The exhibition ‘Brides at the Leventis Museum: tradition and fashion in Greece and Cyprus’ is on show at the Leventis Municipal Museum in Nicosia, Cyprus, from the 30th November 2016 to the 23rd April 2017.

The Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia gathers the costumes of two countries that history has both united and divided, Greece and Cyprus, in an exhibition that features pieces from the collections of the Cypriot museum and the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation. ‘Brides at the Leventis Museum’ explores the changes of the wedding gowns in the two countries in relation to the events that characterised their history during a period that includes two World Wars and the independence of Cyprus. Ranging from the late nineteenth century to 1974, the bridal gowns on show cover over one hundred years of historical and social events, culminating with the year 1974, chosen by the curator of the exhibition as the year in which ‘the centuries-long order of things of the indigenous population was ruptured, dramatically and irrevocably changing the socio-economic structures’.

For more information, please visit the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia website to learn more.

Image: Nicosia, 1967. Bride: Fotini Michaelidou of the Leventis family. Fashion House: Lanvin, Paris. Collection: Foundation «Polycarpos Yiorkadjis». Courtesy The Leventis Municipal Museum, all rights reserved.