Programme

Embark on a journey to the Golden Age of Alexandria, Athens, and Venice! This brand-new experience, developed exclusively for the Art Explora Festival by Ubisoft, allows you to dive into the past at the heart of 3 iconic cities at the height of their splendor.

Experience on reservation. Duration: 45 min.

Public opening on Saturday, October 25th, starting at 3:30 PM

Following an inaugural performance by the Limassol Philharmonic Orchestra, this celebration brings together Cypriot traditional musicians Michalis Terlikkas, Kemal Deveci, and Aziz Kahraman, along with Stelios Petrakis from Crete. Concluding, Krista Papista will perform her new show, compiled of fragments from her upcoming unreleased album, Euro Divas — an explosion of ritual, Tsifteteli, DIY drum & bass and punk bitch EDM. Papista will be joined on stage by Kanella Petropoulou, Jan Verwoert, and Christos Kyriakides; set design by Christos Kyriakides; garments by Soraya Oronti, Charlotte Gindreau, and Sara Gellez. The night concludes with the vibrant beats of Koulla P. Katsikoronou and dj harama.

An interactive exhibition inviting visitors into the personal art collection of seminal Cypriot author Ivi Meleagrou (1928–2019). Featuring works by key Cypriot artists, alongside prints, reproductions, and embroideries, the collection reflects the author’s deep affinities with her contemporaries and her singular approach to collecting. The exhibition is shaped by an experimental dramaturgy and unfolds through a dynamic process: visitors choose items from a catalogued list to be retrieved, displayed, and taken back into storage, generating an exhibition in constant flux. 

How can shapes and symbols found on representations of ancient goddesses help us create a new creature-protector of the Mediterranean? In this art workshop, children and adults use ancient traces as well as new elements in order to collaboratively create the image of an imaginary creature that could help protect the Mediterranean against its present-day challenges.

A guided walk by Sevina Floridou through Limassol’s historic Fytidou orchard will introduce visitors to this long-abandoned garden of over 50 palms, now being reopened to the public. During the event, traditional Cypriot treats will be offered by Terract-Salamiou, while the space will be musically enriched with improvisations on the Ney by Panayiotis Tsappis and soundscapes curated by Elena Savvidou.

Greek vocalist Savina Yannatou, an extraordinary explorer of global vocal traditions, and her longstanding ensemble, Primavera en Salonico accompanied by Lamia Bedioui, let us drift into a transcendent world with their moving performances of maritime-rooted songs. The evening will start with Spivak, a Cypriot musician and sound artist who will transport us into the world of her avant-garde compositions.

A multimedia exhibition built around a virtual reality reconstruction of the private room of Cypriot author Ivi Meleagrou. The VR model is conceived as a time-based experience accompanied by archival video, audio, and printed material, which invites audiences into an immersive and contemplative encounter with the author’s life and work, particularly her seminal novel, Eastern Mediterranean (1969).

“Do you remember the sound of our click?” - D.G.
The performance Other Reflexes is an adaptation of Diana Georgiou’s novel of the same title that explores queer female experience during the ’90s in Limassol. Georgiou focuses on the violences (domestic, class, racial, gender, systemic) that our senses, and selves, can undergo growing up in such a context, but also on the inventive ways in which people can often cope with them.

Taking as its starting point the tradition of open-air cinemas—once an integral part of Limassol's cultural life but now completely extinct—The Island Club, in collaboration with the Limassol Cinema Club, presents Cinemare. Transforming one of the Molos docks into an open-air cinema, Cinemare will offer an eclectic program of films exploring the themes of the sea and the possibility of travel. Dates: October 27 to November 1, 2025

“Do you remember the sound of our click?” - D.G.
The performance Other Reflexes is an adaptation of Diana Georgiou’s novel of the same title that explores queer female experience during the ’90s in Limassol. Georgiou focuses on the violences (domestic, class, racial, gender, systemic) that our senses, and selves, can undergo growing up in such a context, but also on the inventive ways in which people can often cope with them.

A guided sound walk with narratives from Limassol’s Mahalla and social life before 1974. This work was created by MITOS within the framework of the Interwoven Narratives Hub, a collaboration with the Famagusta New Museum and the Famagusta Walled City Association (MASDER), supported by the VAHA program.

The history of the Taksim cinema, later renamed Apollon, until its destruction by fire in May 2024, is brought to life through the personal testimonies of past and present residents of the neighborhood. The event activates the very space of the cinema through a sound documentary, cooking, and music. In addition, on the morning of the same day, the guided sound walk “Stories from Limassol’s mahalla” will take place, featuring narratives about the area’s social life before 1974.

Walid Ben Selim gives voice to great Sufi poets, seeking primal vibration through an epic, meditative breath. With harpist Marie-Marguerite Cano, he creates a space of musical spirituality, where Arabic spoken word meets the harp’s symbolic language. A poetic territory imbued with love and triumphant joy.