Cultural events thrive as Cyprus assumes EU Presidency

For the next six months, Cyprus leads the Council of the European Union, and it is the perfect opportunity to showcase the country’s local talents, traditions and contemporary art to European audiences. A high time for cultural productions is upon us, and apart from the events happening abroad, some activities take place on the island as well.

The majority of the cultural programme of the Cyprus Presidency, organised by the deputy ministry of culture, is implemented abroad across 31 countries. At the start of the year, a concert by composer Stavros Lantsias, accompanied by a five-member ensemble, marks the start of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU. This Opening Gala, a closed event for the public, will take place at the Magritte Museum – Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium on January 21.

On the following day, works by Cypriot artists and furniture designs by Michael Anastassiades will decorate the Justus Lipsius and Europa buildings in Brussels, while on January 27, Andros Efstathiou’s photography exhibition Nicosia International Airport will open at the European Parliament, showing the abandoned site of Nicosia’s former airport as a space of suspended time and collective memory.

Next is an event in Nicosia. The State Gallery of Contemporary Art-SPEL finally reopens after a long period of closure to host the contemporary Cypriot art exhibition Agropoetics: Soils/Bodies. Running from January 29 to June 30, the exhibition features works by more than 40 Cyprus artists, as curated by Dr Elena Parpa.

In the months to follow, Cyprus’ cultural agenda will include major exhibitions and events at the Louvre, the National Library of France, Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, the Hellenic Centre in Rome, the Kennedy Centre in Washington, the Museu Picasso in Barcelona and other cultural institutions in Athens, Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen. Spanning six months, more than 500 artists, technicians, curators and cultural professionals are involved in implementing the cultural programme, making 2026 quite the year for the island’s cultural scene.

It is time the world gets to know Cyprus through its arts and creatives and as the deputy ministry of culture says: “in 2026, Cyprus will not speak to Europe solely through institutional positions, but through art, creativity and its people, leaving behind a meaningful cultural legacy that extends beyond the duration of the Presidency.”

Cultural Events of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026

All details on www.cyculture2026.eu and www.cy2026.eu