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In public museums the damage that has been done over the years by nationalist ideoligies van be viewed. They reveal both the blind spots and the gynnastics that are used in attempt to cover them up. Museums and school textbooks complement each other in the construction of retrospective mythologies on both sides of the border. They compete for the posession of historical truth by equating nation (ethnic group) with state. The rows of glorified heros and victims follow the logic of propaganda, which blacks out everything that might change the narrative. On invitation by Catherine David, Peter Friedl was asked to prepare a project for Witte de With in Rotterdam. The exhibition Out of the Shadows deals with the complex situation of Cyprus. In this article, Friedl describes some facets of the partitioned island, with the southern Republic of Cyprus now being member of EU. ‘Partnership for the Future’ is the slogan. Opposite the Omeriye Mosque, in the Greek Cypriot PART of the old town of Nicosia (Lefkosia) the restoration of the Ottoman baths has just been completed. Another key part of the bi-communal master plan is the revitalization of the Phaneromeni areas. At the point where, for thirty years, Ledra Street has ended abruptly at one of the numerous military posts along the line of demarcation, and where it is prohibited to take photographs, new shops, coffee bars and restaurants will now be moving in. This gentrification programme (‘general urban upgrading’) secures the historical infrastructure and represents an investment in a future that one day will – and must – come. Perhaps this will be when there is a clear prospect of Turkey joining the EU.On the other side, the Turkish side (Lefkoşa) of the ‘last divided city in Europe’, the restoration of the Samanbahce area was recently completed, an interesting architectural example of community-specific supported housing. Right next to this there was still room for a brand new children’s’ playground with plastic ready-mades. The initiative for the ‘rehabilitation of old Nicosia’ comes from the EU, and is being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by the United Nations Office for Project Service (UNOPS). It was developed in the 1980s together with Greek and Turkish Cypriot partners as a contribution to a peace-building process. A brief and business-like information folder reads: Who is the programme for?‘All citizens of Nicosia.The UN weapons inspectors for Iraq had their base on Cyprus. The British navy and air force military base at Akrotiri served as a logistics centre for the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ in their war of conquest against Iraq. Whatever the future of the island may bring, the British government has never let it be doubted that the Sovereign Base Areas (about 158 square kilometres) conceded to Britain in the contract of independence of 1960 will remain exclusively British. The summit of Mount Olympus, the highest peak in the Troodos Massif, with its Royal Air Force radar station will thus also remain a no-go area.In the referendum on the Annan Plan that was designed to overcome the division of Cyprus before its accession to the EU, 65 per cent of Turkish Cypriots voted yes, whilst 76 per cent of Greek Cypriots voted no. Since affluent southern Cyprus joined the EU on its own (with the highest gross domestic product of all ten new members), the world has seemed to want to wake northern Cyprus from its sleepy state of recent decades, which was caused by the embargo and the lack of recognition as a sovereign state. The new situation leads to quite a number of unusual questions. In terms of international law northern Cyprus remains a part of the country occupied by Turkish troops. Between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey there are no diplomatic relations, and formally the two countries are still in the state of war of 1974. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus proclaimed by ‘President’ Rauf Denktaş in 1983 was recognized by no nation other then Turkey. Since 1 May 2004 the ceasefire line watched over by UN peace corps has become an external border of the EU.For the yes in the north, which was also directed against own political elites (quite unlike the large majority no in the south), there is first of all a reward of 259 million euros in economic aid, and the European Commission has also decided to open up ports and airports for export. The US State Department followed suit and announced that northern Cyprus would receive 30.5 million dollars to overcome economic isolation. A relaxing of restrictions in internal Cypriot border traffic had already begun on 22 April 2003 with the unilateral opening of the border, when Rauf Denktaş, the eternal proponent of a two-state solution, unexpectedly and surprisingly decided that Greek Cypriots would be able to visit the north and Turkish Cypriots the south. Up to that point the line of demarcation had been nearly impermeable. This had made it easy for the economic miracle generation in the south to continue to adhere to their social amnesia with regard to their fellow citizens in the north, who had become invisible long ago. A joint accession to the EU would have meant that Turkish Cypriots would have seen their long isolation replaced by the citizenship of an EU member state.Over the past generation, in the no man’s land of the ‘Green Line’ (or ‘Attila Line’), an attempt has been made to make time stand still. Strictly controlled by all parties, everything there should stay exactly as it was when the ceasefire came into being thirty years ago. Nothing can be changed. Photography is prohibited at all times. This scenario from a black fairy tale is both absurd and effective. It is so dead that it can only produce dead and dumb pictures. Perhaps this is the reason that everywhere else decay is determinedly fought against with renewal and restoration. There are new buildings on the city peripheries and in the coastal towns. The state of exception, of which Giorgio Agamben says in his Homo Sacer project that it has attained its greatest global extent today, determines the internal borders and the social and historical identity of Cyprus. The shadows of the past are dancing around the future.In public museums the damage that has been done over the years by nationalist ideologies can be viewed. They reveal both the blind spots and the gymnastics that are used in an attempt to cover them up. Museums and school textbooks complement each other in the construction of retrospective mythologies on both sides of the border. They compete for the possession of historical truth by equating nation (ethnic group) with state. Seen in this light the ‘Cyprus problem’ looks in hindsight like an early dress rehearsal for Bosnia. The National Struggle Museum that was founded in the early 1960s documents the anti-colonial struggle of Greek Cypriots against the British (1955–1959), which ended in independence and not the original goal of enosis – union with Greece. The other version is the Museum of Barbarism, where since 1978 the Turkish Cypriot view of the interethnic violence that followed independence has been presented. Both of these two mutually exclusive and also mutually determining displays of hate and grief show history ‘from above’. The rows of glorified heros and victims follow the logic of propaganda, which blacks out everything that might change the narrative.The collection of icons in the Byzantine Art Museum is also not content with twelfth- or thirteenth-century visions of the Virgin Mary or the resurrection, but rather puts its faith in the power of blind spots. In a corner there are two rather poor computer printouts – black and white – next to a few scene-of-the-crime photos on the wall. One sheet states: ‘The first Turkish occupation (1570–1878): The Turks have turned a large number of churches into mosques.’ On the other sheet you can read: ‘The Turkish invasion of 1974: The Turks looted and desecrated hundreds of churches changing others into mosques.’After the failed referendum in April the UN announced that it would close its office for the solution of the conflict in Nicosia. Instead of this the next Manifesta will take place here in 2006.Out of the ShadowsWitte de With, Rotterdam6 november 2004 tot en met 9 januari 2005