by Yiannis Papadakis, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Cyprus
Watching the grand Opening Ceremony of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union, undertaken since January 1st 2026 by my homeland or part of it, I was transfixed by the artistic event. It raised new and unexpected questions, as true art should. And it was breathtaking. Literally.
Is it possible to expire from overcringing? Would the shark finally appear? Or maybe I would witness a murder instead? Should this be placed in the UN list of prohibited methods of torture?
Deftly avoiding the cliched Past-Present-Future, the title was instead Memory-Present-Meta. No small trademark sign though after Meta in order to ensure ownership and make sure no one might steal this original (arguably ‘meta original’) title. You don’t want the mess with the other Meta which could construe this as a challenge to its brand.
Elevating as the experience was, it was a not-so-subtle effort by the Republic of Cyprus to ‘pass certain messages’, as next day’s triumphalist official statements and multiple newspaper reports underlined. That these were political messages was so obvious to all of us in Cyprus that it went without saying. It also went without saying and no surprise there that there had to be The Single One Central Important Message: condemning the Turkish invasion in 1974 which was presented through grim imagery and disturbing music which the audience was subjected to for longer than anything else. As per tradition and protocol, there was no mention of course of the tumultuous 1960s, when it was mostly Turkish Cypriots who were victimized.
I will spare you too many official quotes, dear reader, because I am still unsure about the answer to the overcringing question. Hell, let me throw caution to the wind! I don’t know about you but we are descendants of a fearless and heroic people who can survive any calamity. Here are just two official statements, with the requisite cringe-warning:
‘..recognising the Republic of Cyprus’ essential role in shaping the European edifice over its twenty-two years of EU membership, sealing its dynamic presence as an active and reliable member state..’
‘…with the determination to do what Cyprus knows well – to act as a bridge between member states, between institutions, between ambition and delivery, and between Europe and the wider region.’
An unwell-intentioned observer might protest that ‘acting as a bridge’ could ring hollow given that just a few meters away, lies Cyprus’ dividing line over which a ‘bridge’ has not been built in the last 50 years of the island’s division. The appearance of the token Turkish Cypriot artist, one among around 100 artists who participated, demonstrated in practice what authorities and the artistic organisers mean by bridge-budling. As for ‘Europe and the wider region’, the condemnations of the Republic of Cyprus by multiple human rights organisations and European courts for ‘pushbacks’ of asylum-seekers were water under the bridge. So far, so European though.
To my admittedly musically-challenged ears the disconcerting music often dominated by screeching violins reminded me of horror scenes, Hitchcock, was it the bath scene perhaps, and Jaws. Except that in the films they last a few seconds not the better part of an hour.
Time of course is subjective. When a tree appeared, signifying a ‘blooming’ Cyprus, I feared that the trees’ leaves and flowers would fall revealing an empty trunk, while we would endlessly and hopelessly wait for Godot, for what already seemed like an eternity.
Unbeknown to anyone present though, unseen sharks were already lurking, circling the innocent young girl (impersonating ‘Cyprus’ in the performance) as was revealed just one day later when a bombshell video appeared outing the government and its cronies for corruption to such an extent that even Cypriots, steeped as we are in our customs and traditions, collectively cringed. Particularly when one of the protagonists boasted, adding dubious sexual connotations, that he was in such close contact with (whom everyone presumed was) the President that ‘he is like my girlfriend’. (Later, he said he was talking about someone else.) More embarrassingly even, given the recent assumption of the Presidency, the video suggested that the Republic of Cyprus puts pressure in the EU against sanctioning specific Russian oligarchs, in exchange for payments. While not disputing the exact quotes secretly filmed, the government’s reaction was to frame it as an evil conspiratorial act by lurking enemy foreign powers (suggesting the usual suspect, Turkey, to which others hastened to add Russia) to mar this magnificent ceremony and our esteemed Presidency.
I would beg to humbly disagree.
The episode required no conspiracies, only the predictable collision between spectacle and a reality that refused to remain offstage.
The problem was not sabotage from abroad but predation at home.