In 2026, Cyprus will not speak only through institutional positions, but also through art, Deputy Minister of Culture Dr Vasiliki Kassianidou emphasised in her speech at the first presentation of the Cultural Programme of the Cypriot EU Presidency, which took place at the Presidential Palace on Monday.
More than 500 artists, creators, technicians, curators and cultural professionals are participating in the shaping and implementation of the Cultural Programme, the total cost of which amounts to €4.4 million, she said.
Ms Kassianidou described the Cultural Programme that will accompany the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2026 as “one of the most emblematic and outward-looking initiatives of the Deputy Ministry of Culture”. With a total budget of €4.4 million, she noted, the programme “constitutes one of the largest and most strategic state investments in Cypriot culture, with a multiplier benefit, as it highlights Cyprus as a country with a rich cultural reserve”.
Culture, she said, emerges as a substantive tool of policy cohesion and as the most important expression of our shared European identity.
According to the Deputy Minister, the programme is the result of close and exceptionally productive cooperation between the Deputy Ministry of Culture, the Secretariat of the Cypriot Presidency, and many institutional and creative bodies of the country. “It reflects a collective effort with a common goal: showcasing the power of our cultural heritage and contemporary artistic creation,” she added.
She noted that it was designed “as an integral part of our overall strategy for an ambitious and substantive Presidency, rooted in the vision of a European Union that is stronger, more resilient, socially cohesive and strategically autonomous. A Europe that invests in people, memory, creativity and culture as a unifying fabric”.
The main pillars of the Cultural Programme, she said, are the promotion of Cyprus’s cultural heritage as an integral part of European and Mediterranean history and culture, and the highlighting of contemporary Cypriot creation. It also aims to integrate research, innovation and new technologies into cultural activities as tools of modern cultural storytelling, to support artists and cultural production as living cells of society and the economy, and finally to strengthen cultural diplomacy and the international cultural presence of the Republic of Cyprus.
All these pillars serve one core strategic objective, the Deputy Minister said: “for Cyprus to open up to Europe and the world with a strong and creative cultural narrative that connects the past, the present and the future”.
Ms Kassianidou stated that a “special place” in the Cultural Programme is held by the Opening Ceremony of the Cypriot Presidency, which will take place on 7 January 2026, on the Main Stage of the Cyprus Theatre Organisation, under the title “MEMORY – PRESENT – AFTER”.
The ceremony, she noted, in addition to its official part, includes a contemporary and multi-layered artistic act, combining music, dance, theatre, image, poetry and digital technologies. Directed by Costas Sylvestros, the performance, which unfolds in three acts, narrates the history of Cyprus through the centuries, highlighting its culture as an integral part of European civilisation.
“For the implementation of this ambitious and multifaceted project, more than 100 Cypriot artists and cultural professionals will contribute: choristers, actors, dancers, musicians, visual and digital artists, as well as an extensive technical team,” she added. The ceremony will be broadcast live by RIK (CyBc).
The Deputy Minister also referred to the international dimension of the cultural programme, with activities in 31 countries, in eleven of which – Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Spain, the USA, the United Kingdom, Poland and Sweden – emblematic events will be organised.
The flagship events include a gala in Brussels, attended by the President of the Republic, featuring a concert by the distinguished Cypriot composer Stavros Lantsias together with his five-member ensemble, which will take place on 21 January 2026 at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts.
In Brussels, the programme also includes the decoration of the Justus Lipsius and Europa buildings, where all meetings and proceedings of the Council of the European Union take place. “There, the Cypriot Presidency leaves its mark and makes its presence felt through a visual art exhibition by Cypriot artists, curated, and furniture designed, by the internationally renowned and award-winning Cypriot designer Michael Anastassiades,” she said. The aim, she added, is to highlight Cyprus’s aesthetic identity and the dynamism of contemporary Cypriot design.
Also to be presented at the European Parliament building will be the exhibition “Nicosia International Airport” by Antros Efstathiou.
At the same time, a second, “particularly important axis” is being developed in Brussels: Cyprus’s presence as the guest country at the city’s leading cultural institution, Bozar. There, distinguished Cypriot creators will introduce the European public to the breadth and depth of Cypriot artistic production, the Deputy Minister noted. In addition, five contemporary dance works by five choreographers will be presented, a concert by the multi-award-winning band Monsieur Doumani, as well as an immersive virtual reality experience entitled “Lost Spaces: Inside the Nicosia Buffer Zone”.
“The cultural programme in Brussels constitutes a conscious act of cultural diplomacy,” she said, noting that at the EU’s decision-making centre, Cyprus chooses to speak the language of culture, projecting a contemporary and outward-looking identity in meaningful dialogue with Europe’s values, priorities and future.
In other countries, the flagship activities include exhibitions on Cypriot antiquities, exhibitions of works by Cypriot artists, experiential museological storytelling of the history of the Green Line and Europe’s last divided capital, theatrical performances and workshops, and concerts.
At the same time, Ms Kassianidou noted, an extensive programme of cultural events is being implemented in cooperation with the cultural centres of the Republic of Cyprus in Athens, London, Berlin and Paris, as well as with Cypriot Embassies. “This programme will take Cypriot culture and contemporary cultural creation to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and America.” It includes activities covering a wide range of fields – from music, dance and visual arts to cinema, literature and archaeology – showcasing dozens of Cypriot creators in different cultural and institutional environments. These will be implemented in cooperation with Cypriot Embassies in 20 countries, specifically Egypt, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Ireland, Luxembourg, Bahrain, South Africa, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Thailand and the Czech Republic.
“This programme constitutes a multi-layered web of cultural actions which, by Cypriot standards, represents one of the most extensive initiatives of outreach, cultural presence and international dialogue ever undertaken by the country,” she added.
The Deputy Minister stated that the Cultural Programme is also being developed domestically and that, in this context, the permanent exhibition of the Cyprus Museum has been upgraded with interpretative and supervisory material, including new archaeological finds as well as objects repatriated in recent years.
Among other points, she noted that modern and contemporary Cypriot art is also being showcased at the “Filoxenia” Conference Centre, which will host dozens of sessions and thousands of delegates, through a visual intervention entitled “Encounters: The Worlds of Cyprus”, featuring more than 70 works of art at the heart of the Cypriot Presidency.
Works from the State Collection have also been placed at Larnaca International Airport, while the programme includes short-duration artistic interventions accompanying events held in the context of Informal Councils and high-level meetings that Cyprus will host over the next six months.
According to the Deputy Minister, the official cultural programme will also include theatrical productions by the Cyprus Theatre Organisation and musical productions by the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, as well as all major events of the Department of Contemporary Culture for the first half of the year.
“Through this multidimensional set of actions, culture emerges as a living element of everyday life, accessibility to the arts is enhanced, and a cohesive and meaningful cultural footprint is created throughout the Presidency,” Ms Kassianidou said.
She stated that more than 500 artists and cultural professionals have contributed decisively to the shaping and will contribute to the implementation of this ambitious cultural programme.
In closing, she said that the Cultural Programme of the Cypriot Presidency conveys “a clear message”: that culture is a field of dialogue, memory and peaceful coexistence.
In 2026, she noted, Cyprus will not speak only through institutional positions, but through art: music, image, cinema, dance, the spoken word and, above all, through its people, adding that every cultural programme tells a story — and the story of Cyprus is one that deserves to be heard in Europe.
More information on the Cultural Programme is available at: https://cyculture2026.eu/
Questions
Asked by a journalist whether the participation of relatives of officials in the Programme concerned her, Ms Kassianidou noted that the question related to cooperation with the Archaeological Research Unit, whose director is now her husband. She said she had “no reservations whatsoever about this cooperation, because the Archaeological Research Unit is the largest research centre for Cypriot archaeology”. She explained that when the Department of Antiquities stated that it could undertake only one major exhibition, they turned to the University of Cyprus, which assigned the task to the Archaeological Research Unit. “I do not believe this creates an issue, especially when all this work was carried out without remuneration,” she added.
In response to a question about whether there would be specific events highlighting the division of the island and the lost culture of the occupied areas through exhibitions, Ioanna Hadjicosti, Director of the Department of Contemporary Culture, referred to exhibitions covering this theme, such as the exhibition in Athens and the exhibition with photographs of the old airport at the European Parliament. She also referred to the intervention at Bozar, through digital media and technology by CYENS, focusing on the Green Line and its history, and noted that through archaeological exhibitions and the repatriation of antiquities, among other actions, the issue is indicated at various points without ever becoming the central focus. “Through culture we support the diplomatic effort; we do not substitute it,” she said.
It was also mentioned that, within the framework of the Informal Councils, visits to museums will take place.
Ms Kassianidou noted that at the Informal Council on cultural matters, the issue she will raise is the illicit trafficking of antiquities, something she continually brings to the forefront, as she said, “especially now with Ukraine, where there is heightened sensitivity”.
On behalf of the Secretariat of the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU 2026, it was noted that, among other initiatives, a photographic exhibition by the Press and Information Office on Lidinis Street is being created, documenting the course of the Cyprus problem and the issue of missing persons, and that all high-level delegations will visit this exhibition.
In another question regarding the issues to be addressed at the Informal Council on Culture, Ms Kassianidou stated that the Presidency programme refers to all topics to be addressed by the Informal Councils. “In our case, these are cultural rights, particularly in relation to artificial intelligence and how it affects artists’ rights, as well as the illicit trafficking of cultural goods.”
She added that, regarding the Presidency and the cultural issues Cyprus will need to handle, these include the Culture Compass designed by the Commissioner for Culture, which the Cypriot Presidency will bring before the Council for final approval in May. She also said that discussions are under way on the AgoraEU programme, the major funding programme for culture for the next period, with a doubled budget compared to before. “Therefore, the Cypriot Presidency in the field of culture has a significant role to play and will have to manage very important issues,” she added.
In closing, she invited everyone to attend the exhibition openings and events, to support and highlight the artists and all those who worked on these actions. During the previous Presidency, there were not cultural actions on such a large scale, in so many countries and involving so many people, she said.
Also read: Cyprus EU Presidency priorities – Five key pillars outlined
Source: ANA-MPA
