The Cultural Foundation has gradually built a steady network of communication and exchange of publications with similar institutions worldwide. It has also promoted bilateral projects with some of them, particularly in Greece.

The Cultural Foundation has developed a close collaboration with the Museum of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art of the Nicholas P. Goulandris Foundation. The Goulandris Foundation hosted the Cultural Foundation’s two main exhibitions in Athens: the maps in 1989 and the coins in 1991, while in the interim an exchange of lectures between the two Foundations as well as a presentation of the Goulandris Foundation in Nicosia were realized.

In 1988 the Foundation collaborated with the National Museums of Scotland for the publication of Elizabeth Goring’s book A Mischievous Pastime. Digging in Cyprus in the Nineteenth Century (Edinburgh 1988). This exceptional publication accompanied the exhibition entitled “Aphrodite’s Island: Art and Archaeology of Ancient Cyprus” which the Foundation covered with the television documentary “Cypriot Antiquities in the Scottish Royal Museum”.

In 1990 the Preservation Department of the Educational Foundation of the National Bank of Greece (MIET), in collaboration with the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, organized a seminar on paper preservation in Nicosia. In the same year the late George P. Savidis, member of the Board of Directors of MIET, gave a lecture on “The poet G. Seferis’ archaeological itineraries”.

In 1991 the Cultural Foundation invited the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece (IEEE) to exhibit, in Cyprus, the “Relics of the 1821 Greek Revolution”, comprising items from the large collections of the National Historical Museum. In 1995 the Foundation invited the same society to bring to Cyprus another exhibition, the “Jewellery of Greek Traditional Costumes of the 18th and 19th centuries”. In the same year the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece presented the Cultural Foundation with an honorary award for its contribution to Hellenism in general.

In 1994 the Foundation’s coin collection was hosted at the Cabinet des Medailles of the National Library of France jointly with Cypriot antiquities from the Cabinet, which were being exhibited for the first time. The title of the joint exhibition was “Chypre, Frontiere de l’Europe: Monnaies et Antiques”.

In 1997 the Cultural Foundation and the Museum of Byzantine Culture of Thessaloniki organized the joint exhibition “Byzantine Medieval Cyprus” in Thessaloniki during the events celebrating the 1997 Cultural Capital of Europe. The exhibition, presenting priceless objects from important Cypriot collections, was subsequently hosted in Nicosia in 1998. The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue with the same title. Co-operation between the Cultural Foundation of the Bank of Cyprus and foundations and museums in Greece has become progressively more extensive.

In 1999, the Cultural Foundation and the National Historical Museum organized the exhibition “T he World of Cyprus at the Dawn of the 20th Century” at the Old Parliament Building in Athens. The exhibition included eleven full costumes and individual garments. These were placed in their historical context with the aid of a wealth of illustrative material and texts and were accompanied by everyday, functional objects from their period.

The exhibition was accompanied by a luxury publication with the same title, in Greek and English. A scientific one-day conference with the same theme was held in Athens as part of the exhibition. The following year, the exhibition was presented in Nicosia at the premises of the Cultural Foundation.

Since early 2000 the Cultural Foundation has worked with the National Centre of Maps and Cartographic Heritage, National Map Library in Thessaloniki. This co-operation centers mainly on the introduction and use of new technology in the field of cartographic research.

Another field in which co-operation has evolved in the last year is that of traditional music. In co-operation with the Centre for Aegean Folklore and Musicological Studies (KALME), which is based in Athens, the Cultural Foundation has issued a CD entitled On the west wind, which contains songs from the Aegean and Cyprus. The CD has been presented in Athens and Nicosia.

The Foundation’s collaboration with foundations in Greece extends to the field of publishing. Since early 1999 the Foundation represents “Militos Publications” in Cyprus, while at the same time, “Militos Publications” have undertaken the sale of the Foundation’s publications in Greece. Within the context of this co-operation, a book by Akylas Millas entitled The Princes Islands. A retrospective journey was published and was presented in Athens and Nicosia. A number of other publications dealing with issues concerning Hellenism as a whole have also been planned.