By Heidi Trautmann

With the old yellow Cağlayan Restaurant as backdrop, tables were laid out for more than hundred guests in the garden of the new Green Kitchen Restaurant, friends and active members who had followed the invitation by the EMAA to come and celebrate a whole lovely summer evening in the old heart of Nicosia, to show solidarity for the arts and Cypriot culture and to be proud of what has been achieved over the years, in the meantime 13 years since the founding of the association.

It were hard but fruitful years and I pay my respects to the board members, some of which have given their entire time and passion to the cause. I have been with them for ten years now and I remember so many interesting events that they had organised, especially education and workshops in order to keep the local arts level with the developments abroad. It was a proud day when the building, the home of EMAA, was handed over to them in 2010, here the link with the opening ceremony.

http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=4614285536#.VZ9DQl-qpBc

There was a first similar Solidarity Fest in 2010 I remember and we all danced far into the summer night, it was an article I published in ZOOM Magazine and on my website, we were all younger then.

http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=5383457566#.VZ9uJF-qpBc

The music group was then Carpe Diem and this year it was Caravan Blue, but both times with the lovely guitarrist Nilay Dervish.

We greeted so many artist friends, exchanged news, after the Mayor of Nicosia Mehmet Harmancı and Osman Keten EMAA’s current President had opened the evening.

While we were being served fresh home made mezes - which has become the exemption to the rule nowadays – I was told the history of the once active Cağlayan District, also the history of the old restaurant, the hollow yellow shell we can see in the background; my friend Gönen told me that she got married here over 50 years ago, and also my friend Ismet opened her memories to us, that in the summer time they were walking along the wall in the close-by park, the road along the park was lined with restaurants and shops, stands to sell all kind of things, it was what today Dereboyu is, the road for the young people to meet and enjoy life and for the old to come and watch them.

Times are changing but memories don’t. It is important for all of us to meet once in a while on a social basis to enjoy the company of each other with the arts as a sort of  connecting agent.

May the future ensure for us the same security of friendship with the same goal in mind.