Long Distance Call

Green Line, Nicosia, Cyprus 24 Oktober 2005

On October 24th, in celebration of the 60th year of the UN, musicians from both the Greek and the Turkish parts of Cyprus collaborated in an immense on-location performance in the city of Nicosia.
The musicians stood on rooftops, balconies and in the streets on both sides of the Green Line. The sound was free to move over and across the buffer zone and formed a musical bridge between the Northern and Southern sides of the city.

The project originated from a fascination held by Merlijn Twaalfhoven for the capital city of Cyprus. The Green Line runs through the city as a divider: a piece of no-man�s-land (under protection of the UN) between the Northern part which is occupied by Turkey and the Greek Cypriot South. In spite of the country�s violent past, the current situation is one that is under control and at peace. The division of the island is not only a local phenomenon, but can also be seen as a symbol for universal situations pertaining to human interaction.

The aim of the project was to narrow the gap symbolised by the Green Line between both parts of the country physically as well as symbolically by placing an emphasis on the similarities of both communities.

In the physical sense, the music reached the opposite side of the Green Line and formed a single musical composition with the music played on the other side. Even though both sides could not be perfectly heard at all times because the music was not amplified, an echo and a musical wave reaching over the Green Line could clearly be discerned.

In the symbolic sense, the project was a very meaningful one to both the participants and the audience. During the workshops, all of the participants spent time working together with participants from the opposite side, using their own cultural background as a point of departure. Asking both communities to work with the same material, but letting them sing in their own language allowed the similarities between both communities to be clearly be felt, even though these similarities may not have been clearly present at the foreground.

In April 2006, another project took place with divided Cyprus as a point of departure. 25 singers from both Northern and Southern Cyprus joined with 175 singers from Utrecht in a new spatial composition, performed in the Dom church. See: Echoes across the Divide

The Australian film maker Adam S�bire has made a documentary based on Long Distance Call about the origin of this musical composition on both sides of the buffer zone.

To watch this documentary go to: 
http://www.vredevanutrecht.nl/
content/home/
VVU-LongDistanceCall_web.WMV

For more information, go to
Adam S�bire's website:
http://www.sbsyo.org.au/members
/adamsebire/index.html