HUMAN TARGETS, 1994

The “Human Targets” installation deals with questions of military conflicts, war and violence. In 1990 Stefani found a perforated military target in the Akamas area, Cyprus. In 1994 he made the installation “Soldiers – Targets” which in the following years was presented in various renditions both in Cyprus and abroad. In May 1994, during the exhibition of the Pan-Hellenic Art Symposium at Famagusta Gate, Nicosia, three of the Soldiers – Targets were stolen. This unprecedented incident fed the media with “polemic” material, and elicited varied reactions from the Police, the Nicosia Municipality, the Chamber of Fine Arts and the Ministry of Education and Culture. Among the most tragicomic aspects of this case were the various testimonies that the artist had to give to the Police. In 11.7.1994 the police found one of the targets. Since then, the “Targets case” remains partly unsolved in the files of the Criminal Investigation Department, under record number Σ/744/94.

In 2000 Stefani showed the installation “Human Targets”, a direct continuation of his “Soldier – Targets” at the show “From the Chisel to the Electron – A century of Contemporary Sculpture in Cyprus” at the National Gallery of Cypriot Art & Casteliotissa, Nicosia, Cyprus. In 2005 the “Human Targets” were showed at the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre for the exhibition “Accidental Meetings”

In 2011 Stefani proposed a project titled “On Target” for the candidacy of Paphos for the European Capital of Culture 2017. In 2013 Paphos won the title and On Target  was included in the official program of Pafos 2017.