Kappakli.

Ceramic Installation and Video art performance. 2022 - ongoing.

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​​The work is an going research of the artist on mining in Cyprus, contested spaces of ecological disaster and wounded landscapes.“Kappakli” refers to a three-piece enamel food container, with each piece placed on top of each other. This was the type of utensil traditionally used by the majority of miners in Cyprus to transport their food to the mines. The meal was consumed during a short lunch break in a specially designated area underground.  Following extensive archival research on the daily lives and history of miners in Cyprus, Melita Couta recreates multiple sets of “Kappakli” made in ceramic instead of the traditional enamel used to produce these objects. The clay used for the making of these  ceramics has been produced by earth, argyle, stones and minerals collected from the mine areas of Kalavasos and Asgata. The transformation of the materiality of the objects and the change in their use from daily objects to works of art bring to the visitor the duality of these objects: The ceramic containers whilst being symbolic objects of nurturing and nourishing the miner’s bodies with the intervention of the artist become signifiers of the   earth toxicity contained within the clay reminding the viewer of the ecological disaster and health hazards inflicted on the miners during their labour.​