Public may not enter the abandoned night club, but a true treasure is stranded in the dark: 13 cement murals, the work of the acclaimed artist Christoforos Savvas, that were perfectly preserved on the walls of the Perroquet night club.
The abstract figures dancing to and playing music on the walls of the Perroquet nightclub in the Esperia Tower hotel have lain dormant since the city was abandoned during the Turkish invasion in 1974.
Savva is arguably one of the most important Cypriot artists, who helped transform the creative culture on the island, and his works in Varosha have an added historical value: capturing the spirit of the town as it was in the 1960s.
Art historians credit Savva as one of the most influential artists of the time who brought the country’s inward-looking, traditionalist art world into modernity in the years immediately after Cyprus gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960. A painter and sculptor, Savva shifted away from the established, representational art styles by encompassing influences like cubism, which he picked up during his stays in London and Paris through the 1950s, into his voluminous artwork. He died in 1968.
“Savva was an innovator who always sought to break new ground and challenge the conservative times in which he lived,” said Andre Zivanari, director of the Point Center for Contemporary Art.
Savva’s work reflected the joie de vivre of Varosha, which at the time was Cyprus’ most progressive, popular tourist resort — a favorite with visitors from Europe and beyond. The world-famous resort town hosted celebrities such as Raquel Welch, Elizabeth Taylor and even four Swedes – who later formed Abba – played their first concert in Perroquet nightclub in the Esperia Tower. The rapid modernisation and the tourist attention on Varosha brought with it the music and trends of the time, which Savvas’ naked dancing figures adorning the walls of the nightclub alluded to – but shocked others almost 60 years ago as they eyed the artwork for the first time on the walls.
“I understand that he made those works on the wall of the [nightclub] for a sandwich a day or something similar, he was so poor – so we have to save them and there is a way to save them,” said Androulla Vassiliou, co-president of the Bicommunal Technical Committee on Culture.
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