Coronavirus: Problems created by pandemic mean Cyprus won’t take part in Venice Biennale

Due to the pandemic and problems that arose because of it, Cyprus will not participate this year in the Venice Biennale, the ministry of education announced on Sunday.

The special Advisory Committee for Selection found that it was not able to ensure the desired participation.

As a result, the committee will now work towards preparing participation for the next Biennale.

The ministry also said that processes have now been adopted to select and prepare the Cypriot participation in full transparency and in a way that will exclude procedures and practices that in the past have led to results that may have been disputed.

It added that the aim is to have on a permanent basis a broader list of people who have the necessary qualities and qualifications from whom four of the five members of the committee can be selected. This will avoid the ‘ad hoc’ selection of the procedure so far.

An internal administrative inquiry will be carried out to identify problems in the whole participation process and to correct them, the ministry statement added.