in-cyprus 18 March 2025
Cyprus will participate in the 61st International Art Exhibition – Venice Biennale Arte 2026, with an open call for proposals launched by the Deputy Ministry of Culture, officials announced today.
The Cyprus Pavilion will be housed at Associazione Culturale Spiazzi near the Arsenale in Venice, continuing the country’s tradition of representation at one of the world’s most significant contemporary art exhibitions, scheduled to run between April and November 2026.
The open call invites all-inclusive participation proposals that combine both artistic and curatorial elements, with submissions due by Friday, 2 May 2025.
Selection will be conducted by the Deputy Ministry’s Advisory Committee for the Selection of Artists and Works, comprising independent art professionals. The current committee includes art historian and academic Gabriel Koureas, art historian and curator Catherine Nikita, collector Nicos Pattichis, visual artist Polys Peslikas, and Cultural Officer Louli Michaelidou, who represents the Director of the Department of Contemporary Culture.
The 61st Venice Biennale will be directed by Koyo Kouoh, the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town. Kouoh, who has Cameroonian and Swiss heritage, previously founded the RAW Material Company in Dakar, Senegal, and participated in the curatorial teams for documenta 12 and 13. She received the Grand Prix Meret Oppenheim in 2020, Switzerland’s prestigious art award.
The Venice Biennale, established in 1895, represents one of the most prestigious cultural institutions globally, with Cyprus maintaining a consistent presence that showcases the island’s contemporary artistic voice on the international stage.
Open call for proposals
Participants in the Open Call are invited to submit all-inclusive proposals, which should include a joint artistic and curatorial proposal.
Participation proposals should clearly express the breadth and practical and theoretical scope of the artistic and curatorial rationale for the Cyprus Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. Proposals should contain:
- 1 Names of contributors: artist(s) or artist groups, curator(s) or curatorial groups (required) and other collaborators such as theoreticians, writers, architects, designers, etc. (optional).
- 2 Concise biographies of contributors and collaborators, up to 500 words.
- 3 Concise proposal rationale, up to 500 words.
- 4 Supportive material, up to 20 pages (i.e. drawings, texts, visual/audio or other material).
- 5 Representative samples of contributors’ previous work, up to 20 pages (works, exhibitions etc.).
- 6 Full contact details of contributors.
- 7 Indicative artistic production budget. It should be clarified that a) this budget, being only indicative, should not be considered binding for any party, and b) in general, the production cost does not constitute an evaluation criterion. As has always been the case, the Committee’s assessment will be based entirely on qualitative criteria. The final planning and overall budget of the Cypriot participation will be formulated in collaboration with the Department of Contemporary Culture, as organizer, within the limits of the relevant budget provisions.
- 8 Proposals for participation should be submitted no later than Friday, 2 May 2025 by email, to info@cyprusinvenice.org. The total file size of each submitted proposal must not exceed 20MB. An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent.
The results of the Open Call will be announced in the Daily Press and online, on the web and social media pages www.cyprusinvenice.org, www.culture.gov.cy and www.facebook.com/cypruspavilion, Instagram: @cyprusinvenice.
