Several APAC Labs researchers received diplomas at the Cyprus Institute’s 2024 graduation ceremony this past June. Researchers Andriana Nikolaidou, Mehmet Ozerenler, Nicolette Levy, Rahaf Orabi, and Soodabeh Sajadi received their Masters of Science in Digital Cultural Heritage. Andriana and Nicolette were both awarded the Tsavliris Cultural Foundation - Ancoria Insurance Award for Outstanding Performance.
Researchers Despina Papacharalambous and Valentina Vassallo received their Doctorates in Science and Technology in Cultural Heritage. Valentina also received a dual PhD in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History from Lund University in Sweden.
Andriana’s MSc thesis explored the artist's studio as a critical unit for the analysis of artistic progress by proposing a documentation framework that captures its essence through ontological approaches. Utilizing 360° panoramic documentation and video interviews, the framework examined the relationship between the artist and their workspace, encoding insights using the CIDOC-Conceptual Reference Model and Art & Architecture Thesaurus. Nicolette’s project examined two vita icons of local Cypriot Saint Ioannis Lampadistis through the application of infrared reflectography (IRR), affirming its viability as a method for the documentation and analysis of Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons. Through her research, she identified an icon painter figure included in multiple parts of the vita narrative, suggesting that the artist played an important role in the creation and early stages of the local saint’s cult.
Mehmet applied the functional analysis method to explain the presence of flake tools in the tombs at the Souskiou-Laona Chalcolithic settlement's cemetery in Cyprus. Flakes were primarily used to cut or carve grooves on figurines, pendants, and ornaments, made on picrolite, antlers, or animal bones, and intentionally placed as funeral offerings. Rahaf explored a digital approach to understand the Byzantine Past of Al-Madrassa Al-Halawiyya in Aleppo. Her research demonstrated how a hybrid methodology can be used to establish building phases for comparison with historical and scholarly accounts, revealing new knowledge about building techniques and processes. Soodabeh’s thesis focused on the digital classification and reassembly of approximately 250 Salamis terracotta fragments from Cyprus. These fragments are dispersed across various museums and institutions worldwide, making physical access and reassembly challenging.
Despoina’s doctoral research focused on the mural paintings of the 18th-century post-Byzantine Orthodox cathedral of Saint John the Theologian of Nicosia. Her study was enhanced with digitization, photogrammetry, HBIM, RTI, and Visual Acuity analysis to understand visual narrative's evolution and the spatial dimension, position, and visual experience of these scenes within the monument’s interior. Valentina focused her research on the development of a 3D approach, based on geometric, analytical and semantic aspects, for the study and interpretation of small terracotta figurines from Ayia Irini, Cyprus. Through her research, she identified production processes, and common productions (e.g., same hand, same workshop) and established a relative chronological sequence.
Congratulations to all of our graduates!
