Five internationally recognised photographers from Egypt, Cyprus, France and Greece have completed RE-VISIONS, an international contemporary photography residency programme in Cyprus focused on exploring memory, identity and the island's multiple historical narratives.
The programme, jointly organised by Actus Anima and the French Institute of Cyprus, concluded on 27 September after nine days of field research, cultural encounters and artistic production.
According to the organisers, the artists were based at the studio of Cypriot visual artist Theodoulos Gregoriou in Malounta and travelled across different parts of Cyprus, including Agios Sozomenos, the active and abandoned mining landscapes of Mitsero and Skouriotissa, as well as Nicosia and Larnaca.
The sites served as spaces for observation and research into traces of the past, memory and identity, with the participants developing five distinct artistic interpretations of Cyprus.
The residency brought together Samar Baiomy of Egypt, Konstantinos-Sofoklis Constantinou of Cyprus, Romane Iskaria and Gaëtan Soerensen of France, and Ioanna Spentzou of Greece.
The programme was curated by Dr Io Paschou, an art historian and assistant professor at the University of West Attica.
The artists have begun processing material gathered during the residency and developing new works that will be presented to the public for the first time in Nicosia.
The exhibition will be hosted at Garage Art Space from 26 November to 6 December 2026 and will form the first stage of a hybrid and evolving exhibition that will travel abroad in 2027.
RE-VISIONS approaches Cyprus as a constantly evolving "chronological palimpsest", where personal and collective memory intersect and are continuously rewritten over time. Within the framework of the programme, the island is viewed not as a backdrop but as an active factor in shaping and interpreting history.
The initiative forms part of celebrations marking the bicentenary of photography, commemorating the creation of the first photographic image by Nicéphore Niépce.
Its objectives include strengthening international creative networks, supporting original artistic production and highlighting Cyprus' tangible and intangible heritage through contemporary artistic approaches.
The programme is supported by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Institute of Cyprus as part of France's strategy for the international development of cultural and creative industries. Additional support is provided by Cyprus' Deputy Ministry of Culture and the Embassy of Greece in Cyprus.
Source: CNA
