Larnaca Biennale kicks off this week

The time has come for Larnaca Biennale to return. This week exhibitions, installations, presentations and parallel events on the theme of Limitless Limits will begin around the town as the international showcase opens on Wednesday.

While the grand opening takes place at the Larnaca Municipal Gallery, the other two official exhibition spots, the Pierides Museum and the Multi-Space of Art and Creativity, will be also open at the same time and until the Biennale concludes on November 26, several events will take place around Larnaca.

The first performance is Saline Dissonance, on Thursday, where participating artist Lara Salmon places salt from the Larnaca Salt Lake on her body. This exchange of her body’s water with the landscape speaks to Lara’s historically complex relationship with Cyprus and viewers are invited to watch this interaction at the Salt Lake. Viewers should park at the picnic area and are welcome for the entire duration of the performance or at any point between 3pm and 6pm.

Also starting on Thursday is an experimental installation and photography exhibition by Once in a Blue Moon taking place at Loulou’s House. Nine images are part of the installation that have been created using a meticulous process similar to the one used in feature films. Inspired by the idea that there is always something hidden in the ordinary, distinctive locations partially forgotten or isolated within the Larnaca district were selected to be captured. Within those, different stories unfold and different characters are depicted.

A multi-sensory experience can be expected with visual interventions, sounds and smells. The audience will step into an extension of the world depicted in the images displayed and experience an uncanny temporality that aims to bring up to the surface collective memory, existential questions, personal worries, childhood traumas and fears. Only 15 people will step each time into the house and for a certain period of time but worry not, the installation will be on until October 23 and the €15 tickets can be booked online at www.onceinabluemoon.eu.

On Friday a lecture in English by Greek artist Giorgos Kevrekidis will take place at the Municipal Gallery titled Visualizing Individuality. In a short 35-minute lecture starting at 6.30pm, the artist will talk about visualising individuality as a means of better approaching, forming and interpreting certain social behaviours.

Another exhibition will also open: The Oscillation of Opposites in the Houses of the Sky, a solo showcase of Italian artist Stefania Pennacchio’s work, the only guest artist of this Biennale edition. Held at the Multispace of Creativity and Culture from Saturday to October 25 this mixed media exhibition tells of the meeting on the edge between the conscious and the unconscious of sexual energies and their sacred-symbolic decoding in the archaic Hellenic and pre-Hellenic cultures.

The installation that visitors will encounter will consist, in addition to two monolithic statues, of three water basins suspended on tripods and the short film The Oscillation of Opposites, shot in the alleys of Ortigia, Sicily.

Ending this week’s parallel events is the AQPP Festival on Sunday 17 at Larnaca’s Artist Quarter. Open studios, guided tours from Larnaca Tourism Board, art interventions, performances and a music and Open Mic event will take place at the Piale Pasha area between 5.30pm and 9.30pm. Visitors will be able to discover the works of five artists, explore the town through guided walks and take part in the open mic night. Serving drinks and food will be Pop The Revolution, Ammos Beach Bar, Mighty Kitchen Old Market St. and The Potbelly.

Once in a Blue Moon

Experimental installation and photography exhibition. October 14-23. Loulou’s House, 21 Chrystodoulou Iakovidi Larnaca. 7pm-10pm. 45 minutes. €15. www.onceinabluemoon.eu

Visualizing Individuality

Lecture by Greek artist Giorgos Kevrekidis. October 15. Larnaca Municipal Gallery. 6.30pm. In English. Free

The Oscillation of Opposites in the Houses of the Sky

Solo exhibition of Italian artist Stefania Pennacchio. October 16-25. Multispace of Creativity and Culture, Larnaca. Opening day: 7.30pm. Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm, Saturday: 10am – 6pm. Free

AQPP Festival

Open studios, guided tours from Larnaca Tourism Board, art interventions, performances and a music and Open Mic event. October 17. Artist Quarter, Piale Pasha area, Larnaca. 5.30pm-9.30pm. Free