Theodoulos Polyviou projects Cypriot history at JSF

Julia Stoschek Foundation, as part of its Double Feature series, is introducing the third chapter of Transmundane Economies (2022-ongoing) by Theodoulos Polyviou, a Berlin-based Cypriot artist. Polyviou's artistic practice is centered around the utilization of digital technologies, such as virtual reality and CGI, in an effort to study, reconstruct and fill in the gaps in Cypriot cultural history.

Polyviou collaborated with the architectural designer Loukis Menelaou in the production of A Palace in Exile, the central site-responsive video installation at this exhibition. This installation, which represents the culmination of Polyviou's long-time research, consists exclusively of computer-generated images, alternating between two places and two times: JSF in the present and Cyprus in the 1950s. At that time, Cyprus was in the throes of ethnic and nationalist tensions during its struggle for independence from British colonial rule.

In A Palace in Exile, Polyviou recounts the first architectural competition launched in Cyprus by the first President, Archbishop Makarios III, for the construction of a new Archbishop's Palace for the Church of Cyprus. Polyviou and Menelaou present their own virtual entry in this competition through this video, pitting real and speculative histories against each other in an intricate dialogue. They based their design on the drawings and teachings of the Cypriot mystic, Stylianos Atteshlis (known as Daskalos), whose esoteric practice represented a counterbalance to the Church of Cyprus.

Theodoulos Polyviou utilizes expanded and immersive media to contemplate on the role that queer bodies have within institutional spaces, cultural and political narratives and the digital world. His works have been featured in solo exhibitions at Bode Museum, Berlin; Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; and ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe. He represented Cyprus at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021.

Julia Stoschek Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the public presentation, preservation and advancement of time-based media. The Foundation is currently showing the exhibition Digital Diaries in conjunction with a solo exhibition for Lynn Hershman Leeson at their Düsseldorf location. Double Feature is a recurring series of solo presentations, with each artist’s work on view at the JSF spaces in Berlin and Düsseldorf simultaneously. More information about events at JSF and about Theodoulos Polyviou can be found at their respective sites.