The Journal of Public Space ISSN 2206-9658 2020 | Vol. 5 n. 4 https://www.journalpublicspace.org ISSN 2206-9658 | 193 City Space Architecture / UN-Habitat Why Alice is not in Wonderland? Countering the Militarized status quo of Cyprus Socrates Stratis University of Cyprus, Department of Architecture stratiss@ucy.ac.cy Abstract Why Alice is not in Wonderland? Countering the militarized status quo of Cyprus is a narrative, part of the author’s diary. It is a reflection on a critical spatial practice, a performative event, titled “Alice in Meridianland… or the counter-militarization action”, part of the Buffer Fringe Performance Festival, Nicosia, Cyprus, 2019. The critical spatial practice comments on Cyprus’ actual militarization status by offering alternative urban imaginaries for the urban commons of an island without armies. It has taken place along a loop of streets and public spaces both in the north and the south parts of divided Nicosia. “Alice in Meridianland” is a camouflage tactic to conceal its anti-militaristic nature while crossing the guarded checkpoints into the city’s north part. Two tricycles, pulling 3-meter-long banners, have followed the loop in opposite directions, three times. They met at designated areas and formed instant spaces of playful interaction. The narrative unpacks the entanglements between the performative event and the city’s users of the streets and public spaces. It unfolds how the event has generated new associations between the public spaces and the feelings of the participants and of the author. How it readjusted their mental maps and urban imaginaries. The narrative is a reflective tool for critical spatial practices in producing situated knowledge. Keywords: critical spatial practice, counter-militarization, narrative, mental maps, urban commons THE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC SPACE To cite this article: Stratis, S. (2020) Why Alice is not in Wonderland? Countering the Militarized status quo of Cyprus, The Journal of Public Space, 5(4), 193-208, DOI 10.32891/jps.v5i4.1405 This article has been reviewed by the Editors and accepted for publication in The Journal of Public Space. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial 4.0 International License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/