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ABOUT

The basic aim of the present exhibition is to materialise through a specific and innovative application the general concept of the promotion of cultural content via digital Information and Communication Technology (ICT) instruments that are available to the wider public.

The overall theme of the exhibition is the Cypriot kitchen both as a concept related to diet, vis-à-vis cuisine, and as the specific physical space of the countryside household within which several activities of the pre-industrial society of Cyprus took place. The combination of these two categories allowed the production of this exhibition, which attempts on the one hand to present an important fraction of the material culture of the agropastoralist society of the recent past, and on the other hand sheds light on everyday habits, practices and techniques related to the preparation and consumption of food, as they manifest in the space of the Cypriote maerkon (kitchen) or more generally the household.

For the materialization of this exhibition, the Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum utilised the extensive collection of artefacts of the Bee and Embroidery Museum at Kato Drys. The physical spaces, installations, and several objects of this Museum, such as vessels and tools were photographed, studied, described and their intrinsic data were subsequently enriched with other metadata and multimedia (texts, photos and audio-visual material) prior to their inclusion in the exhibition. The study, digitization and enrichment of these items allowed the development of a modern multi-lateral narrative through which the following subjects are presented by combination of all the available information:

  • The historical and socio-economic backdrop of the traditional folk culture, particularly of the rural populations residing in the countryside.

  • The manifestation of folk culture elements as modus vivendi in the daily life of humans.

  • The impact of folk art on various aspects of daily life.

  • The utilitarian character and the combination of functionalism and aesthetics in objects of folk art within the Cypriote household.

  • The inclusion of diet and food preparation as sources and forms of knowledge and technique in folk culture (within the overall frame of the intangible cultural heritage).

  • The differences and transformations of material culture over time and in comparison to the current lifestyle, as well as the diachronic presence and survival of certain elements of the material culture as manifested through the dietary habits in more recent times.

Exhibition credits

Supervision and project oversight: Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum.

Research-authorhship-translation of texts: Petroula Hadjittofi.

Photography-graphics processing-exhibition production: Charalambos Paraskeva.

Primary material: Bee and Embroidery Museum, Kato Drys (Iacovoc and Ellin Kornioti).

Complimentary material: Cyprus Handicraft Service | Charalambos Paraskeva | Michales Georgiades.

Project funding: Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum | Cultural Services, Ministry of Education and Culture Cyprus.

Aims, themes and methodology
Copyrights

All the information, texts, photographs and the content of this website are copyrighted by the Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum and are protected by the Intellectual Property Rights Laws of 1976 to 1993 (Ν. 59/1976). The duplication, publication, reproduction or any use of the abovementioned materials by anyone and by any means without the written permission from the Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum is strictly prohibited.

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