A house in Limassol, once quiet and private, opens its doors this month to host the exhibition Rising Star, Loukia Nicolaidou — a thoughtful and layered return to the birthplace of one of Cyprus’ most significant yet under-acknowledged modern painters.

In this context, a series of events and an intergenerational workshop will be organised between Friday and May 25, funded by the Toolkit of Care programme of the European COST organisation. 

Located at 65 Irinis Street, the home is more than just the exhibition setting. It’s where Nicolaidou was born and raised, and the space she left behind in 1929 when she departed for Paris to study art. The house is also where, decades later in 1987, many of her paintings were rediscovered — a moment that reignited interest in her pioneering work.

Now, the house becomes both an anchor and a vessel for a curatorial narrative that treats the exhibition not as a static display but as a space of exchange, dialogue and re-reading.

The exhibition unfolds inside a temporary structure within the partly restored house, designed in collaboration with lovenlight. This shell-within-a-shell concept transforms the building into a passage — not only through the artworks but also through stories, memories and critical questions about how we relate to the modern in Cyprus today. Works from the private collection of the Koraes family — including some on public view for the first time — take centre stage in a display that favours conversation over chronology.

Taking its title from a 1932 French newspaper article that described Nicolaidou as a “rising star” after her participation in the Salon d’Automne, the exhibition contrasts the international recognition she once received with the indifference her work met in Cyprus in the years that followed. That contrast still echoes today.

To deepen the experience, a commissioned experimental audio documentary by Loizos Olympios, Ecstasy, Charm, will be presented on May 23 at the Limassol Municipal Art Gallery (6pm-9.30pm). Dense, layered and deliberately non-linear, it offers a sonic counterpoint to Nicolaidou’s visual work, drawing on official and personal archives.

An intergenerational workshop led by museum educator Elena Panayiotou follows on May 24, inviting participants aged 5 and up to explore the exhibition through sound, story and play. Held in three one-hour sessions, it encourages co-creation and the exchange of perspectives across generations. Bookings are essential via the online form.

Finally, an open exhibition tour and discussion takes place on May 25 (7pm-8.30pm), welcoming visitors to reflect on Nicolaidou’s legacy and the curatorial process behind the show.

Rising Star, Loukia Nikolaidou

Exhibition on Loukia Nicolaidou’s art at her family home.Workshops and audio documentary included. May 16-18 and 23-25. 65 Irinis Street, Limassol. 6pm-9.30pm. facebook event: Rising Star, Loukia Nikolaidou