The CVAR organises and presents the conference Cyprus Through the Lens of Camille Enlart, on Saturday 24 February 2024, 10:00-17:00. During the conference the book Cyprus Through the Lens of Camille Enlart with 550 of Enlart’s photographs (1896-1911) will be launched. The conference aims to shed light on the different facades of the greatness of Enlart’s work in Cyprus and the archive which he left as a legacy.
PROGRAMME
10:00-10:40 | Thomas Kaffenberger: Following his curiosity: Camille Enlart and the monuments of rural Cyprus
10:40-11:20 | Ceyda Alçıcıoğlu: Traces of Interfaith Dialogue in Architecture: Islamist Adaptations of Gothic Churches to Islam in Cyprus
11:20-11:40 Coffee Break
11:40-12:20 | Iosif Hadjikyriakos: Cypriots through the lens of Enlart
12:20-13:00 | Andreas Foulias: A sad story behind a beautiful monument. The case of the Panagia Avgasida monastery
13:00-14:30 Lunch Break
14:30-15:10 | Tassos Papacostas: Camille Enlart and Saint Mamas at Morphou
15:10-15:50 | Mia Gaia Trentin: Under the watchful eye of Enlart: Spotting and recording masons' marks and graffiti
15:50-16:30 | Yiannis Violaris: Traditional professions and occupations from the photographic archive of Camille Enlart
16:30-17:00 End remarks
The conference will be in English.
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Camille Enlart biography
Camille Enlart (22 November 1862 – 14 February 1927), was a French archaeologist and art historian who focused on the Middle Ages, Gothic architecture and photography.
In 1896 he visited Cyprus under the auspices of the French state, where he mentions that he had the pleasure of finding "pure" Gothic architecture, which had not been interfered with by conservation efforts, as had happened in France. The character of the Medieval and Crusader-era buildings he encountered in Cyprus, was not altered. Although other archaeologists of the same era had done considerable research in this field, Enlart’s contribution is deemed pioneering as he was the first to work systematically on the buildings of Selimiye Mosque in Nicosia and the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque in Famagusta in terms of documentation in his research. The result of the latter is the most important work on Gothic architecture in Cyprus: L'Architecture Gothique et de la Renaissance en Chypre, 1899.
CVAR acquired the Camille Enlart archive [1] in 2016 which was assembled during Enlart’s missions to Cyprus (1896-1911). It is perhaps the most important archive on Medieval Cyprus, portraying the monuments, topography and scenes of everyday life on the island from 1896-1911. The archive unfolds a panorama of Medieval Cyprus, with illustrations of monuments, many of which were destroyed during the twentieth century. Furthermore, there are scenes of everyday life in the cities and villages of Cyprus, the bazaar of Nicosia, the fair of St Barnabas in Famagusta, the thyme sellers etc.
[1] The archive was bought at auction in France in 2016. The acquisition had been made possible with the generous support of friends from abroad and locally: The grandson of the great man, Mr Christian Enlart, believed that this archive should return to Cyprus and to the Centre of Visual Arts and Research, Ms Ayla Gürel, Dr Marios Sarris, and others who wish to remain anonymous. The Centre of Visual Arts and Research is proud to have such supporters and is very grateful to them.
The conference is made possible with the support of the Active Citizens Fund.
