Χαμπής: Η χαρακτική υφή της μνημονικής εμπειρίας - KENTΡΟ ΧΑΡΑΚΤΙΚΗΣ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ

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Hambis - The engraved texture of lived memory

ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER – PANDOLFINI & SIATERLI C.N.P.P. presents the tribute exhibition to the Cypriot printmaker Hambis titled The engraved texture of lived memory, at ETCH INK art space from November 8 until December 7, 2024. The exhibition revolves around memory and time as reflected in the work of the renowned artist, through theme sections of engravings and silkscreens, courtesy of the artist to the Historical Archive of the Athens Printmaking Art Center.

Hambis’ acquaintance and apprenticeship with Greek printmaker Tassos Alevizos were pivotal in shaping the former’s path as a printmaker and as a person. In honour of his mentor, he founded a workshop in Cyprus, offering free printmaking lessons. His multifaceted practice transcends solely artistic interests, taking on broader social dimensions. Gradually, a community of people, driven by curiosity and a shared love for the particular art form, was built within and around the workshop. In 2008, Hambis established Cyprus’ first Printmaking Museum in the village of Platanisteia, Limassol. To this day, alongside his individual practice, he continues, through lessons and cultural events, to initiate others into the craft of engraving and printing.

Hambis’ exhibition in Athens pays tribute not only to his work but also to his long-standing friendship and creative collaboration with the Athens Printmaking Art Center and its founders, Pino Pandolfini and Dimitra Siaterli, from 1990 until today. The works on display, sourced from the Historical Archive of the Center, showcase his dual role as both printmaker and illustrator. More specifically, the exhibition features a series of seven linocuts that depict and bear witness to the Cypriot crisis of 1974, using testimonial elements as a cry of protest against the turbulent events of the military coup and the Turkish invasion. Alongside that is a collection of linocuts, inspired by the cultural heritage and folk traditions of Cyprus. These engraved “embroideries” unfold in the form of visual poems, documents and records, hand-printed pieces of evidence of a world in decline. The artist’s illustrations are presented in dialogue with his printmaking work. These include complete sections of silkscreens from books and fairytales, such as Spanos and the Forty Dragons, The triplets and the dragon of the apple tree, The Prince of Venice, Kalikangiari (The goblins), Erotics at Petra tou Romiou.

Art historian and museologist Vassia Magoula notes: Hambis’ oeuvre blends his own lived experience with the cultural heritage and recent history of Cyprus. […] Deeply connected to folk tradition and the cultural heritage of his homeland, Hambis has aligned his artistic voice with lived experience and memory, the trauma of displacement, and protest against brutality. It is at that intersection of personal and collective memory where the artist’s images stem from.

Hambis’ printmaking gestures go even further, mapping spaces of healing and recovery from trauma through the elevation, preservation, and reevaluation of the cultural contexts that have shaped him as both a person and a creator. His body of work echoes as a hymn to the enchanting qualities of Cypriot folk myths and poetry, to innocence, and love. At times, his work unfolds as a visual poem or fairy tale, weaving together elements of folklore, oral history, personal experience, fiction, and play. Every detail, motif, or visual depiction in his work is forged from mnemonic fragments that carry the past into the present and function as depositories of memory for the future.

Guided tour

On the occasion of the tribute exhibition visitors are invited to a guided tour held by the artists on Saturday 23rd November at 12:00pm at ETCH INK art space

Language: Greek

Artist Bio

Hambis (Tsangaris) was born in Κontea, Famagusta District of Cyprus in 1947. He engaged in the arts at an early age and he organised his first solo exhibition in 1968, in Famagusta. In 1971, upon an invitation by the renowned Greek printmaker Tassos Alevizos, he moved to Athens where took his first printmaking lessons in his workshop. From 1976 until 1982 he studied graphic arts at the Moscow Surikov State Academic Institute of Fine Arts. After his graduation in 1982, Hambis Tsangaris returned to Cyprus where he lives and works to this day. He has presented solo exhibitions in Cyprus, Moscow, Titograd, Athens, Kozani, Ljubljana, London, Nancy, Edinburgh, Mexico City and New York. He has participated in group exhibitions in Cyprus, Greece, United States, China, Australia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, France, etc. His work has been exhibited in the 9th Alexandria Biennale (1972), the Commonwealth Exhibition in Australia (1982), the 15th and 16th Biennale of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana (1983 and 1985), the Mediterranean Artists Exhibition in Marseille (1985) etc. His works are part of public, private and museum collections in Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, England, Switzerland, Australia. Hambis’ illustrated book “The triplets and the dragon of the apple tree” was selected by the International Youth Library in Munich as one of the 200 notable new children’s and young adult books in the world, awarded with The White Ravens. In 2008 he founded the Hambis Printmaking Museum in Plataniskia, Limassol, with a broad collection of prints from various countries, spanning from the 16th century to this date. In 2019, the Hambis Municipal Museum of Printmaking in Nicosia was inaugurated. In 2023, he was awarded the European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award.

Exhibition text: Vassia Magoula, Art historian – Museologist

English translation: Myrto Vratsanou

The exhibition is organised under the auspices and the financial support of the Ministry of
Culture, with the nominal support of the House of Cyprus | Center for Culture of the Embassy of
the Republic of Cyprus in Greece.