Ms Maria Christoforou

Mrs Christoforou is an artist and an academic in the Interactive Media and Animation program, under the Department of Design and Multimedia, at the University of Nicosia (2004-present day).

Mrs Maria Christoforou is a Doctoral candidate at Nottingham Trent University, at the School of Art and Design. She holds a Master of Arts in Interactive Multimedia, a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Communication, an Associate Degree in Science and a Diploma in Secretarial and Accounting Studies. She studied at the University of the Arts, London School of Printing, the University of Nicosia (Intercollege), the University of Indianapolis and Pitman’s College. She is also awarded the Life Coach title from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

In her persona as a creative artist, she is very active in organizing and creating artistic events. She is an interdisciplinary artist and has mounted six solo exhibitions and participated in various group local and international exhibitions and festivals. Mrs Christoforou also participated in many conferences, workshops, and seminars in Cyprus, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Greece and Portugal. She has gained many honorary diplomas and other awards such as Third Prize in the PlayStation Awards for the interactive movie “Elements”, (London 2002).

In 2011, she published her first book, “From Canvas to Screen”, in which through words and images, illustrates how her artwork reflects her attitudes towards life and love.  The book, also offers a concise historical review of the growth of digital art. In her second book “Comments & Crisis”, published in 2014, illustrates how the economic crisis in Cyprus, influenced and depicted our aesthetic in everyday life. The collection of photos primarily evolved from the artist’s viewpoint as a female messenger of pictures and colours.

Furthermore, she writes articles in local newspapers regarding different multimedia fields, which include social, cultural and philosophical approaches, such as e-democracy, cyber-bullying, interactive theatre and new technologies, virtual reality and human transcendence and much more.

Since 2012, as a digital artist and playwriter, she coordinates interactive educational performances for children and adults. The performances integrate digital media, such as animation, video art and Virtual Reality that aim to challenge audience senses, encourage empathy and self-awareness. The projects are supported by the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture and are produced by the Little Worry people art and drama studio and Rebirth United Artist (Founder). The performances are successfully presented in various International and local venues. Additionally, to the above, as an educator she has wide variety of experience as a trainer, for children and adults, in many artistic workshops dealing with digital media and animation techniques, painting, drawing, art and graphs.

During the COVID19 Pandemic, Mrs Christoforou was a participant and a co-curator of the international project Corona Haikus https://coronahaikus.com/. The project is presented in various countries and conferences.

In her current PhD research, she explores digital technologies’ immersive storytelling that challenges stereotypical gender roles and contested historical social narratives. The research aims to investigate the emotional response of participants when they are engaging with artwork in hybrid, real and virtual spaces.

Mrs Christoforou main interest, specialization and research are interdisciplinary. It includes experimental digital art, 2D animation, 3D artwork, video installations, mixed media artworks, haiku poetry and tangram art.  It combines play and script writing, transmedia narratives, 360-degree VR video immersive storytelling, interactive movies and documentaries, interactive theatre and mixed-reality environments. In her practice, research often invites feminine subjects to encourage the development of interconnected qualities such as empathy, catharsis, spirituality, self-awareness, and the creation of strong emotions. Additionally, her research focuses on theories and philosophies of sublime, interaction and transformation, which integrates innovative technologies, demonstrated in feminine art.