Wanassa, Kypris, Aphrodite! The Great Goddess of Cyprus

Oct 16, 2015
1 min read

Documentary screening/Artist talk at The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG

One thousand six hundred years ago, the famous sanctuary of Aphrodite in Palaepaphos was silenced, but the overtones of her worship continued to resonate through time. To mark the Cyprus National Day, the Cultural Section of Cyprus High Commission presents the documentary Wanassa, Kypris, Aphrodite! The Great Goddess of Cyprus and Motherless Beautiful, artwork by visual artist George Petrou. The Great Goddess reveals herself on screen for the first time in a documentary based on the research of Dr. Jacqueline Karageorghis and directed by Stavros Papageorghiou. Archaeological sites related to the cult of Aphrodite in Cyprus, ancient artifacts from museums around the world and interviews with internationally acclaimed academics compose the mosaic of the Great Goddess of Cyprus and attest to her Cypriot origin. Alongside the documentary screening George Petrou will present recent video and photographic work departing from the myth of the birth of Aphrodite and its impact on notions regarding beauty, desire and love across time, space and civilizations.

Organised in collaboration with the Department of Greece and Rome of the British Museum under the auspices of the Minister of Education and Culture of Cyprus, Dr. Costas Kadis.

Photographs by Anastasios Anastasi