‘Cloisters represent a metaphorical space, a landscape of symbol and memory. They are a place of beauty, where history lives in full colour; a place of living, embodies tradition’.
Acting as a shield, these covered walkways or courtyard gardens portray a sense of belonging, of security and protecting. Reflecting on these visually, our work was inspired by the Cloister of Bella-Paise Abbey, in the small Kyrenia village of Bellapais, and specifically through the image of this commemorative stamp, of the 50th anniversary of British colonial rule in Cyprus (1878-1928).
Metaphorically, our Vanished Homes cloister carries an uninterrupted thread of connectivity, one of collective heritage and imprinted identity, but lacks the covering which acts to shield, protect or that ensures belonging.
Those lived experiences of our people, and family narrated stories of our colonial and war dented childhoods, continue to burden us, this transgenerational trauma lives on through us. Here today, as refugees or as children of refugees, we cloister together and embrace those sensitivities stolen from our childhood ανεμελιά and deprived homes.
Vanished Homes
Flower pots soon dried up in Famagusta
Children were ushered indoors in Ayios Pavlos
Grain fields in Kaimakli never welcomed us back
A salty sea breeze cools off Massari and Zodia
Vanishing Homes draws inspiration from the geometry of the vanishing point — where parallel lines converge and disappear into the distance. Formed by a series of house outlines, each frame recedes in scale until it fades into absence, tracing a visual journey from presence to loss.
The work reflects on the displacement of refugees during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a meditation on memory, belonging, and the fragility of home. The terracotta vessel anchors the piece in the earth, symbolizing what remains — a fragment of warmth, identity, and continuity amid disappearance.
Concept development and text: Yianna Tsolaki.Vanished Homes
Flower pots soon dried up in Famagusta
Children were ushered indoors in Ayios Pavlos
Grain fields in Kaimakli never welcomed us back
A salty sea breeze cools off Massari and Zodia
Vanishing Homes draws inspiration from the geometry of the vanishing point — where parallel lines converge and disappear into the distance. Formed by a series of house outlines, each frame recedes in scale until it fades into absence, tracing a visual journey from presence to loss.
The work reflects on the displacement of refugees during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a meditation on memory, belonging, and the fragility of home. The terracotta vessel anchors the piece in the earth, symbolizing what remains — a fragment of warmth, identity, and continuity amid disappearance.
Designed with: Marios Charalambous and Nicoletta Pharmakalidou (clay pot).
Year produced: 2023.
Materials: Painted tubular steel, clay pottery and white solid surface
Approximate dimensions: 3000 x 1430 x 2150 mm (length x width x height)
Photo credits: Silvio Rusmigo.
© ΦΧΨ Heritage Design 2015 - 2025.
