Peace Lab aimed, by defying the separation, at ‘constructing’ peacemaking activities and by creating new imaginaries for Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities. A series of artistic and creative activities that aimed to connect the two communities took place. One of the Peace Lab’s project activities was the making and flying of kites with groups of people from the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities.
The kites was a result of a series of workshops led by Japanese kite-making experts from Shirone, Niigata, namely Tomomi Homma and Michiyoshi Yamamiya. They have shared with us, a 200-year tradition from their hometown, which originated as a solution to a quarrel between two communities separated by Nakanokuch river in Shirone. The kite-making workshops were held in Nicosia, in the cultural centre Myloi and were part of the annual neighborhood festival Pame Kaimakli that took place in July 2022. The kite flying took place along the UN borders that divide the neighborhood of Kaimakli, Nicosia and on the North side in the walled city of Famagusta, one of the most disputed sites in the division of Cyprus.
The event was funded by the Japan World Exposition 1970 Commemorative Fund. It was supported by the Embassy of Japan in Cyprus, του Δήμος Λευκωσίας, Visit Nicosia and the UNFICYP – United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.
