In 2026, Cyprus will not only speak with institutional positions, but also through art, Deputy Minister for Culture, Dr Vasiliki Kassianidou said Monday at the presentation of the Cultural Programme of the Cyprus EU Presidency, in Nicosia.
More than 500 artists, creators, technicians, curators and cultural professionals are participating in the formulation and implementation of the Cultural Programme, the total cost of which amounts to pound 4.4 million, she said.
Kassianidou described the Cultural Programme of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2026, as ‘one of the most emblematic and extroverted projects of the Deputy Ministry for Culture’. With a total budget of pound 4.4 million, she noted, the cultural programme ‘constitutes one of the state’s largest and most strategic investments in Cypriot culture with a benefit multiplier, since it highlights Cyprus as a country with a rich cultural reserve.’
According to the Deputy Minister, the programme, ‘reflects a collective effort with the common goal of promoting the power of our country’s cultural heritage and contemporary artistic creation.’
She noted that it was designed ‘as an integral part of our overall strategy for an ambitious and meaningful Presidency, established in the vision for a stronger, more resilient, socially solidary and strategically autonomous EU. A Europe that invests in people, in memory, in creation and in culture as a cohesive fabric.’
The main pillars of the Cultural Programme, she said, are the promotion of Cyprus’ cultural heritage as an integral part of European and Mediterranean history and culture and the promotion of contemporary Cypriot creation. It also aims to integrate research, innovation and new technologies into cultural actions as tools for contemporary cultural storytelling and to support artists and cultural production, and to strengthen the diplomacy of culture and the international cultural presence of the Republic of Cyprus.
Kassianidou said that the Opening Ceremony of the Cyprus Presidency, which will take place on January 7, 2026, in Nicosia, holds a ‘special place’ in the Cultural Programme.
The ceremony, she noted, in addition to the official part, includes a modern and multi-layered artistic act, combining music, dance, theatre, image, poetry and digital technologies. Directed by Kostas Silvestros, the performance, which is developed in three acts, narrates the history of Cyprus throughout the centuries, highlighting its culture as an integral part of European culture, she said, adding that over 100 Cypriot artists and cultural professionals will contribute to the implementation of this ‘ambitious and multidimensional’ project.
The Deputy Minister also referred to the international dimension of the cultural programme with actions in 31 countries, in eleven of which – Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Spain, USA, United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden – emblematic actions will be organised.
The emblematic actions include a gala in Brussels that will be attended by President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, and a concert by Cypriot composer Stavros Lantsias together with his five-member ensemble, which will take place on January 21, 2026, at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts.
She also noted that Cyprus will be an honoured country at the city’s leading cultural institution, Bozar. There, distinguished Cypriot creators will introduce the European public to the breadth and depth of Cypriot artistic production, the Deputy Minister noted.
The emblematic actions in other countries include exhibitions on Cypriot antiquities, exhibitions of works of Cypriot artists, theatre performances, workshops, and concerts.
At the same time, Kassianidou noted, an extensive programme of cultural events is being implemented in collaboration with the cultural centers of the Republic of Cyprus in Athens, London, Berlin and Paris, as well as in collaboration with Embassies of the Republic of Cyprus in 20 countries, in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and America.
The Deputy Minister said that the Cultural Programme also concerns events in Cyprus, and that in this context, the permanent exhibition of the Cyprus Museum has been upgraded with new archaeological finds as well as objects that have been repatriated in recent years.
Among other things, she noted that modern and contemporary Cypriot art is also being showcased at the ‘Filoxenia’ Conference Center, in Nicosia, which will host dozens of sessions and thousands of delegates, with more than 70 works of art.
Works from the State Collection have also been installed at Larnaca International Airport, while the programme also includes short-term artistic interventions that will accompany the events that will take place within the framework of the Informal Councils and high-level meetings that Cyprus will host within the next six months, he said.
According to the Deputy Minister, the official cultural programme will also include productions of the Cyprus Theatre Organization and of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.
Concluding, she said that the Cultural Programme of the Cyprus Presidency conveys ‘a clear message, that culture is an area of dialogue, memory and peaceful coexistence’.
In 2026, she noted, Cyprus will not only speak with institutional positions, but also through art: music, image, cinema, dance, and, above all, with its people, adding that every cultural programme tells a story, and that, the history of Cyprus is a story that deserves to be heard in Europe.