Rinos Stefani and Sumer Erek Exhibition at the Limassol Municipal Arts Centre, 9-31 May 2025

The Limassol Municipal Arts Centre – Apothikes Papadaki presents the exhibition of the artists Rinos Stefani and Sumer Erek, from May 9 – 31, 2025. The exhibition will be opened by Mr Yiannis Armeftis, Mayor of Limassol, on Friday, 9th of May 2025, at 7:30 pm.

Sumer Erek presents a Retrospective of Portraits exploring the eroding of time and memory. Rinos Stefani in his paintings explores the theme of violence and democracy, with causticity and humour.

Dr Nadia Anaxagorou, Director of the Cultural Services, Municipality of Limassol states about Rinos Stefani’s work: “Drawing from the ancient Cypriot art, the abstract transcendence of Byzantine hagiography and the raw primitivism of Brut Art, Rinos Stefani articulates his own visual dialect. Through this personal idiom, he delves into Heraclitus’ philosophy, the unity and the conflict of the opposites, between nations, social classes, religious groups, tribes and genders, the alternation between war and peace, oppression and freedom, death and life, evil and good, darkness and light. Emblematic figures cropping up through his childhood memories, farmers, planters, stone-carrying men, as well as others, like dancers, lovers, acrobats and people in a stance of crucifixion or sporting surgical and gas masks, transcribe a Mediterranean impetuous temperament.

Sümer Erek’s work titled Chronos, It Eats Me is deeply personal and politically reflective. The exhibition marks a significant return for the artist, whose roots trace back to Limassol—the city of his birth and childhood.

The artist states: “This exhibition is a kind of homecoming. Returning here has allowed me to reflect on a life lived through time, and how time has shaped me—both as an artist and as a political being.”

Spanning over five decades, the exhibition brings together several series of portraits that chronicle a life inextricably entwined with political upheaval, memory, and enduring friendship. Each portrait, drawn from the artist’s personal archive, bears witness to moments of historical weight and personal intimacy—offering viewers a chance to reflect on how we see and remember one another.

 “For me, portraiture has always been an act of friendship, of connection,” the artist continues, “Some of these works were created in response to political events that shaped my own story, others come from quieter, more intimate acts of observation. Together, they trace not just faces, but the shifting terrain of history itself.” 

In a time marked by renewed political tension and the resurgence of nationalism, Chronos, It Eats Me speaks to the enduring power of memory and collective resistance.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Limassol Municipality, and it is supported by the Faculty of Fine and Applied Art of the Cyprus University of Technology and the Organization LΕΜΕΣΟΣ2030 European Capital of Culture Candidate City. Media Sponsor CyBC (RIK)

Information about the artists: www.rinosstefani.com and www.sumererek.xyz