GRAFFITI OF TOP ARTISTS IN PAPHOS HAS 'DISAPPEARED' - THE PHAEDON REACTION

 Filenews 13 January 2021 - by Nikoleta Kourousi

Street art is now an integral part of contemporary art and is undoubtedly regrettable when phenomena of non-recognition or destruction of works by contemporary recognised artists are detected.

In this case we refer to the fact of the "disappearance" of artistic creations, created in Paphos by great artists as part of the public art festival in 2017, when Paphos was European Capital of Culture. These are murals by the internationally renowned Italian artist and leading street artist Mallo and the important Swiss street artist MEATS.

The incident provoked both the reaction of Milo, who, through a post on his personal Facebook account, expressed regret, as well as a portion of citizens who expressed their displeasure on social media.

In contact with the mayor of Paphos, Phaedon Phaedon told us that the preservation of graffiti, created under "Paphos 2017", is conditional on the owners of the buildings, since no public spaces were selected at the time to accommodate the creations, nor were contracts signed with the private owners of the buildings, so that there is no legislation allowing the local authorities to prevent the individual owner from proceeding with alterations and renovations of his private property.

As he noted, contracts could be signed with individuals, which provide for the preservation and protection of artistic creations for a number of years, after granting them a sum of money, but, as he argued, most Cypriots would not accept to give up the right of conversions in their home, as "it is not in their culture".

He therefore argued that it would be preferable for artistic works to be created in public buildings, and added that the Municipality of Paphos would proceed with the selection of three points in the city centre, for the creation of new graffiti at the expense of the municipality.

Asked why the building in question had not been declared listed, Mr Phaedon said it was an old building in need of demolition.

The owners' commentary

It is worth noting that the owners of the building in a comment they made on social media said that the renovation of the building was considered absolutely necessary in order to avoid its irreversible destruction.

"In this renovation," they argued, "the exterior wall had to be restored from damage and moisture, in order to plaster and paint the building with the appropriate materials".

They add that "as mentioned above the relevant procedures were carried out primarily with the safety of the area and then the protection of our property, since it is private property".

They note however that they are admirers of art and in no way wanted the destruction of creations.

The rest of the projects

It is worth noting that in the past a few other works of public art festivals in 2017 have been destroyed due to the demolition of the buildings where they were created. It is the first time, however, that they have been destroyed due to the maintenance of the building.

In Paphos there are about ten more such projects on private buildings, the preservation of which is left to the discretion of the owners.