ArtCargo unveils performance programme for downtown Nicosia, October 16–25

Nicosia, Cyprus. ArtCargo has announced the performance programme for its first festival in the capital, taking place in downtown Nicosia from October 16 to 25. Artists from Cyprus and abroad will use public spaces for circus, participatory performances and installations.

Free events across the old town

The programme includes performances on trees, acts involving 300 wine glasses, performances 12 metres above the ground and interventions that depend on audience participation.

All events will have free admission with support from Exness, BFF, Nicosia Municipality and Mellow. Performances will take place across the old town’s streets and squares, inviting passersby to become spectators and participants and exploring the boundaries between artists, audiences and everyday life.

The festival will announce the exact locations of all performances soon.

A participatory performance in a tree

French company L’Immediat will present Definition of an Artwork as an Act of Confidence in an Audience on October 16 at 3.30pm and 5pm, and October 17 at noon and 4pm.

Using a tree as its stage, the performance brings together an artist and a musician in an experience in which watching, holding and being held gradually become interconnected.

Dance and media on a water screen

Parapmetric Deep, ArtCargo Festival’s Signature Installation, is a dance and media installation on a water screen, created as a special co-production with Cypriot choreographer Panos Malactos.

It places a dancer within a changing environment of water, light, movement and algorithms. The ten-minute loop will run daily at 7pm throughout the festival, except on October 19 and 20.

Street comedy with El Goma

Argentine-born, Germany-based performer Juan Gomez, whose stage name is El Goma, will present The Atari Show.

The one-man street comedy show uses failure as its central theme. With a suitcase and a device loaded with cinematic sounds and effects, El Goma combines juggling, visual comedy, dance and fast-paced improvisation as everyday situations descend into absurd chaos.

Performances are scheduled for October 17 at 2pm and 6pm, and October 18 at 3pm and 5pm.

A circus duet balancing hundreds of glasses

Juggler and handstand artist Stina Otterström and Arttu Lahtinen, a contemporary circus duet from Swedish company OLO, will perform Soft Spot.

The work turns an everyday object into a partner, obstacle and threat. The performers manipulate, stack and balance hundreds of glasses on wooden planks in an act centred on precision, trust and balance.

The performance explores vulnerability and danger, with the possibility of collapse remaining present throughout. It will take place on October 17 at 3pm and 5pm, and October 18 at 4pm and 6pm.