A new book by Constantinos Emmanuelle – ‘Tales of Cyprus’ (Volume Two) – will be launched on Sunday 10 November..
Constantinos is a Melbourne-born Cypriot Australian artist and author who has been exploring and investigating his cultural heritage for over 30 years through the disciplines of illustration, photography, painting, writing and ethnographic research.
His most ambitious creative journey is a cultural arts project he calls ‘Tales of Cyprus’ which began in 2012. In this multi-disciplinary project, Constantinos is on a personal crusade to document the living memories of his parent’s generation and to explore their culture and traditional way of life as it existed before the 1950s. The project also documents stories of migration and new beginnings.
Constantinos’ first major exhibition for Tales of Cyprus took place at the Chapel off Chapel gallery in Prahran (Melbourne) in 2014. The exhibition included original drawings, paintings and reproductions of rare old family photos, together with associated stories.
In 2018, Constantinos wrote, designed and self-published his first book for Tales of Cyprus titled ‘A Tribute to a Bygone Era’ (Volume One). The book contains the living memories and life stories of over forty elderly Cypriots who were born in the 1920s and 1930s. Four years later, in 2022, he released a second book which was dedicated to an extraordinary and relatively unknown migrant journey that took place in late 1951 from Cyprus to Australia on a dilapidated old ship called The Corsica.
The Corsica brought the largest single contingent of Cypriot migrants to Australia in one fateful and horrendous journey. The harrowing stories by some of the passengers – including my father-in-law Louis Kyriacou – were recorded and documented in this book. Louis went on to become a significant trade union leader in Victoria and Australia.
In July 2019, Constantinos received an award from the President of Cyprus for his community work and his ongoing cultural heritage project and ethnographic fieldwork.
Next weekend Constantinos will launch his third book and the second volume in his ‘Tribute to a Bygone Era’ series.
“This book is actually the second volume in my tribute to a bygone era series,” he tells Neos Kosmos. “As with all my books, this volume contains the living memories of over forty elderly Cypriots who were born during the 1920s and 1930s. Their life stories reflect a Cypriot world and a way of life that has all but disappeared.”
When asked to describe his work ethic and creative process, Constantinos states that each book takes approximately two years to put together. “This is a labour of love for me,” he explains. “It requires patience, resilience, and many hours of hard work”.
Great tenacity and the determination to survive feature large in most stories in Constantinos’ books. There are stories of young Cypriot soldiers who escaped from Prisoner of War camps during World War Two and stories about the brave young souls who emigrated to foreign lands in search of work and security, not knowing if they would ever see their loved ones, or island again. There are stories of arranged marriages and mail order brides or those who married childhood sweethearts.
There are also examples of entrepreneurship amongst Cypriots. Such as the village tailor who established a fashion empire offering employment to many other migrants, or the young film lover who brought Greek cinema to the Australian outback to help ease the loneliness and homesickness of the migrant workers there.
Constantinos Emmanuelle with his new book. Photo: Supplied
According to Constantinos, his Tales of Cyprus books are about ordinary people living in extraordinary times doing amazing things. He is especially proud to have included the life stories of individuals who came from poverty to become distinguished and significant leaders in their communities.
One of these was my father – Nicholas Pagonis – who was born in 1923 in the village of Aradippou, near Lanaca. He arrived in Melbourne as a youngster in 1936 and went on to leadership roles in the trade union movement and left-wing politics. In retirement, Nicholas wrote an unpublished memoir which Constantinos has drawn on for one of the chapters in this new book.
As with his previous two books, Constantinos new book contains many wonderful and rare family photographs, all captioned to identify the people and places that are featured within as well as the milestones they represent such as a village festival, a traditional wedding, a voyage to a new land or the purchase of a first home. These original vintage photographs give the viewer an authentic and personal glimpse into the history and heritage of Cyprus and its people.
If you would like to attend the book launch on Sunday afternoon, November 10th, it will commence at 3pm at the St John’s College Auditorium in Preston. Please send an RSVP email to: rsvp@talesofcyprus.com stating how many people will be coming with you.
If you are unable to attend the book launch but would like to order a copy of the book, please note that the author’s online store will be open for sales after November 10th. You will find details for online sales on this website: www.talesofcyprus.com
For latest updates, go to the ‘Tales of Cyprus’ Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/talesofcyprus
