Fresh talents take deep dive into history of Larnaca

Larnaka 2030 is underway with its latest project: Needle, a new, multidisciplinary artistic residency with six artists that has been flourishing through Zouhouri Square since March 29 before culminating in an all-day festival on May 12 to celebrate. Accompanying Needle’s artistic residency is a series of curated open discussions and parallel events titled Needle & Thread Talks to warm audiences up before Needle’s festival in May.

Envisioned as a harmonious convergence of inspiration and fresh talents from Larnaca and Famagusta, Needle’s six resident artists represent four art disciplines who are taking a deep dive into the city’s history from ancient times until the modern day. Their canvas is the very soul of Larnaca itself. The entire experience will culminate in a one-day festival that will have Zouhouri Square burst into a kaleidoscope of new art reimagining Larnaca’s cultural identity and highlighting the “need [for] all” to unite through culture.

Needle was initiated by Giorgos Antoniou, who together with team members Rania Kapitani, Christos Liperis and George Ioannides, won first prize in Be.CULTOUR, a Horizon Europe project run by ANETEL (Larnaca & Famagusta District Development Agency), focussing on sustainable human-centred innovations in circular cultural tourism.

Through Larnaka 2030’s public consultations, Antoniou began working on Needle in collaboration with cultural producer Maria Kaimaklioti of the initiative SCALA before sharing the idea with the Phivos Stavrides Foundation and Larnaka 2030 to support Needle’s active implementation.

“Needle is a social and artistic experiment that aims to tackle the cultural identity crisis faced on the island by embracing and exploring our cultural heritage,” Antoniou said.

Tomorrow, the open discussion Innovating Cultural Heritage will be held at Common Ground at 7pm bringing together the Phivos Stavrides Foundation, Larnaca Cultural Foundation, and the Larnaca & Ammochostos District Development Agency. Next Thursday the talk Mobility and Artists in Export & Jam Explosion will take place discussing international co-creation and touring for Cypriot musicians and performing artists. Following the 7pm talk, a live jam music session will take place at Zouhouri Square welcoming musicians and performing artists. Another event will occur on May 2 to share updates on the Needle artists’ work in progress before the festival takes place in mid-May.

Needle & Thread Talks

Talk series events with artists. April 17-May 2. Common Ground, Larnaca. www.facebook.com/needleresidency