Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Music Archive is documenting the tradition of ‘poiitarides’, itinerant poets who sold printed narrative songs known as ‘poiitarika’. The non-profit group is preparing to publish a digital library of songs and interviews.
Itinerant poets and ‘poiitarika’
Nicoletta Demetriou, director of the Cyprus Music Archive (CMA), described ‘poiitarika’ as long narrative songs, comparing them to ballads. She said the tradition grew after printing came to Cyprus in 1878, with songs often focusing on politics or current affairs and sometimes inspired by local incidents such as murders or accidents.
Demetriou said poets would travel from village coffeeshop to village coffeeshop or set up at village fairs, which she described as “the improvised mall of that time,” selling songs alongside other traders. She said the poets would typically perform from a prominent spot and declaim only part of a song, leaving the audience on a cliffhanger, with the full story available in the printed version for purchase and sharing, including with those who could not read.
Durability of the profession
Demetriou said the most surprising aspect was how long the profession lasted, adding that the last itinerant poet who made a living from the work was Andreas Mappouras from Aradippou, who died in 1997.
Cyprus Music Archive and digitisation plans
Demetriou spoke from the CMA’s office in old Nicosia. She said the CMA is a non-profit founded by a small team in 2022 and staffed partly by unpaid volunteers, working to create a digital archive of traditional Cyprus music.
She said the CMA website is already online, while the main collection—an online library of songs and interviews—is still being prepared. Demetriou said the organisation aims to publish a first tranche in the next few months, hoping it prompts people to contribute their own recordings, noting that much musical heritage is lost over time.
Fragility of traditional recordings and wedding music
Demetriou attributed part of the loss to the fragility of the material. She said Cypriot music was predominantly wedding music, typically played with fiddle and laouto, and sometimes including zournas and davul, mostly in Turkish Cyprus.
Do you have old cassettes or recordings of traditional Cypriot music that could be contributed to a digital archive?
