It is not very common for the world of circus arts to leave the streets and enter exhibition spaces, yet Larnaca welcomes a special event this month. EVOHK artist-run space, as part of Visual Voices’ Vis-à-Vis Nicosia programme, hosts Circus Box, a collaborative exhibition and performance by Gabriella Thoma, JugglingCyprus, and QuantumCircus.

Through a series of immersive installations, visual archives of the Cyprus Circus Initiatives, live performances and even circus training, the exhibition captures the rich heritage and contemporary pulse of circus arts, weaving together circus artefacts, local grassroots collectives and an immersive interactive environment that invites visitors to reframe how they see space and movement within a community.

Running at EVOHK from October 3 to 16, a series of events will take place to inform, broaden horizons, immerse and captivate visitors. Participating in the event cultural anthropologist, geographer and juggler with a special interest in the circus art as a transformative social tool Gabriella Thoma. She returned to Cyprus two years ago from Barcelona and is currently finishing her thesis in Human Geography and Spatial Planning.

Juggling Cyprus is a grassroots initiative that transforms an underutilised urban space – a public parking lot adjacent to Larnaca’s youth-built skate park – into a vibrant weekly meeting point for play, movement and community-building through juggling and flow arts.

Quantum Circus is a circus initiative that bloomed two years ago due to the need to create a circus act, and since then it has been growing constantly, with its main goal to bring circus art and discipline to the island of Cyprus. People from across the island are working to bring the two communities closer together through the art of circus, with events taking place on both sides of the divide.

The opening evening on Saturday, October 3 at 7.30pm, will feature two performances, finalising its opening day at the beach with fire playing. The installation will remain on display until October 16 for visitors to see how EVOHK is transformed into a mini Carpa in the heart of Larnaca, featuring rare circus objects, visual archives and circus-inspired art.

A roundtable conversation on October 9 will bring together Gabriella Thoma, Andria Spyrou from Quantum Circus, Jean Paul from Juggling Cyprus, and Eirene Constantinou, the founder of EVOHK and moderator, to discuss the art of circus as a tool for social intervention and its importance in contemporary Cyprus.

A juggling jam and training will take place twice, on October 6 and 13 at SK8 Park Larnaca, opening up the floor to those who want to get involved.

Circus Box

Exhibition, street performances and roundtable discussion on circus arts. By Gabriella Thoma, JugglingCyprus, and QuantumCircus. October 3-16. EVOHK, Larnaca. Opening night: 7.30pm. Monday and Thursday: 10am-2pm. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday: 3pm-7pm. www.evohkart.wixsite.com/arts/projects/circus-box