Rosa Barba

Inside the Outset: Evoking a Space of Passage is a project by artist and filmmaker Rosa Barba following an invitation by Point Centre for Contemporary Art in Nicosia and curator Mirjam Varadinis to propose and realize a project in Cyprus.

The work proposed by the artist in 2013, started in 2014 and consists of two parts: a film and a long-term open-air cinema installation. The project was then presented to the Italian Council and received the first prize at the international competition (Third Edition) in 2018, and was awarded a grant from DGAAP (Directorate General for Contemporary Art and Architecture and Urban Peripheries), Italy.

For the construction, the artist focused on incorporating the theatre in Deryneia’s natural environment, avoiding materials alien to the landscape. In exchange with local architects, and under the supervision by the architect Maya Shopova, Barba worked exclusively with earth materials on site. Only the screen supporting structure and the drainage system had to be imported to the overall construction. The metal structure of the screen is the only visible part above ground, while the seats are integrated in the natural terrain. This extraordinary architectural technique allows the theatre to endure within the environment for the next ten years without any further necessary restoration—deteriorating gradually, as a subject to the area’s weather conditions. 

Barba envisions the location of this open-air installation to function as a meeting point for the members of all communities on the island. Her intention is to highlight the capacity of the art to create spaces of interaction and coexistence. The inaugural screening took place at Deryneia in September 2021. Upon completion of Barba’s project, the open-air site will subsequently be made available to Deryneia Municipality and to all film and video practitioners of the island and beyond to initiate a multifaceted dialogue or simply a meeting point.