Press Releases

The next Venice Biennale of Art will take place between April and November 2026 (https://www.cyprusinvenice.org.cy, www.labiennale.org ). 

The Board of La Biennale di Venezia has appointed Ms Koyo Kouoh, acclaimed curator and scholar, as Director of the Visual Arts Sector for the 61st edition of the Biennale.

Ms Koyo Kouoh (Camerun/Switzerland) is the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town since 2019. Prior to this appointment, she was the founding Artistic Director of RAW Material Company, a centre for art, knowledge, and society in Dakar, Senegal, as well as part of the curatorial teams for documenta 12 (2007) and documenta 13 (2012). Kouoh is the recipient of the Grand Prix Meret Oppenheim 2020, the Swiss Grand Award for Art that honours achievements in the fields of art, architecture, critique, and exhibitions.

Ι. Participation of Cyprus

Cyprus will be participating in the 61st International Art Exhibition – Biennale Arte 2026. As in previous years, the Cyprus Pavilion will be housed at Associazione Culturale Spiazzi, Castello 3865, 30124 Venezia, near the Arsenale.

The participation of Cyprus will be selected through an Open Call for Proposals, by the Deputy Ministry’s Advisory Committee for the Selection of Artists and Works, comprising of independent art professionals.

The current Committee Members are:

• Gabriel Koureas, art historian and academic (Member)
• Catherine Nikita, art historian and curator (Member)
• Nicos Pattichis, collector (Member)
• Polys Peslikas, visual artist (Member)
• Louli Michaelidou, Cultural Officer A’ (President, representative of the Director of the Department of Contemporary Culture – Deputy Ministry of Culture).

Continuing the policy that began to be implemented from the previous edition, the Open Call will be inviting all-inclusive participation proposals (joint artistic and curatorial proposals), with a submission deadline of Friday, 2 May 2025. The terms of participation in the Open Call are described in Part II:

II. Open Call for Proposals – Terms of participation

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 organiser, within the limits of the relevant budget provisions.
8. Proposals for participation should be submitted no later than Friday, 2 May 2025, by email: 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 website www.culture.gov.cy, and on social media, Facebook:www.facebook.com/cypruspavilion, Instagram: @cyprusinvenice.

For the press release in Turkish, click here.

(EK/MS/GS)