George Chr. Kythreotis has written several books spanning literature, poetry, prose, essays, interpretive reworkings of important Ancient Greek literary works, as well as translations from French, and he has contributed texts to collective publications. He speaks to Politis on the occasion of The Other Nicosia, a collection he oversaw as general editor, which gave him a unique view point from which to see the city of his birth from multiple perspectives.
A capital seen through words and images
The album “The Other Nicosia: A City Built with Words and Images” is a collection of literary texts and visual artworks bublished by Kentriki Insurance, each of which interacts, in its own way, with the city of Nicosia. “The aim was to show how the life of the city has been reflected in Cypriot art, in all its dimensions,” he told Politis.
Kythreotis decided to focus on his city, which for as long as he can remember has been constantly built with concrete and steel. For this reason, he sought out the other Nicosia, the one that can be seen through the eyes of the creators he invited to participate.
“At the same time, in the same place, in this valley of concrete, the fabric of another city is being secretly woven. Parallel and alongside it, another Nicosia is emerging, eccentric, effervescent, unyielding. But it is made of different kinds of materials, of unknown origin. Appropriately transformed in hidden workshops, it sometimes bursts into words and images,” he explains.
The artworks, whether literary or visual, while continuing their formal exploration and broader investigations, continue to engage in dialogue with the reality of the city. “The other Nicosia is, at its core, a longing for the real Nicosia. It is here and yet not here. The fact that it emerges unpredictably through words and images is undeniable proof of its existence. At the same time, being part of an inner world, it cannot be fully known through touch. That is why it yearns for the next encounter, the next poem, the next story, the next painting, the next photograph, the next sculpture,” the editor observes.
The guiding principle for the album’s selections was the dialogue between the creators and the city. In retrospect, Kythreotis says, he also noticed other things about Nicosia: “After 3,000 years, it continues to produce literature and poetry in Greek and to serve ancient visual arts, without losing touch with contemporary reality.”
He adds that this connection between contemporary Cypriot art and the city, through literature and the visual arts, is one of the album’s strongest points, noting that “the place itself becomes raw material for art, and this is reflected in the album.” For the writer, the collection either gathered material about Nicosia or served as a starting point for creating works with this perspective, while also giving him a point from which to see multiple perspectives. “They may not all be mine, but I gave them a roof a space to speak,” he says.
Through the experience of the album, Kythreotis had the opportunity to observe the remarkable endurance of the capital, its persistence in emerging from adversity, and its ability to maintain its identity. “We have loved it, we have hated it, we have seen it become inhospitable, but ultimately, our city is our mirror,” he says, adding that Nicosia is certainly the Cyprus city with the most historical traces from lived experiences.
Essay, book, language
The author’s two previous works were essayistic studies on the great Dostoevsky and Papadiamantis. “An essay is a critical discourse that brings us back to the boundaries of reason, whereas literature is a transcendence of language, as it expands its limits,” he explains.
“Insisting on writing is not something that can be controlled; it may not even be a conscious decision. Most of us have had this ‘flaw’ from a young age. It is a passion that becomes your calling, what you are able to do,” he says regarding his relationship with writing.
Kythreotis does not believe that people have stopped reading books, noting that, statistics show that both publishing and readership have increased.
However, he believes there is a problem with the language use, due to new technologies, and with our awareness of language: “There is a poverty of expression, which is primarily an educational issue. We have degraded our education by abandoning large areas of the Greek language.”
He believes that in the context of education, Ancient Greek should not be approached as distant or isolated, like a foreign language, but its relationship with modern Greek should be explained across different historical periods. Statistics, he says, clearly show that the language of Homer can be found in the new language. A large percentage of Modern Greek vocabulary comes from Homer and from the language of the Gospels.
“We should show children that it is the same language, reaching the present day through various phases: Cyprus folk poems of the Middle Ages, Erotokritos, the epic of Digenis, and so on. These may seem like foreign languages today, but they are the evolution of the same language,” he concludes.
**The Other Nicosia can be found at Kentriki Insurance.