CeMAR’s Inauguration Ceremony Marked a Great Success

The Inauguration Ceremony of the Centre for Medieval Arts and Rituals (CeMAR) of the University of Cyprus (UCY) was marked with great success.

The ceremony, which took place at the Ceremonial Hall of UCY took place on October 19, 2024. The well-attended event was joined by members of CeMAR’s partners and international networks, dignitaries and faculty members of UCY and local universities, students, and the general public.

The event was saluted first by the Rector of UCY, Prof. Tasos Christophides, who highlighted the excellent work carried out at CeMAR, as well as the important contribution of the Centre to UCY and the Cypriot society in general.

Fig. 1: Prof. Tasos Christofides

Prof. Marilena Karyolemou, Chair of the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at UCY, in her own welcome speech emphasised the immense success of CeMAR in securing competitive funding, establishing fruitful collaborations and advancing research. The two speakers drew special attention to the fact that in just three years of activity, CeMAR has been awarded large-scale EU, international, and national projects, while making mention to the Centre’s diamond open-access international peer-reviewed journal Eventum: A Journal of Medieval Arts and Rituals (https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/eventum), an initiative of CeMAR’s director, Prof. Stavroula Constantinou. Both speakers acknowledged CeMAR’s role as an international centre in Research and Innovation, offering a unique training to young researchers. They also congratulated the Director and the members of CeMAR for their important work and efforts.

Fig. 2: Prof. Marilena Karyolemou

Following the welcome speeches, the Director of CeMAR gave an overview of the centre’s scientific strategy, objectives, research clusters, international collaborations, journal, projects, and educational programmes. She also presented CeMAR’s importance for the local and European societies and its contribution to economic advancement and competitiveness. CeMAR’s vision, as she mentioned, is aligned to the EU cultural strategy for the 21^st century.

Fig. 3: Prof. Stavroula Constantinou

The Inauguration Ceremony included also medieval music from Cyprus. The well-known Greek early music ensemble Ex Silentio (www.exsilentio.org) performed a selection of religious and secular music of the Lusignan court from the rare and precious Codex of Cyprus (Ms Torino J.II.9) kept in the National University Library of Turin (Italy). As Dr Dimitris Kountouras, founder of the ensemble and renowned flutist, explained in his presentation of the codex, the codex is a luxurious manuscript and the work of a Frenchman who stayed at the Lusignan court between 1413 and 1430.

Fig. 4: Dr Dimitris Kountouras

Fig. 5: Ex Silentio Ensemble

The Ceremony concluded with a Reception that offered the opportunity to all guests to discuss and meet the members of CeMAR and their collaborators.

CeMAR conducts important interdisciplinary research highlighting the need for a holistic examination of all medieval arts and their interaction with rituals. The activities of CeMAR are addressed to both researchers and the general public and aim at the study and promotion of the medieval world and of the European medieval heritage. Despite its recent establishment, CeMAR has managed to secure seven major competitive research projects and to collaborate with more than ten universities and various non-academic institutions.

For more information about CeMAR, you can visit the Centre’s dedicated Website (www.ucy.ac.cy/cemar/).