996" height="2665" width_o="3996" height_o="2665" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d722e30d08e1aeceec13e4705ce833fb6f28ce4638206ed247367ff3481e16be/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_11.jpg" data-mid="251300335" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d722e30d08e1aeceec13e4705ce833fb6f28ce4638206ed247367ff3481e16be/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_11.jpg" /> <img width="3780" height="2535" width_o="3780" height_o="2535" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f4e09186af2257e51a0135bbcc47e05c586a3aada750fec1322205a48eafd2c7/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_17.jpg" data-mid="251300330" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f4e09186af2257e51a0135bbcc47e05c586a3aada750fec1322205a48eafd2c7/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_17.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2756" width_o="4134" height_o="2756" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/73d92b2b965b944de9d438ea2ecd5684805f279845cffb770d5bdf99182b7303/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_19.jpg" data-mid="251300325" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/73d92b2b965b944de9d438ea2ecd5684805f279845cffb770d5bdf99182b7303/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_19.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2756" width_o="4134" height_o="2756" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4fcbf1f1bc34682378c66815bf51bf3b5ff26d0c038b74a2a5f644bf185a10c0/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_30.jpg" data-mid="251300332" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4fcbf1f1bc34682378c66815bf51bf3b5ff26d0c038b74a2a5f644bf185a10c0/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_30.jpg" /> <img width="4134" height="2756" width_o="4134" height_o="2756" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/062ef13e587f068e75ba008b5a5ee680938db04b969a10f1ca98e7cfb2762b69/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_24.jpg" data-mid="251300329" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/062ef13e587f068e75ba008b5a5ee680938db04b969a10f1ca98e7cfb2762b69/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_24.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2756" width_o="4134" height_o="2756" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dbf24812cf807cacf22b78ac054996f3c1a24e14810fc327d73b2e7151e00782/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_28.jpg" data-mid="251300331" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dbf24812cf807cacf22b78ac054996f3c1a24e14810fc327d73b2e7151e00782/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_28.jpg" /><img width="3549" height="2368" width_o="3549" height_o="2368" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/34875c3b0fa239881973fb9e90a3ffc746e9b90a193a03d0387fbf751bafc8a7/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_13_2.jpg" data-mid="251300334" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/34875c3b0fa239881973fb9e90a3ffc746e9b90a193a03d0387fbf751bafc8a7/In-the-Sea-of-the-Setting-Sun_Exhibition-Photos_13_2.jpg" />Her Stones Were Sapphire, and Her Soil Was Gold (2022) found ceramic fragments onto plaster slab, photographs transferred onto plaster slabs, archival pigment prints mounted on plywood, archival pigment prints in walnut frames, metal, plaster and ceramic fragments, inkjet print on paper.&nbsp;dimensions variable “There was an isle, whose hard stones were made smooth by the salt water that washed its shores; and even its mountains grew old and slowly moved aside from their place. A land, where the thick drops of dew gave birth to the rain, and the waters swept away the highlands and flooded the plain. There, where the soil was now fertile and blessed, where the sun burned brightly and strongly, lush perennial acanthus leaves blossomed amongst the golden wheat, and date palms and olive trees that fed the children. Thus, people worshiped the earth, and used it, and turned it into clay, and created more life. On this ground they supported their houses, their lives, their stories; and the land became holy, valuable as much as gold. The soil, the dust and the stones became their place. Here, on this piece of land, they could now live eternally on earth and endure any tribulation, hoping for some kind of redemption.” The work departs from a fragmented poetic reappropriation of the Book of Job found in the Ketuvim section of the Hebrew Bible, and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament in the Christian Bible, in which we witness the existential suffering of its righteous eponymous protagonist and a profound discourse on theodicy. Lambouris’ literary piece lyrically unfolds as an ambiguous and sentimental description of an undisclosed island. Omitting any reference to Job himself while pertaining to religious and folklore connotations, the piece refers to the natural beauty of the island, its fertile land and its effect on the lives of the indigenous people. Both the text, the images and/or artifacts that make up the work, operate as visual cues that simultaneously denote or affect each other as fragments of a larger non-linear narrative which attempts to negotiate our multifaceted relations, processes and complex negotiations on issues of land, home, history and religion. https://nicolaslambouris.com/Ode-to-Mourning Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:37:38 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/Ode-to-Mourning <img width="3543" height="2362" width_o="3543" height_o="2362" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3d5241102aafc38ca4cc1fce379f29402b5fd7790af32e1937a1a6f515f9b1f6/Ode-to-Mourning_PH_01.jpg" data-mid="251300354" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3d5241102aafc38ca4cc1fce379f29402b5fd7790af32e1937a1a6f515f9b1f6/Ode-to-Mourning_PH_01.jpg" /><img width="3543" height="2362" width_o="3543" height_o="2362" 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data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3a4d3e3a82abfcaf88b8370d5447f7f9516db2bcb7665738d48d31a879659e68/Ode-to-Mourning_14.jpg" data-mid="251300351" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3a4d3e3a82abfcaf88b8370d5447f7f9516db2bcb7665738d48d31a879659e68/Ode-to-Mourning_14.jpg" /> <img width="3485" height="2464" width_o="3485" height_o="2464" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6bc34fafe7330232040fb1c03db25a07d65561d4387ab009a5952d200efa8885/Ode-to-Mourning_15.jpg" data-mid="251300352" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6bc34fafe7330232040fb1c03db25a07d65561d4387ab009a5952d200efa8885/Ode-to-Mourning_15.jpg" /><img width="3486" height="2465" width_o="3486" height_o="2465" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a126f021fac339901dae618c974b7b45984b4751d0d407bd7ad378f8a1bf4373/Ode-to-Mourning_16.jpg" data-mid="251300353" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a126f021fac339901dae618c974b7b45984b4751d0d407bd7ad378f8a1bf4373/Ode-to-Mourning_16.jpg" />Ode to Mourning (2020) 16 photocopy prints on paper. dimensions 21 x 29.7 cm each At 158 stanzas (632 verses), the “Hymn to Liberty”, Greece’s national anthem is the longest state anthem in the world by length of text. Written by Dionysios Solomos in 1823, it was officially adopted as the national anthem of the newly established Greek State in 1865. It is also the only anthem that is shared by two countries, as Cyprus made “Hymn to Liberty” its national anthem in 1966. Inspired by the 1821 Greek Revolution, Solomos created a poetic ode to honor the Greek struggle for independence after centuries of Ottoman rule. The poem, which combines elements of romanticism and classicism, portrays the spiritual and physical torment of the goddess of Liberty —both a literal allegory and a representation for the Greek people— as she contemplates the fate of the nation. Imbued with symbolisms and references from the long and illustrious Greek history, accounts of heroic sacrifice, and the archetypal pathos between good and evil, the poem is set against an evident religious testament to Christianity and sanctity. The first two stanzas of the poem —the only part that is used as the national anthem—, begins with a heroic affirmation of Hellenism drawing parallels to a “fearsome sword”, to bravery and honorable death. Yet as the poem unfolds, we witness a descend into a gloomy narrative of national agony, a national self-torment, where, despite its Christian virtue and honor, the nation is abandoned by the powerful other. This narrative, a national mourning of sorts which lingers between a grandiose glorification of a historical past and a lamentation on what the nation&nbsp;could have been, ironically still defines the contemporary national social stance in both Greece and Cyprus. Cerulo defines national anthems as “official patriotic symbols-the musical equivalent of a country's motto, crest, or flag. As such, they represent the nation's identity or character-its mood, desires, and goals as put forth by those in power”[1]. They act as crucial symbolic poems that mainly provide internalization of certain social shared values that can potentially define national sentiment. Despite the historical space in which Solomos’ poem was created, and while taking in account modernity’s views on nation and nationalism, two hundred years on, the “Hymn to Liberty” still articulates —and has probably affected— the Hellenic&nbsp;national identity. [1] Cerulo, K. A. (1989). “Sociopolitical Control and the Structure of National Symbols: An Empirical Analysis of National Anthems”. Social Forces, 68(1), 76-79. https://nicolaslambouris.com/We-Never-Had-Winners-But-We-Will-Always-Have-Rocks Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:37:40 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/We-Never-Had-Winners-But-We-Will-Always-Have-Rocks <img width="4375" height="2917" width_o="4375" height_o="2917" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/33863f042a2aa24d1ceb357c40215e21c2142a19011b7a386cf70904fc69b183/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_001.jpg" data-mid="251300376" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/33863f042a2aa24d1ceb357c40215e21c2142a19011b7a386cf70904fc69b183/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_001.jpg" /><img width="4430" height="2953" width_o="4430" height_o="2953" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4b29e43273c92c092063a266854bbe9fd552bb48a09d7e093c1326fb5ff5f67c/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_014.jpg" data-mid="251300382" border="0" 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src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/90aa190bab0792742da0b3b5249e81f422761abda233b57141e8d8d0db515b57/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_012.jpg" /><img width="2098" height="3145" width_o="2098" height_o="3145" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ac9a518002f858b8db96ba8e6ad3687ac7366b1ba31ea8fe40f5c968e34afe7/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_013.jpg" data-mid="251300381" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ac9a518002f858b8db96ba8e6ad3687ac7366b1ba31ea8fe40f5c968e34afe7/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_013.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3544" width_o="2362" height_o="3544" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/53924aa7a21a2bfb9d4132107cd8a3ab66358b872c6ca53729268600187db14a/Brass-II.jpg" data-mid="251300362" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/53924aa7a21a2bfb9d4132107cd8a3ab66358b872c6ca53729268600187db14a/Brass-II.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3543" width_o="2362" height_o="3543" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/26602da3941f960255fb06e24f2dab2f5da76acd3ace4e0e58d144c9627175b2/Copper-I.jpg" data-mid="251300366" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/26602da3941f960255fb06e24f2dab2f5da76acd3ace4e0e58d144c9627175b2/Copper-I.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3543" width_o="2362" height_o="3543" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/44f56a95e1c274e990794b1dc226b76eac7449bb8512aa5d7369894a72351ec1/Bronze-IV.jpg" data-mid="251300364" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/44f56a95e1c274e990794b1dc226b76eac7449bb8512aa5d7369894a72351ec1/Bronze-IV.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3543" width_o="2362" height_o="3543" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f734ef022a876b1e5af999dfc6816429a4e1f97097cc83ddfe9cbdf166c8dc59/Bronze-VII.jpg" data-mid="251300365" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f734ef022a876b1e5af999dfc6816429a4e1f97097cc83ddfe9cbdf166c8dc59/Bronze-VII.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3544" width_o="2362" height_o="3544" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1bb4a384c0c54b9f5597e9b921acd89b3704ed8e1e5a755f1a4b5c852fc21326/Brass-I.jpg" data-mid="251300361" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1bb4a384c0c54b9f5597e9b921acd89b3704ed8e1e5a755f1a4b5c852fc21326/Brass-I.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3543" width_o="2362" height_o="3543" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ca58bb69e081cbfe5b3970e24acf028e3414c5d2fa0cf2be07a6427464ba9ae1/-Bronze-I.jpg" data-mid="251300359" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ca58bb69e081cbfe5b3970e24acf028e3414c5d2fa0cf2be07a6427464ba9ae1/-Bronze-I.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3544" width_o="2362" height_o="3544" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9ce30dde01a6872b4d6da90f901f6fe1c571d7da8832cc9b566d7373d0e794e6/Marble-III.jpg" data-mid="251300370" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9ce30dde01a6872b4d6da90f901f6fe1c571d7da8832cc9b566d7373d0e794e6/Marble-III.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3543" width_o="2362" height_o="3543" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/96a4219b3221fc25f4a9000d5558576599970586b8d0eaa7c9ebd912e91844df/Marble-II.jpg" data-mid="251300369" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/96a4219b3221fc25f4a9000d5558576599970586b8d0eaa7c9ebd912e91844df/Marble-II.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3543" width_o="2362" height_o="3543" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cc600da43b961c8276e5baf79cc80fe1f5c303da61f42165f3635a47e5da01ca/Marble-I.jpg" data-mid="251300368" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cc600da43b961c8276e5baf79cc80fe1f5c303da61f42165f3635a47e5da01ca/Marble-I.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3544" width_o="2362" height_o="3544" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/02bac1da7fc35e94493fc88aaf083b2d78963388bf967db38f73988983c4c620/Stone-I.jpg" data-mid="251300373" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/02bac1da7fc35e94493fc88aaf083b2d78963388bf967db38f73988983c4c620/Stone-I.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3544" width_o="2362" height_o="3544" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/00214c1d9a777047f001047a0e375bd50a6afe646e825eb0879a64d1b7ec3600/Marble-IV.jpg" data-mid="251300371" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/00214c1d9a777047f001047a0e375bd50a6afe646e825eb0879a64d1b7ec3600/Marble-IV.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3543" width_o="2362" height_o="3543" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c3706cc0702a007fd9210f43e7c804ea17d6ca926fafacf901ecb9ef03b98713/Marble-V.jpg" data-mid="251300372" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c3706cc0702a007fd9210f43e7c804ea17d6ca926fafacf901ecb9ef03b98713/Marble-V.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3543" width_o="2362" height_o="3543" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e7010c5d0564fd6468d24ff53ab98fde62600b0d73c7c1d50cd4b45d00ebb927/Marble-VI.jpg" data-mid="251300360" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e7010c5d0564fd6468d24ff53ab98fde62600b0d73c7c1d50cd4b45d00ebb927/Marble-VI.jpg" /> <img width="2362" height="3543" width_o="2362" height_o="3543" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f963ecca79ffffd4354f4d35616d10ea938ab76ce00506f381229db37ac0c708/Stone-V.jpg" data-mid="251300374" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f963ecca79ffffd4354f4d35616d10ea938ab76ce00506f381229db37ac0c708/Stone-V.jpg" /> We Never Had Winners (But We Will Always Have Rocks) (2022) marble, granite, limestone, plaster, rock, concrete and ceramic fragments, pigments. dimensions variable archival pigment prints. dimensions variable Marble and granite fragments, plaster casts, found ceramic scraps and the occasional factitious bit, consolidate into a collection of artifacts, carefully arranged and displayed as geological specimens on a white wall-shelf. Despite the lack of information or classification, the reduction of scientific and contextual conditions of its curation to an elementary presentation, the selected objects appear to have been mined and/or point to a specific geo-cultural topography. Juxtaposed to these objects, a series of abstract photographic images, close-ups of geological material surfaces (photographs of materials used on public memorial monuments in Cyprus) are presented in dialogue to their material counterparts. Through this seemingly typological collection of geological evidence of the past and their placement in an art-institutional context, both objects and images suggest some sort of cultural or historical value and significance and draw parallels to a museum-like display. Referencing the museum paradigm, in which objects become historically valuable and manifest as the ‘only class of historical events that occurred in the past but survive into the present, they can be re-experienced; they are authentic, primary historical material…’[1], the installation comments on the institutionalization and function of a museum as ‘the storehouse and protector of the memory of humankind, through the objects held, documented and cared for in its collections’[2]. If museums become places where culture, history and memory meet, their mediated processes of selection, collection and display construct particular narratives which at times become problematic. [1] Prown, J. D., “The Truth of Material Culture: History or Fiction?”, in Steven&nbsp;Lubar&nbsp;and&nbsp;W.&nbsp;David Kingery&nbsp;(eds), History from Things: Essays on Material Culture (Washington, DC, Smithsonian Institution,1993), pp. 2–3 [2] Black, G. “Museums, Memory and History”, Cultural and Social History 8 (3), 2011, pp.415-427 https://nicolaslambouris.com/We-Never-Had-Winners Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:37:43 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/We-Never-Had-Winners <img width="4429" height="2953" width_o="4429" height_o="2953" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b19d658dcaa2a6c40ddd7157225d17f132d0722b887db4f976169c81bad6abc2/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_065.jpg" data-mid="251300411" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b19d658dcaa2a6c40ddd7157225d17f132d0722b887db4f976169c81bad6abc2/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_065.jpg" /><img width="4430" height="2953" width_o="4430" height_o="2953" 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data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/769b1272ef5e8d8db06b6377893cf5562ccb8ebae9f9ff98302b5c0db8d902dd/article-no.14-EBA.jpg" data-mid="251300397" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/769b1272ef5e8d8db06b6377893cf5562ccb8ebae9f9ff98302b5c0db8d902dd/article-no.14-EBA.jpg" /> <img width="4430" height="2953" width_o="4430" height_o="2953" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/37a2f61294e7a06655269151c6de0e2a349b7fb0e3574b12d3302c93bdd7a140/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_080.jpg" data-mid="251300416" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/37a2f61294e7a06655269151c6de0e2a349b7fb0e3574b12d3302c93bdd7a140/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_080.jpg" /> <img width="2953" height="4430" width_o="2953" height_o="4430" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/834242b59155731504f2e62526268f0310c1ad5020403ecf4e3b4c69e64e6bdd/Beginnings-I.jpg" data-mid="251300404" border="0" 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data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/da1ca6df0377cc68adde35453e2f78275da8ca5df9565919b548071fabb45be8/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_114.jpg" data-mid="251300423" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/da1ca6df0377cc68adde35453e2f78275da8ca5df9565919b548071fabb45be8/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_114.jpg" /><img width="2953" height="4429" width_o="2953" height_o="4429" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0d08df7dbd81ef0251a7854be30c5d1224cf688b31effe35590f14a4499d558a/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_117.jpg" data-mid="251300424" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0d08df7dbd81ef0251a7854be30c5d1224cf688b31effe35590f14a4499d558a/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_117.jpg" /><img width="4431" height="2953" width_o="4431" height_o="2953" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d2c88a218df15c3f99705c1b896624a2fab6d50eb801459684b63e8a6c5314a4/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_018.jpg" data-mid="251300409" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d2c88a218df15c3f99705c1b896624a2fab6d50eb801459684b63e8a6c5314a4/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_018.jpg" /><img width="4430" height="2953" width_o="4430" height_o="2953" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e53f00d8ede066ff842749ebbbd8009fbc6a1e539dc8ca6e23387c25c9fe128/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_025.jpg" data-mid="251300410" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8e53f00d8ede066ff842749ebbbd8009fbc6a1e539dc8ca6e23387c25c9fe128/One-Hundred-Fifty-Eight-Attempts-for-Revision_Exhibition_025.jpg" /> <img width="2953" height="4357" width_o="2953" height_o="4357" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dd95bfbd31f6952e715bd97cde904014d5a1bcdb25c7b9c4feb6345c4323e044/Commendation-for-an-Unknown-Hero.jpg" data-mid="251300406" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dd95bfbd31f6952e715bd97cde904014d5a1bcdb25c7b9c4feb6345c4323e044/Commendation-for-an-Unknown-Hero.jpg" />We Never Had Winners (2021) archival pigment prints, archival pigment prints mounted on MDF board, archival pigment prints mounted on board, archival pigment prints framed in orange acrylic glass, mixed media on paster slabs, photographs transferred onto plaster slabs, digital print on vinyl, found vintage stereoview cards, plaster, brass tube, rope, glass, found concrete blocks, wood, metal archival images: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1911 © &amp;&nbsp; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cesnola Collection © dimensions variable We Never Had Winners acts as a starting point of reference to the three-part project titled Propaedeutics on Memorial Structures Vol. I, II &amp; III, investigating the social, political and cultural condition of memorial monuments in Cyprus. This last part considers the monument and its extended function as an object, its symbolic use of material—an act of geological appropriation where the material itself is an indicator of an-other historical time—as if bridging the past and the future in present time. Material objects that become memory-agents, monuments, are being transformed into emotional historical artifacts through which contested history (or histories) can be constantly (re)inscribed. Questioning the complex historical and cultural assimilation of the Greek national narrative in Cyprus—an ideology that shaped the predominant understanding of a Greco-Cypriot, or more precisely of a Hellenic identity on the island: the movement within Greek-Cypriots for the campaign of Enosis, and later for the declaration of Cyprus as an independent state in 1960—the work poses a paradoxical statement on the nation’s “failed” symbols of victory. Despite a seemingly celebratory establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, the underlying religious, cultural and political conflict amongst various groups of both Greek- and Turkish-Cypriots urged the nationalist political elite towards a passionate and immediate declaration of all those who fought for the country as national heroes. Tracing their historical context as far back as the 1821 Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, Greek-Cypriots fervently wanted to validate their own, and intensely participate in the lineage of Greek heroes. Elevating their dead war heroes onto celebrated pedestals as glorious symbols of national sacrifice and sanctity was an attempt by Cypriots to claim their virtuous right in political and national freedom, but most importantly to visibly claim and re-affirm their Greekness; one that stipulated cultural, national and religious identification with the motherland, Greece, and therefore permitted some form of participation in a glorious historical narrative. &nbsp; Employing the photographic medium as an interpretive act of the material object, space and time, the project dissects the associations between material and structure, between structure and its visual representation, and between representation and its simulated-signified historical narrative. The work adopts an artistic research approach (both in its production and presentation) through which photographs, photographic archives, found images, objects and material traces form visual constellations of selected sequences and fragmented narratives, allowing for multiple readings and associations. Images of Classical Greek sculpture, fragments of marble, fabricated artifacts, as well as visual displays of both Greek and Cypriot archaeological museums are combined and juxtaposed, with visual accounts and traces of memorial monument surfaces. Photographs and images that act as visual cues point to a research display of a museum collection, a display that brings into question both the institutional function of a museum as a cultural act, and its effect on articulating historical and cultural narratives. The constructed archive—both subjective and re-structured as artistic practice— brings into question the representation of representations; the material object and its photographic image as means of referral and reciprocal equivalences in displaying cultural residues. https://nicolaslambouris.com/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:37:48 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II <img width="2953" height="2215" width_o="2953" height_o="2215" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f67571eaaf93ad1048efd18512210ee5692514f855c6efdc4df3c8283b9671a5/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite_-II_004.jpg" data-mid="251300436" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f67571eaaf93ad1048efd18512210ee5692514f855c6efdc4df3c8283b9671a5/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite_-II_004.jpg" /><img width="2953" height="2215" width_o="2953" height_o="2215" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/938c2a7451ec7c1b3d07322f1f209e2780319be5666c9231ed910794307c2832/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite_-II_014.jpg" data-mid="251300439" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/938c2a7451ec7c1b3d07322f1f209e2780319be5666c9231ed910794307c2832/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite_-II_014.jpg" /> <img width="2953" height="2215" width_o="2953" height_o="2215" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d093164398ffa66864bf82db7b71f08177a9b041d7fa2e946b52dd5e3a38068f/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite_-II_011.jpg" data-mid="251300438" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d093164398ffa66864bf82db7b71f08177a9b041d7fa2e946b52dd5e3a38068f/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite_-II_011.jpg" /> <img width="2953" height="2214" width_o="2953" height_o="2214" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b423057b931da2121f0cfef77e7bbcd0e5cb4c4a61c3f98c1f2565fdef8ddafc/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite_-II_005.jpg" data-mid="251300433" border="0" 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height_o="2835" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ce511b98893d370c1459bd5fc09e6542cc42870fb3efd509e62bd36af379f838/Plate-12_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300441" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ce511b98893d370c1459bd5fc09e6542cc42870fb3efd509e62bd36af379f838/Plate-12_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2834" width_o="4134" height_o="2834" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5c13bd1decd374d8ea56d6aa0044ecccc86342181c015b09ed5c7983b95a40db/Plate-26_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300442" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5c13bd1decd374d8ea56d6aa0044ecccc86342181c015b09ed5c7983b95a40db/Plate-26_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2835" width_o="4134" height_o="2835" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4f6f1e056c6f9cdf9d729d7e16fd9d557776548b600528b5256c722989538f57/Plate-28_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300443" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4f6f1e056c6f9cdf9d729d7e16fd9d557776548b600528b5256c722989538f57/Plate-28_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2834" width_o="4134" height_o="2834" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5058a480793c905cd37e31c5755b0157c7a74617c3fc5bf3d0e8198815e983f8/Plate-40_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300444" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5058a480793c905cd37e31c5755b0157c7a74617c3fc5bf3d0e8198815e983f8/Plate-40_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2834" width_o="4134" height_o="2834" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f55fc6d2b0464b0e995dddc844878ff35e54b33edf2d313aa2f199bad7367230/Plate-44_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300445" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f55fc6d2b0464b0e995dddc844878ff35e54b33edf2d313aa2f199bad7367230/Plate-44_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2835" width_o="4134" height_o="2835" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d08f6abb4fe63cfe697b747f06c0a812054466b9a320fb90d6550ac64ad5938f/Plate-60_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300447" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d08f6abb4fe63cfe697b747f06c0a812054466b9a320fb90d6550ac64ad5938f/Plate-60_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /> <img width="4134" height="2833" width_o="4134" height_o="2833" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f4fb061cc9ce5071fa61f7ecbfe1924a5d4666be1020848aa01451a813b94b6c/Plate-64_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300448" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f4fb061cc9ce5071fa61f7ecbfe1924a5d4666be1020848aa01451a813b94b6c/Plate-64_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2834" width_o="4134" height_o="2834" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c2502c809b74d7e4f96f1d2e52006ff9d00937119797f7bdf4c393bfad44cc75/Plate-68_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300449" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c2502c809b74d7e4f96f1d2e52006ff9d00937119797f7bdf4c393bfad44cc75/Plate-68_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /> <img width="4134" height="2834" width_o="4134" height_o="2834" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ba175f82d6e4fb687cce5346b6c9c2287d4c4e1bd694c52cdd7f31f0aebe3f46/Plate-76_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300450" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ba175f82d6e4fb687cce5346b6c9c2287d4c4e1bd694c52cdd7f31f0aebe3f46/Plate-76_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2834" width_o="4134" height_o="2834" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7b7fade7a84832441e48de056b91d3e721de63821d9b5fc2bde54fbc864fe76e/Plate-86_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300451" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7b7fade7a84832441e48de056b91d3e721de63821d9b5fc2bde54fbc864fe76e/Plate-86_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /> <img width="4134" height="2832" width_o="4134" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0aad76c6c657136c8e24feee54efd9b53026cc5440a38bf41dd0b8b3e82f0ad6/Plate-100_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300452" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0aad76c6c657136c8e24feee54efd9b53026cc5440a38bf41dd0b8b3e82f0ad6/Plate-100_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /><img width="4134" height="2832" width_o="4134" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f2aabc870f882164d6fbf64d70db6d957793e9c2f23964217e8a83b14e551d6f/Plate-108_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" data-mid="251300453" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f2aabc870f882164d6fbf64d70db6d957793e9c2f23964217e8a83b14e551d6f/Plate-108_Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II.jpg" /> <img width="3543" height="2657" width_o="3543" height_o="2657" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4ac1222abac33a5fd54a4b3a629009cfbaffefd847d92dbc4a5cccaf480a04c5/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II_Book-001.jpg" data-mid="251300434" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4ac1222abac33a5fd54a4b3a629009cfbaffefd847d92dbc4a5cccaf480a04c5/Cyprus-Island-of-Aphrodite-II_Book-001.jpg" /> Cyprus: Island of Aphrodite II&nbsp; (2020) Nicolas Lambouris &amp; Theopisti Stylianou Lambert collage on found book plates, dimensions 34 x 49 cm Stylianou-Lambert, T., &amp; Lambouris, N., Cyprus: Island of Aphrodite II, Nicosia: IAPT Press, 2020 Text Contributions: Andreas Panayiotou, Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert, Nicolas Lambouris English 2020. 128pp. hardcover 29.5 x 22 cm ISBN: 978-9925-7512-1-1 George Lanitis’, Cyprus: Island of Aphrodite [Νάσος τας Αφροδίτας], published in 1965, in Nicosia, was one of the first ambitious artistic efforts in producing a photographic book on Cyprus. In a hefty volume divided in three-sections appropriately titled ‘The Place’, ‘The People’ and ‘Tradition’, Lanitis attempts to encapsulate the visual essence of 1960s Cyprus; a visual testament to an ethno-national and romantic vision of the island. Fifty-five years on, Cyprus: Island of Aphrodite manifests both as an artistic and historical artefact, a segment of a ‘curated’ archive of Cypriot imagery, a tactile and conceptual point of departure for this project. When in 2017 the Lanitis family granted access to the Cyprus University of Technology to digitize his surviving photographic archive, the artists Stylianou-Lambert and Lambouris were faced with a vast number of photographs that were simultaneously familiar, peculiar, personal at times, yet distinctively Cypriot. After spending months viewing and studying Lanitis’ archive, while also considering the pages of the original book for possible visual connections and interventions, the artists settled on their own selections, exclusions and visual juxtapositions for a new photobook. Cyprus: Island of Aphrodite II, published in 2020, is Stylianou-Lambert’s and Lambouris’ attempt to renegotiate their own visual past and a tribute to the creative process of photographic selection, exclusion and erasure. In what becomes an extended photographic act, the 1965 book is meticulously reproduced, only this time, ‘new’ photographs –photographs from Lanitis’ archive– are introduced and partially overlaid on top of the original pages; all the while, remaining aware of the fact that the mere act of overlaying material necessitates a much more violent act, that of erasure. As sociologist Andreas Panayiotou mentions in the introduction of Cyprus: Island of Aphrodite II: ‘The imposition of one picture on the other may shock the eye, and feel like a violation. The eye cannot see the older image in its totality. It can imagine it. But the artistic intervention is not only a negation. It is also a continuation. This is a book in which artists of the 21st century create a new paradox by adding archival photos, as if in a collage, to older, classical by now, “sacred” images.’ In appropriating the 1965 Cyprus: Island of Aphrodite, Stylianou-Lambert and Lambouris approached the original book as a complete artifact, a work in its own right, carefully considering issues of reproduction, materiality and book design. Working closely with Artemis Elefteriadou, IAPT Press’ editor and art director, the 2020 Cyprus Island of Aphrodite II, reproduces the original in its entirety making sure that the viewer can distinguish the two layers, old and new. The resulting book is an alternative view of a past Cyprus; one that reveals omitted images and focuses on the politics of the everyday. https://nicolaslambouris.com/We-Do-a-Slow-March Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:37:51 +0000 Nicolas Lambouris https://nicolaslambouris.com/We-Do-a-Slow-March <img width="3543" height="2658" width_o="3543" height_o="2658" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/877997322a1c3c07d1289046c2885b761b6af99cbf46500cc9d6b2fe146d80ac/Mirror_Exhibition_001.jpg" data-mid="251300474" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/877997322a1c3c07d1289046c2885b761b6af99cbf46500cc9d6b2fe146d80ac/Mirror_Exhibition_001.jpg" /> <img width="4134" height="3100" width_o="4134" height_o="3100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/01d831a4c0d96b483b80546c310489fa620f37be722bc559d82a343e48275eb4/Mirror_Exhibition_004.jpg" data-mid="251300457" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/01d831a4c0d96b483b80546c310489fa620f37be722bc559d82a343e48275eb4/Mirror_Exhibition_004.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="886" width_o="650" height_o="886" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/475ee82f7662cac383f93aafc949839ec9f3aaefba55fd2a0a12838a430162b1/Stelios.jpg" data-mid="251300470" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/475ee82f7662cac383f93aafc949839ec9f3aaefba55fd2a0a12838a430162b1/Stelios.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="886" width_o="650" height_o="886" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5c09680bc12d2016babb612ba0863488687719af6e3daff6ad0795d2cd29a4a/Almanzo.jpg" data-mid="251300458" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/e5c09680bc12d2016babb612ba0863488687719af6e3daff6ad0795d2cd29a4a/Almanzo.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="886" width_o="650" height_o="886" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b2442bc3785012ff787188fa0e1f111f3bb7bd1424258c2fb742f15e1a29e075/Panos.jpg" data-mid="251300466" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/b2442bc3785012ff787188fa0e1f111f3bb7bd1424258c2fb742f15e1a29e075/Panos.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="885" width_o="650" height_o="885" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c4b2cbec5f67960baa33e41b11b9f5d5736990231193244088a571570f634c5/Andreas.jpg" data-mid="251300459" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/2c4b2cbec5f67960baa33e41b11b9f5d5736990231193244088a571570f634c5/Andreas.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="885" width_o="650" height_o="885" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/29a1cbc885f558ab2196cbac9c53dada4f94f56e5a4fbf9b46b9ec4ad527cbfb/Thanasis.jpg" data-mid="251300472" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/29a1cbc885f558ab2196cbac9c53dada4f94f56e5a4fbf9b46b9ec4ad527cbfb/Thanasis.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="886" width_o="650" height_o="886" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/71c953042f5971a3f575c9a6262f4540f2a7e0ee2dccba82998730a484432c41/Ben.jpg" data-mid="251300460" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/71c953042f5971a3f575c9a6262f4540f2a7e0ee2dccba82998730a484432c41/Ben.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="887" width_o="650" height_o="887" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/628fc41184281436c70f2ecb845f17c82262bba46bbb7a0714f770647fc04952/Sailor.jpg" data-mid="251300467" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/628fc41184281436c70f2ecb845f17c82262bba46bbb7a0714f770647fc04952/Sailor.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="887" width_o="650" height_o="887" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f12c3087aa9eae09541061bbca9cfd3343c58e19cb365c42732297dcd5f97bce/Tang-Lung.jpg" data-mid="251300471" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/f12c3087aa9eae09541061bbca9cfd3343c58e19cb365c42732297dcd5f97bce/Tang-Lung.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="886" width_o="650" height_o="886" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/86517da2155e845e7fd0fd3daddae297d609edd3a67d3e2035c1bb60a622b57b/Stavros.jpg" data-mid="251300468" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/86517da2155e845e7fd0fd3daddae297d609edd3a67d3e2035c1bb60a622b57b/Stavros.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="886" width_o="650" height_o="886" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ca85d76c7dba266912372324628b08c2d3173ee8eeffe1cafd15f93e64db42c/Stefanos.jpg" data-mid="251300469" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/2ca85d76c7dba266912372324628b08c2d3173ee8eeffe1cafd15f93e64db42c/Stefanos.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="887" width_o="650" height_o="887" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2cbeb64739d7e72d2763b0d965cd7c65129de1485cc2a3530cbd641f4924b62f/Jesus.jpg" data-mid="251300462" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/2cbeb64739d7e72d2763b0d965cd7c65129de1485cc2a3530cbd641f4924b62f/Jesus.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="886" width_o="650" height_o="886" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/72319e82b783dbb9deb95589e4d71a30e30c5ac7c865610fd6eca3bf3cf74571/Joe.jpg" data-mid="251300463" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/72319e82b783dbb9deb95589e4d71a30e30c5ac7c865610fd6eca3bf3cf74571/Joe.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="887" width_o="650" height_o="887" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/925e91302702d5f2cf37af666e663db4a492947597e71b9ae9465522d6da5343/Mavrantonis.jpg" data-mid="251300464" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/925e91302702d5f2cf37af666e663db4a492947597e71b9ae9465522d6da5343/Mavrantonis.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="885" width_o="650" height_o="885" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c29b39e004cb792cc7a755b9ade4ea787dd44616d3afd6385ef2f2c55ea55cdd/Merrill.jpg" data-mid="251300465" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/c29b39e004cb792cc7a755b9ade4ea787dd44616d3afd6385ef2f2c55ea55cdd/Merrill.jpg" /> <img width="650" height="886" width_o="650" height_o="886" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/352e15a90b705e017ab1af8f107b995c336d33f6647983a33b354c9d14eca31f/Charidimos.jpg" data-mid="251300461" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/352e15a90b705e017ab1af8f107b995c336d33f6647983a33b354c9d14eca31f/Charidimos.jpg" /> We Do A Slow March (2020) 15 chromogenic prints, dimensions 13 x 9 cm each Compiling a series of video-stills from television series and popular films broadcasted between 1980-1995 on CyBC’s[1]national television program, We Do A Slow March, points towards images and their narrative potentialities that originate within—and for—the medium itself, but also unfold beyond their linear filmic sequence reality. Fifteen close-up portraits of male actors and performers in their respective iconic roles, that despite their apparent stillness, instantly activate a familiar visual and cultural operation on masculinity and its representation as this was articulated within the Cypriot social fabric. At a time where the ideal male and its bodily representation were aptly expressed as a positive stereotype and a social function, the selected screen personas construct a didactic lexicon on ‘masculine heroes’. These on-screen articulations of gender, function as scripted character-performances on masculinity and operate as symbols (both on-and-off screen) which the actors themselves embody. Repetitive visual affirmations on masculinity are manifested through assorted storylines on the same theme(s) of the ‘virtuous, brave and strong male’, and imposed through the endless reruns of the same shows for years under the monopoly of the television airwaves by CyBC. The selected portraits and the characters they represent, are images with immense power in shaping cultural and social identities: they narrate distinct male historie(s), they construct archetypal male typologies, and express the dominant cultural stipulations on how to negotiate gender, social and cultural conditions concerning various aspects of male identity [1] Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation is Cyprus public broadcasting service, and up-until 1992 the only television channel on the island