Visual Artist

Maria Papacharalambous

1995 – The  artist with Achilleas Kentonis  felt that the European Cultural Month did not give the expected two-way benefits: the ‘importation’ of culture from abroad left no room for cultural exchanges. They took it upon themselves to bridge that cultural gap. Inspiration came unexpectedly from the restoration works on their home that took a new and decisive turn: the discovery of four Hellenistic tombs. With the aim of promoting Cypriot culture - since it has always been the two belief of the two artists that the heritage of a people belongs to the whole of humanity - while at the same time wishing to share their own personal existential agony of living in the last divided capital of Europe, they organized the international cultural event «Message in a bottle». 200 artists from 42 countries from all continents sent their own symbolic messages which were placed in the tombs like contemporary offerings. Within the framework of this happening, with the use of the state of the art technology of the time, the first net art, mail art and fax art were created in Cyprus