Le partage d’Orient

Sophie Makariou, an art historian, specialist in Islamic art, President of the Guimet Museum, will present in French her recently published book (by Stock Editions) "Le Partage d'Orient" on Friday November 5 at 7:30 pm at the A. G. Leventis Gallery (5 AG Leventis street, 1097 Nicosia).

In 1974, the easternmost of the Mediterranean islands was violently torn apart. Cyprus was invaded by Turkey and divided into two territories. The author's father, who was the eldest amongst the Makariou, never recovered from it. How to repair such a profound wound?

Sophie Makariou, an art historian, specialist in Islamic art and president of the Guimet Museum, has dedicated her life to her family's biggest enemy "Turkey", to the East and Islam. She uses memory to understand and knowledge to repair.

This narrative, sun-crushed and bloodstained, weaves and unweaves, through love and concern, a "terrific hitch" and a fragmented identity, just like Cyprus is. Through the intertwined scents and sounds of history, the author reflects on how beloved countries such as Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, are all at the heart of the century's most troubled part of the world, namely the East.

"What we do to images, we do it to people". "Destructive behaviors, such as tearing down statues were never harmless, neither yesteday, nor today". These topics, dear to the author, are all captured in her exhibition 'Des Images et des hommes, Bamiyan 20 ans après", at the Guimet Museum which will start on February 24.

Institut français de Chypre