I met Filippos Giapanis a few years back at an event in Little Salamina. I was walking down the stairs with my daughter, who uses a white cane, when he noticed us. He came over and chatted with her like they were old friends. We set up a meeting for a few days later and went as a family to see him. He warmly insisted that I bring Nektaria along. So we did. We met his lovely wife, Mrs. Maria, and we shared laughs and heartfelt moments.
That was the start of a relationship that isn’t daily but is still warm.
That’s why I chose Filippos for one of the first interviews in this vidcast series on OLOI MEDIA. What stood out was how he looked my daughter in the eyes. It was so clear and powerful; words can’t fully capture it.
I called him and asked if he would do an interview with me. Despite some recent health issues, he agreed before I even finished asking.
Sitting across from him, I remembered why I admire him so much. Besides appreciating his work, he’s genuine. He doesn’t carry the elitism often seen in artists, and he speaks plainly.
– Do you prefer to be called a sculptor? An artist? Something else? – I am a builder of art. – Isn’t that a bit ordinary, less artistic? – I don’t care.
These were our first words.
Giapanis didn’t grow up in fancy salons or elite schools. He lived art first; it impacted him through tough experiences before he even started creating it. This intensity shaped the works we know today.
He talks about art as a human need for expression, not just a way to promote oneself.
I asked if he thinks art is commercially overrated. He said ‘yes’ without thinking twice. I asked about Little Salamina, the cultural space he created. ‘For me, it’s not about lights and marble. It’s a home for art so it doesn’t stay homeless,’ he shared off-camera.
When discussing society, he spoke as part of it, not as its judge—a common attitude we see from many people, not just in the arts.
He kept mentioning the word JUSTICE. If there’s one takeaway from our chat, it’s how important this word is to Giapanis. He made me feel that justice might be the most essential value of all. It’s where everything starts.
No matter what I asked him, Filippos Giapanis answered simply, like an everyday person next door. Yet his words showed depth; they came from genuine emotion, not to impress anyone.
‘In Cyprus, we focus on money, cars, and houses. I don’t care about that. I want to talk about freedom and justice. If there is justice, everything else doesn’t matter,’ he told me among other things.
Every time he answered a question, I counted his words and found them all necessary yet just enough—like a popular philosopher’s economy of speech. Someone who knows many imaginative words can express themselves clearly; using too many makes them showy and dull.
And Giapanis knows how to avoid both.
Nikos Katsaros
