The 4th Larnaca Biennale 2025 lifts the curtain on its biggest edition yet with a rich programme

With less than a week until the fourth edition of Larnaca Biennale begins, there is a rich cultural programme across six-and-a-half weeks of exhibitions, installations, performances and workshops which will transform Larnaca into a cultural hub.

With final touches currently being made, curator Sana López Abellán says he is “excited to witness how the Biennale unfolds across its venues, weaving together a collective story that belongs to both the artists and the community. For the past weeks, artists have been arriving from all over the globe to install their works, and now the lines and traces are no longer hypothetical but tangible.”

The whole of the Larnaca district will house the selected artworks across 13 indoor and outdoor locations. Following the opening ceremony on Wednesday, the main exhibition of Larnaca Biennale 2025 will be hosted at: the Larnaca Municipal Art Gallery, Pierides Museum, Common Ground Gallery, Larnaca Municipal Market, Apothiki 79, Larnaca Medieval Castle, Zouhouri Square, Piale Pasha, and Larnaca Salt Lake. Works will also be hosted at the Kallinikeio Municipal Museum in Athienou and the Costas Argyrou Museum in Mazotos.

Three of the main exhibition’s artworks are installation-performances and participatory events. Togetherness – Resonances of Expression and 22 Stops will both take place on Thursday and then be screened as part of the main exhibition, while Unspoken Messages will be unveiled at Zouhouri Square inviting the public to take part.

Workshops

Workshops begin with The.Curious.Curly’s Cyanotype Tales (October 17 and November 1) which will trace stories and memories of the younger self through guided journaling exercises and cyanotype-making. Participants will bring a personal photo from when they were young, share stories and make an original cyanotype print.

The Canada-based duo Anana Rydvald and Zach Fraser will present the emotive masked play workshop The Lines and Traces of Identity (October 18), introducing this powerful theatrical tool.

Weaving Unity will be a two-day bicommunal art project that will bring together Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots through a symbolic weaving workshop (October 25) and an open artistic celebration (October 26), curated by interdisciplinary designer Konstantinos Charilaou.

Journalist and author Eleni Xenou will present the creative writing workshop Apotipomata (November 8) in Greek on how to narrate stories, which are the traces of our personal and collective tales and how to find them through storytelling and writing.

Performance Art

The contemporary dance performance The Thread (October 18) by the Aphelion Dance Company and choreographer Rozmarie P Koulia reimagines the myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur through a modern lens. Through the use of a thread, the piece explores identity, memory and transformation.

A more participatory performance follows by the Ex-Piercing Arts group transforming the underground parking lot of an under-construction hotel. The Ichnilat(r)is performance (October 19, 25 and November 1, 2, 8, 9) invites the audiences to take part, decide whether to act or observe, determining their own path.

Anana Rydvald and Zach Fraser will continue their journey with the award-winning non-verbal mime performance titled The Sighlence of Sky (October 23 with English text and 24 with Greek text) paying a tender ode to love and heartache through a family which navigates disability and neurodivergence.

A shadow theatre performance in Athienou for children and adults will present The Story of Charis Cola – The Man Who Produced the First Cola in Cyprus (October 31). Suitable for children aged six to 11, the performance connects the island’s first-ever cola beverage with the traditional art of shadow theatre.

Festivals & Films

The Artist Quarter Piale Pasha Festival will offer guided tours of the town’s artists’ quarter with performances, live music, open studio visits, street food and events for all ages (October 18-19). Next, the Larnaka Cinema Society will present short and feature films curated across three evenings (November 10, 17 and 24).

Educational Programmes

In the educational programme The Art of Together, actress and theatre facilitator Theodora Andreou will host six creative and playful workshops for children. The workshops, in different locations, will culminate with a collective art installation displayed at the Municipal Market of Larnaca (October 18, 25 and November 1, 8, 15).

Visitors and families will also have the opportunity to explore the art world through the eyes of children as part of the Open Art Schools event. Six art schools across Larnaca will open their doors to showcase the creative works and processes of their students (November 2).

Experiential Events

Curator Abellán will lead a guided Curator’s Walk (October 17) weaving Larnaca’s streets and shoreline, inviting participants to encounter the city anew, unravelling this year’s Along Lines and Traces theme.

Connecting philosophy with water and everyday activities is Zeno Philosophical Swim (October 22 and 26) by Igor Shnurenko, which invites participants to a philosophical symposium-style discussion, a swim and a short film screening.

Later on in the month, a performance walk will pay tribute to the iconic Cypriot artist and educator Stass Paraskos, born in Anaphotia, west of Larnaca. Tracing Stass (October 25 and November 1) will be led by artists Emilios Koutsoftides and Simon Pruciak, tracing Stass’ childhood surroundings and the landscapes that inspired his work.

The echoes of Larnaca’s artistic expressions will wrap up with the live music Stournari Street performance (November 21). The three-piece band (Nikos Bardis, Antonis Nomikos and Giorgos Laggouretos) will present a unique live project based on beloved Greek songs and create a ‘second reading’ with improvisational orientation, constructing the soundscapes of Larnaca Biennale 2025.

Finally, the Traces of Our Heritage – Designing for a Cause exhibition and award ceremony in Athienou (November 27) will showcase the work of students and community members who designed magnets, postcards, t-shirts and other small products inspired by local culture, history and traditions.

4th Larnaca Biennale

Bi-annual multi-week exhibition fair celebrating arts and culture with showcases and parallel events. October 15-November 28. Larnaca. www.biennalelarnaca.com