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Topic: Cyprus Mail: Organisers launch legal action against Manifesta curators

Does it make sense to post this? Is there anyone among the greek cypriot people in this forum interested in this event that takes place in Nicosia?
The only voices orf protest I've read here came from abroad.


Cyprus Mail
june 24 2006

Organisers launch legal action against Manifesta curators
By Elias Hazou

NICOSIA FOR Art, the non-profit organisation in charge of organising Manifesta6, a major art event that collapsed in a flurry of accusations and acrimony last month, has launched legal action against the curators.

The NFA, which is run by the Nicosia municipality, pulled the plug on Manifesta earlier this month, on the grounds that the curators and the Amsterdam-based International Foundation Manifesta (IFM) breached their contract by insisting the event be held on both sides of the divide.

The curators believe political pressure from above led to the scrapping of Manifesta 6. But the NFA has denied the accusations, insisting any fault for this turn of events lies squarely on the shoulders of the IFM.

The organisation said that, because of obligatory passport checks by authorities in the north, it was not possible for it, as the host of the event, to guarantee free access to participants as well as to the public at large.

“Even the establishment and operation of infrastructure on territory that is under occupation created insurmountable, real and fundamental problems,† the NFA argued in a statement released earlier this month.

Yesterday lawyers for the NFA filed a suit in a Nicosia court, asking that the curators be prohibited from staging Manifesta anywhere on the island. The municipality also wants anywhere from 50,000 to 250,000 euros in damages for breach of contract.

However, due to the fact the case files submitted to court were in Greek only, the judge yesterday agreed to a motion by the defence to postpone the first hearing to July 7.
Cyprus law states that the legal documents must be in a language understood by all litigants.
The NFA’s move took the curators completely by storm.

Florian Waldvogel, who is currently abroad, told the Mail yesterday that he only received the summons on Wednesday.

“This is a world first – a curator being sued because a project has been terminated,† he said.
“Everyone in the art world is shocked.â€

Though Waldwogel did not wish to speculate on why the NFA had chosen this course of action, he did say he had offered to settle the matter amicably but that the NFA never got back to him.

“After the project was terminated, I sent a letter to the NFA saying I was perfectly willing to drop the matter and even to sign a letter saying my colleagues and I would not stage the project at any location. We never heard from them [the NFA).â€

Waldwogel said he and his colleagues were owed wages by the NFA, but were ready to discuss a compromise.

Yiannis Toumazis, the NFA’s general coordinator of Manifesta, was unavailable for comment.
Manifesta 6, one of the most important European art biennales, was to take place in Nicosia from September 23 to December 17.

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Re: Cyprus Mail: Organisers launch legal action against Manifesta curators

Of course they are all interested, but most are not going to do more then just read this forum. We are like sheep - we follow where ever our governments leads us even if it is completely against our self interests.