Psychology Week at Biennale explores memory and nostalgia

The doors to Larnaca Biennale 2023 have opened and its first themed week is here focusing on Home and the mind, the psyche. The parallel events of Psychology Week – the first of the five themed weeks of the Biennale – explore the different facets of Home dealing with matters of the heart, the mind and the body.

Kickstarting the week’s four parallel events is Threads on Home, a lecture series in English taking place every Tuesday evening at The Living Room. Every week, the Larnaca Biennale curator will invite a guest speaker to give a lecture on the different perspectives of this year’s theme Home Away from Home.

On Tuesday, Dr Christakis Peristianis will offer insights into the topic, drawing from his seven-year PhD research on the concept of ‘home’. The lecture will take place in English at 7pm, led by the curator Yev Kravt and is free to attend (registrations needed).

Then, two guided journaling workshops titled Reflections of Home will follow on Wednesday in English and Saturday in Greek. Facilitated by The.Curious.Curly, the two-hour workshops will take participants on a journey of introspection and creativity using guided journaling exercises and hands-on activities to discover the different meanings of ‘home’. Through the meditative art of writing by hand, similar to the act of keeping a diary, the workshops aim to bring the group closer to their thoughts and feelings. Taking place for free, the workshops are now fully booked but a waiting list is open.

A contemporary dance performance will take place at Larnaca Municipal Theatre on Friday at 8pm titled Pothen Ise? This choreographic piece asks Where are you from? and explores the idea of identity and belonging in the quest of finding home. Touching on ancestral roots, music with folkloric characteristics of Slavic and Mediterranean countries and movement that draws inspiration from Hellenistic and Slavic symbols, the piece deconstructs the idea of home.

The final performance of the week is a site-specific dance performance. Titled To Kouti, the performance is a kind of dance walk which will take place in central Larnaca on Saturday (6.30pm) and Sunday (5.30pm and 7.30pm). Presented by Fibre Performing Arts, it invites audiences to follow the dancers on a contemporary dance walk that will reveal personal boxes the performers carry. To Kouti will be performed again at other locations on November 4 and 5. This weekend its route will take place near St Lazarus church and the meeting point is only revealed to those who buy tickets.

Larnaca Biennale

3rd edition of international art event with parallel events and exhibitions. Until November 24. Throughout Larnaca. www.larnacabiennale.com