Issue
Despite government efforts to strengthen Cyprus’s cultural sector, limited funding and lack of public dialogue platforms restrict freedom of expression, disproportionately impacting emerging artists, especially those from migrant or minority backgrounds.
How we are helping
This project aims to influence cultural policy and increase government support towards a more inclusive cultural sector by creating a non-commercial, alternative cultural space for the socially engaged arts in the walled city of Nicosia.
About the project
In Cyprus, freedom of expression is challenged by the absence of inclusive spaces for socially engaged and experimental arts outside established institutions, limited funding opportunities and a lack of platforms for public dialogue. Emerging artists, particularly those from migrant or minority backgrounds, are disproportionately affected.
Project partner, Visual Voices, will foster dialogue and understanding between emerging artists, cultural institutions, and local authorities, to create a model for how the arts can enrich public dialogue through diverse interpretations of pressing societal issues. The ‘Kartzin’ project, (which means “opposite” as in physical positioning or sides in a discussion), will create a platform for underrepresented artists to exhibit their work, engage in public dialogue, and contribute to a more inclusive and dynamic arts ecosystem. Beyond the project’s immediate scope, ‘Kartzin’ aspires to become a prototype for an inclusive cultural district in Nicosia dedicated to experimentation, creativity, and community exchanges. In doing so, it will contribute to strengthening Nicosia’s positioning in its bid for European Capital of Culture 2030.
This will be achieved by:
- identifying and collaboratively designing a space to advance the understanding and practice of socially engaged arts in Cyprus
- activating this space by hosting exhibitions, concerts, performances and other cultural events
- establishing the ‘Kartzin Forum,’ a periodic assembly that brings together artists, social scientists, educators, historians, public bodies, and the public to discuss pressing social issues, promote collaboration, and generate policy recommendations to influence cultural policy and foster a more inclusive cultural sector
- establishing a strategic working group comprising representatives from the local authority, cultural institutions, and artists community to develop and present a longer-term strategic plan for an inclusive cultural district to the Deputy Ministry of Culture for potential upscaling.
As a result of this project, it is hoped that public dialogue in Nicosia is enriched through the creation of an inclusive cultural space where artists can meaningfully contribute to the discourse on pressing societal issues.
Project Partners
Visual Voices (VV) is a Nicosia-based non-profit organisation focused on visual arts and social change. Our programmes are designed for emerging visual artists interested in developing or continuing with socially engaged practices in Cyprus and beyond. They promote the creation of contemporary visual art that reflects the desire for positive social change and build the space for these ideas to be shared. They also focus on building interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations, connecting artists with community leaders, policy-makers, activists, researchers and diverse publics to enhance artistic careers, build new methodologies, and create social impact.
We support people's participation in democracy and development by providing grants, platforms, and expertise.
