I’m Monica Alcazar Duarte I’m a Mexican
British photographer and last year I
decided to undertake a photography
project in Cyprus I was inspired by the
words of my friend Anna I polygon
flattened classmate from central san
martin’s
who taught me or told me that cyprus was
not only or is not only a holiday
destination she taught me about the very
complex history of her country and she
told me about the many tribulations and
uncertainties with which Cypriots live
today
shortly after Anna I arrived into Cyprus
and I heard Salinas and myself went into
a little day trip so Lynette had offered
to show me what his family home the same
home that he had to abandon back in 1974
when the conflict erupted in the island
and many people had to abandon their
homes and become refugees in their own
country
ana told me that her dad likes to do
this from time to time when people go
and visit they showed that he shows them
the house but that he does things also
to save himself to see if everything is
okay with the house and if the house is
even still then on our way there
the area has changed so much since the
last time he’s in there that we need to
ask for directions to get there as soon
as we get there there is this little
house with a vast piece of land in its
backyard and that he’s telling us of all
the plans that the family had for this
piece of land occurred just parks beside
it and a man comes out of it it turns
out to be the new occupant of the half
of the house he’s very friendly and he
invites us in for some tea or coffee to
what we agreed it is very important that
I say hey B’s Saarinen’s has been
outside the house many times but he
hasn’t been inside since 1974 when he
was forced to flee
really quickly and leave everything
behind his home town his house he lost
everything so we’re inside and as soon
as we’re inside the man pointed
sub-points us out a beam across the
living room like saying to someone ethic
I’ve been keeping up the house I’ve been
taking care of it I noticed on one of
the walls there’s a photo with film a
teenage girls in it and I asked him if
these are his daughters what he says yes
I mean his
we thought of broken English like mine
he tries to explain that he they are
both in college now and that they were
both born in that house
a few seconds after his wife comes from
inside the house and in the look in her
face it’s this kind of confusion and
even fear from us I can almost read the
questions going through her mind why are
we then do we mean any trouble
recrimination we’re all three three
times coffee but the coffee never
arrives and the water starts like making
a phone call on her ball by looking for
a neighbor who might be able to help us
with some translation back and forth
after about five minutes and I starts
getting really nervous and she tells me
that she’s really worried that her dad
is going to start crying at any minute
that we should go so we leave and that’s
we’re leaving there’s this little orange
tree beside the main entrance of the
house so Lana’s almost immediately
recalled playing when he was a little
boy under the shadow of that tree and so
I hope her if I can take a picture with
him beside the tree so I take one
picture and it’s really badly exposed so
I have a second attempt thinking that
this would be my way of thanking him for
sharing his story with me but it’s a
steely still really bad picture so I
have a third of them by then I’m
completely aware of how uncomfortable
and distressed for these situations for
everyone present so I the Seas back into
the car and asks her dad if he’s not
angry if he’s not angry for having been
forced to lose everything for leaving
his house for losing everything and
becoming a refugee in his own country so
what he says that it is not or he’s not
angry with the new occupants of the
house
he’s angry with both their governments
for putting regular people in these an
impossible situation
so the situation today in Cyprus the
problem with modern cypresses starts
back in colonial times when it becomes a
British colony all around the eighteen
hundreds up to nineteen sixty when it
becomes an independent republic by then
they are deeply rooted differences
between the two ethnic groups that are
populated the islands the Turkish
Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots in 1974
the island finally
is turned apart when the Greek
government decides to engineer coup
d’etat and the Turkish government
decides to retaliate by taking over the
northern part of the island the island
then is divided in north and south and
it has room remain divided ever since in
the North you have the Turkish Cypriots
and the government is not recognized in
the south you have the Greek Cypriots
and the government is an independent
republic is recognized internationally
and it became part of the European Union
in 2008 today the situation is stable
but there is a silly sense of division
even though the borders were completely
open by 2008 when they became part of
the European Union you have to present a
passport wing crossing from side to side
so what a long day border there’s an
area called the buffer zone this area
doesn’t belong to anyone is a neutral
area and is administered by the United
Nations up to today the buffer zone
crosses the capital of the country
called Nicosia and it is in this poor
person that I found a place called home
for cooperation so they are a community
group that brings young people together
from both communities when I first met
them there a group of really young
committed passionate peace advocates who
constantly are creating situations for
both communities to come together and
have some kind of coup intercultural
exchange and create some kind of trust
between each other from music sports
eyes food it wasn’t until after I met
home for cooperation that I realized and
I started drafting posing possible
landscapes at the time what I was doing
I was taking photos of the earth and the
sky all over the country and I was
placing them side by side in a way where
you couldn’t be able to tell which side
was which side no North no South I was
enjoying the fact that the viewer could
do their own sense of narrative or could
create their own sense of narrative by
combining these images but you wasn’t
quite working and I couldn’t put my
finger why was this until I figured out
that it was because all the images were
taken by the same person me and that on
top of it I’m a foreigner so this is
when I realized that I wanted to make a
community project and invite people to
make photographs oh nice
country well I was in Cyprus I
discovered that there was a big group of
Minister grandmas and you know I thought
this is a good way of reaching young
people all over the country without
having to have loads of funding and we
know Instagram is a really good way to
share images but it could be really
really fun now so it became almost like
a challenge for me I started wondering
if it could be used for something more
meaningful if it could be used for an
art communities project so then going
back to this idea or gear the land this
sky that we all share I decided that the
pictures would have to have a some sort
of horizon and if they would place
together side by side but they would do
they would conform this continues
uninterrupted horizon in which north
east south and west would become
completely indiscernible so back in
London
I contacted home for cooperation and I
said to them look I can make this
initiative possible I can open the
account make the first contacts make the
first flows I need your help in
spreading the word so we drafted
together this poster and they helped me
by printing it out and putting it out in
the cafe
they even distributed in their own
channels that they use for the community
activities so this was really exciting
then I contacted a journalist that I met
there when I was in Cyprus her name’s
Marissa Hecker’s and I asked if she
would be interested in becoming a guest
contributor you would mean a take over
for a week and she would make posts
directly from our account for about a
week with a horizon of Cyprus and with a
little story about how when where the
photo was taken
Melissa agreed she’s very kind and after
about a week I asked her if she had a
friend who would be interested in doing
the same and then I asked her frantic
she will have another friend and then
another friend and this is how the
little piece changed Ivan I created the
hashtag possible landscape because I
thought not everyone is going to be able
to want to commit for a week to post
daily photographs but it still maybe
they want to take part so they only to
do is to use a hashtag and the photos
would appear in the general feed of the
project the very very first milestone of
the
was when we were contacted by the
Spanish his Instagram name completely
independently and outside of our
immediate contact list these in a way
meant that we were kind of gaining some
kind of a life of its own the project
was creating a life of its own in a way
and this was also very exciting I asked
the fan after his takeover of a week if
he had friends of he that would be
interested and then I asked his friends
if they would have friends of theirs and
I remember thinking it will last a month
that would be amazing but now nine
months later and fifteen hundred images
afterwards were reaching both
communities I have to mention each
community participates in a very very
different way so I feel that for example
the Turkish Cypriot community they’re a
little bit more shy they’re little bit
more cautious and they’re just using the
hashtag so what I’m doing is I’m we’re
posting the photos in the main feed
hitting them the credit with a username
it is my hope that eventually they
become more directly involved with the
project but for now nevertheless it is
very important with knowledge that both
communities are kind of engaged and
contributing so now the plans the plans
are that I’m looking for funding I would
like to organize an exhibition that
tours around the country in different
community sentence I’m organising with
home for cooperation a big installation
event with blow up images of all the
images within given and the idea is that
when we place them together they would
be going in and out of the buffer zone
in Nicosia I also want to make a little
photo book and the earnings to be
donated for home for cooperation I’m
also looking for other organizations so
at last week we were confirmed that we
will be collaborating with an
organization in Bosnia their name is a
post-conflict Research Center they are
in Sarajevo
so we’re going to have possible
landscape searchable which is
extraordinary and I feel really really
fortunate about I will also contact
another organization in Northern Ireland
they bring together young people from
both the Protestant and Catholic
communities and their name is Karen ela
so the momentum for a project like this
can only happen I think for having many
people knowing about the project for
many people participating in it because
you can only convenient
for the cumulative effect of the joint
voice of all its participants I’m not
naive and I don’t think that possible
landscape is going to have a deep impact
in the process of deep peace yielding
his building being so complex so arduous
so difficult in so many ways but it’s
been demonstrated that if young people
are being given the space to meet each
other people who are in opposing sides
are giving the space meet each other
they realize that all those differences
are not adding as important
preconceptions misconceptions about each
other the image it is because they
realize how much more in common we have
as human beings but with the different
proton disappear they realize that they
can actually be respected I think they
would respect the differences in their
own community so in a way for me
possible landscapes is about visa space
in which I hope that Cypriots consider
country as a shared common space I don’t
hope that my friend Ana would ever
become best friends with one of the
daughters of the new occupant of what it
was her family home but I hope that if
given the space they would share with
each other the many wonderful things
they both have today in their lives in
this country that they both go home
because this country’s still in peace
and this conflict that is a fear that
somehow it would become less important
in image and you see for me as a
photographer words fail me
and I think that in places where words
have failed it’s paid for a different
kind of dialogue needs to be created
it’s facing which an almost similar
visual conversation can take place and
for me that’s what was working
scriptures so thank you
you
[Applause]
British photographer and last year I
decided to undertake a photography
project in Cyprus I was inspired by the
words of my friend Anna I polygon
flattened classmate from central san
martin’s
who taught me or told me that cyprus was
not only or is not only a holiday
destination she taught me about the very
complex history of her country and she
told me about the many tribulations and
uncertainties with which Cypriots live
today
shortly after Anna I arrived into Cyprus
and I heard Salinas and myself went into
a little day trip so Lynette had offered
to show me what his family home the same
home that he had to abandon back in 1974
when the conflict erupted in the island
and many people had to abandon their
homes and become refugees in their own
country
ana told me that her dad likes to do
this from time to time when people go
and visit they showed that he shows them
the house but that he does things also
to save himself to see if everything is
okay with the house and if the house is
even still then on our way there
the area has changed so much since the
last time he’s in there that we need to
ask for directions to get there as soon
as we get there there is this little
house with a vast piece of land in its
backyard and that he’s telling us of all
the plans that the family had for this
piece of land occurred just parks beside
it and a man comes out of it it turns
out to be the new occupant of the half
of the house he’s very friendly and he
invites us in for some tea or coffee to
what we agreed it is very important that
I say hey B’s Saarinen’s has been
outside the house many times but he
hasn’t been inside since 1974 when he
was forced to flee
really quickly and leave everything
behind his home town his house he lost
everything so we’re inside and as soon
as we’re inside the man pointed
sub-points us out a beam across the
living room like saying to someone ethic
I’ve been keeping up the house I’ve been
taking care of it I noticed on one of
the walls there’s a photo with film a
teenage girls in it and I asked him if
these are his daughters what he says yes
I mean his
we thought of broken English like mine
he tries to explain that he they are
both in college now and that they were
both born in that house
a few seconds after his wife comes from
inside the house and in the look in her
face it’s this kind of confusion and
even fear from us I can almost read the
questions going through her mind why are
we then do we mean any trouble
recrimination we’re all three three
times coffee but the coffee never
arrives and the water starts like making
a phone call on her ball by looking for
a neighbor who might be able to help us
with some translation back and forth
after about five minutes and I starts
getting really nervous and she tells me
that she’s really worried that her dad
is going to start crying at any minute
that we should go so we leave and that’s
we’re leaving there’s this little orange
tree beside the main entrance of the
house so Lana’s almost immediately
recalled playing when he was a little
boy under the shadow of that tree and so
I hope her if I can take a picture with
him beside the tree so I take one
picture and it’s really badly exposed so
I have a second attempt thinking that
this would be my way of thanking him for
sharing his story with me but it’s a
steely still really bad picture so I
have a third of them by then I’m
completely aware of how uncomfortable
and distressed for these situations for
everyone present so I the Seas back into
the car and asks her dad if he’s not
angry if he’s not angry for having been
forced to lose everything for leaving
his house for losing everything and
becoming a refugee in his own country so
what he says that it is not or he’s not
angry with the new occupants of the
house
he’s angry with both their governments
for putting regular people in these an
impossible situation
so the situation today in Cyprus the
problem with modern cypresses starts
back in colonial times when it becomes a
British colony all around the eighteen
hundreds up to nineteen sixty when it
becomes an independent republic by then
they are deeply rooted differences
between the two ethnic groups that are
populated the islands the Turkish
Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots in 1974
the island finally
is turned apart when the Greek
government decides to engineer coup
d’etat and the Turkish government
decides to retaliate by taking over the
northern part of the island the island
then is divided in north and south and
it has room remain divided ever since in
the North you have the Turkish Cypriots
and the government is not recognized in
the south you have the Greek Cypriots
and the government is an independent
republic is recognized internationally
and it became part of the European Union
in 2008 today the situation is stable
but there is a silly sense of division
even though the borders were completely
open by 2008 when they became part of
the European Union you have to present a
passport wing crossing from side to side
so what a long day border there’s an
area called the buffer zone this area
doesn’t belong to anyone is a neutral
area and is administered by the United
Nations up to today the buffer zone
crosses the capital of the country
called Nicosia and it is in this poor
person that I found a place called home
for cooperation so they are a community
group that brings young people together
from both communities when I first met
them there a group of really young
committed passionate peace advocates who
constantly are creating situations for
both communities to come together and
have some kind of coup intercultural
exchange and create some kind of trust
between each other from music sports
eyes food it wasn’t until after I met
home for cooperation that I realized and
I started drafting posing possible
landscapes at the time what I was doing
I was taking photos of the earth and the
sky all over the country and I was
placing them side by side in a way where
you couldn’t be able to tell which side
was which side no North no South I was
enjoying the fact that the viewer could
do their own sense of narrative or could
create their own sense of narrative by
combining these images but you wasn’t
quite working and I couldn’t put my
finger why was this until I figured out
that it was because all the images were
taken by the same person me and that on
top of it I’m a foreigner so this is
when I realized that I wanted to make a
community project and invite people to
make photographs oh nice
country well I was in Cyprus I
discovered that there was a big group of
Minister grandmas and you know I thought
this is a good way of reaching young
people all over the country without
having to have loads of funding and we
know Instagram is a really good way to
share images but it could be really
really fun now so it became almost like
a challenge for me I started wondering
if it could be used for something more
meaningful if it could be used for an
art communities project so then going
back to this idea or gear the land this
sky that we all share I decided that the
pictures would have to have a some sort
of horizon and if they would place
together side by side but they would do
they would conform this continues
uninterrupted horizon in which north
east south and west would become
completely indiscernible so back in
London
I contacted home for cooperation and I
said to them look I can make this
initiative possible I can open the
account make the first contacts make the
first flows I need your help in
spreading the word so we drafted
together this poster and they helped me
by printing it out and putting it out in
the cafe
they even distributed in their own
channels that they use for the community
activities so this was really exciting
then I contacted a journalist that I met
there when I was in Cyprus her name’s
Marissa Hecker’s and I asked if she
would be interested in becoming a guest
contributor you would mean a take over
for a week and she would make posts
directly from our account for about a
week with a horizon of Cyprus and with a
little story about how when where the
photo was taken
Melissa agreed she’s very kind and after
about a week I asked her if she had a
friend who would be interested in doing
the same and then I asked her frantic
she will have another friend and then
another friend and this is how the
little piece changed Ivan I created the
hashtag possible landscape because I
thought not everyone is going to be able
to want to commit for a week to post
daily photographs but it still maybe
they want to take part so they only to
do is to use a hashtag and the photos
would appear in the general feed of the
project the very very first milestone of
the
was when we were contacted by the
Spanish his Instagram name completely
independently and outside of our
immediate contact list these in a way
meant that we were kind of gaining some
kind of a life of its own the project
was creating a life of its own in a way
and this was also very exciting I asked
the fan after his takeover of a week if
he had friends of he that would be
interested and then I asked his friends
if they would have friends of theirs and
I remember thinking it will last a month
that would be amazing but now nine
months later and fifteen hundred images
afterwards were reaching both
communities I have to mention each
community participates in a very very
different way so I feel that for example
the Turkish Cypriot community they’re a
little bit more shy they’re little bit
more cautious and they’re just using the
hashtag so what I’m doing is I’m we’re
posting the photos in the main feed
hitting them the credit with a username
it is my hope that eventually they
become more directly involved with the
project but for now nevertheless it is
very important with knowledge that both
communities are kind of engaged and
contributing so now the plans the plans
are that I’m looking for funding I would
like to organize an exhibition that
tours around the country in different
community sentence I’m organising with
home for cooperation a big installation
event with blow up images of all the
images within given and the idea is that
when we place them together they would
be going in and out of the buffer zone
in Nicosia I also want to make a little
photo book and the earnings to be
donated for home for cooperation I’m
also looking for other organizations so
at last week we were confirmed that we
will be collaborating with an
organization in Bosnia their name is a
post-conflict Research Center they are
in Sarajevo
so we’re going to have possible
landscape searchable which is
extraordinary and I feel really really
fortunate about I will also contact
another organization in Northern Ireland
they bring together young people from
both the Protestant and Catholic
communities and their name is Karen ela
so the momentum for a project like this
can only happen I think for having many
people knowing about the project for
many people participating in it because
you can only convenient
for the cumulative effect of the joint
voice of all its participants I’m not
naive and I don’t think that possible
landscape is going to have a deep impact
in the process of deep peace yielding
his building being so complex so arduous
so difficult in so many ways but it’s
been demonstrated that if young people
are being given the space to meet each
other people who are in opposing sides
are giving the space meet each other
they realize that all those differences
are not adding as important
preconceptions misconceptions about each
other the image it is because they
realize how much more in common we have
as human beings but with the different
proton disappear they realize that they
can actually be respected I think they
would respect the differences in their
own community so in a way for me
possible landscapes is about visa space
in which I hope that Cypriots consider
country as a shared common space I don’t
hope that my friend Ana would ever
become best friends with one of the
daughters of the new occupant of what it
was her family home but I hope that if
given the space they would share with
each other the many wonderful things
they both have today in their lives in
this country that they both go home
because this country’s still in peace
and this conflict that is a fear that
somehow it would become less important
in image and you see for me as a
photographer words fail me
and I think that in places where words
have failed it’s paid for a different
kind of dialogue needs to be created
it’s facing which an almost similar
visual conversation can take place and
for me that’s what was working
scriptures so thank you
you
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: