Theodoulos Polyviou (Nicosia, Cyprus, 1989) lives and works in Berlin. In 2014 he graduated in Visual Communication from the Royal College of Art, London. He co-founded the project space Koraï, Cyprus, which he directed for several years and co-curated Mediterranea 19 Young Artists Biennale in 2020. School of Waters, San Marino. He has presented his work in solo exhibitions, including those at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin and ZKM: Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe; he has participated in numerous group exhibitions including the Cyprus Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021. He was recently artist-in-residence at KORA - Contemporary Arts Centre in Castrignano de' Greci, where he developed a project in collaboration with Alfatih. In November 2023, his solo exhibition Trasmundane Economies; Zypern Iconostasis is scheduled to take place at the Bode Museum in Berlin. For Una Boccata d'Arte 2023, Polyviou collaborates with Loukis Menelaou (Cyprus, 1997), an architectural designer living in London where he is in his final year of Architectural Studies at the Barlett School of Architecture, UCL.
Toscolano is a small medieval village of only 66 inhabitants, packed with history and charm. It has a splendid circular shape and it is surrounded by fortified walls dating back to 1200 with viewpoints and terraces overlooking a panorama that allows the eye to see as far as the peaks of the Sibillini Mountains. The Middle Ages echo in every step, from the small squares to the alleys, which have remained almost completely intact through the centuries. On the only access road, the visitor is greeted by the tiny Chapel of the Santissima Annunziata (Most Holy Annunciation) with important frescoes and a mysterious octagonal cross of knightly origin. Inside the walls is the Church of Sant'Apollinare with important paintings as well as a 19th-century organ and relics dating back to the Knights Templar. Toscolano was the birthplace of Fra Faostino, an illustrious diplomat and traveller who maintained relations between the Papacy and the Sultanate of Constantinople in the 17th century, and to whom we owe the valuable account ‘Itinerario di Terra Santa’ (Itinerary of the Holy Land). The area is now home to the Centro Europeo di Toscolano, a music school founded by Mogol, the famous lyricist.
A stop on the ‘Cammino dei Borghi Silenti’ (Way of the Silent Villages) and recognised as the ‘Borgo Medievale del Viaggiator Cortese’ (Medieval Village of the Courteous Traveller), this location is an architectural treasure trove and it is part of that somewhat hidden Umbria, capable of giving visitors the pleasure of discovery.