A Turkish Cypriot Worker 1881

Costas & Rita Severis Foundation Since 1999, the Costas & Rita Severis Foundation has organised cultural and educational events while promoting research and scholarship in Cyprus. In 2013, the Foundation began implementing the Sharing History, Art, Research & Education (SHARE) initiative, a partnership programme of the Costas & Rita Severis Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Turkish Cypriot University Women’s Association, and the NGO Support Center. The goal of SHARE is to provide a common platform for the exploration of the island’s cultural heritage by means of visual and creative arts, through which to increase the potential for peaceful coexistence in Cyprus. In 2014, the Foundation opened the Centre of Visual Arts & Research (CVAR) on Ermou Street, in the heart of the walled city of Nicosia. CVAR hosts the Costas & Rita Severis collections, which comprise more than 1,500 works of art by artists travelling to Cyprus during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, hundreds of Cypriot memorabilia, dozens of Cypriot costumes from the 18th to the 20th centuries, and more than 10.000 books on the history, art and culture of Cyprus and its neighbours.