As Sessions at the State Gallery of Contemporary Art - SPEL are coming to an end, they welcome the public during the month of December for a new series of performances, screenings, improvisations, meetings, a bookbinding workshop and a guided tour. Meanwhile, the last weekly Cloud Transmissions meetings on Thursdays have many surprises in store.
FRIDAY, 1/12, 18:00, Rainbow Meetings (Organised by Accept)
Come join our meetings to talk about our experiences, worries, hopes and dreams. Socialise with like-minded LGBTQ people in an environment of security, confidentiality and mutual respect.
FRIDAY, 1/12, 19:00, Accept’s Soiree (Organised by Accept with Dj Marcos)
Accept invites you to a townhall-style gathering, where we will engage in discussions and exchange views with the community. During this event, we will provide an overview of the actions taken so far, discuss the current standing of the LGBTQI+ community in relation to the Cyprus government, outline our goals for the upcoming year, and explore the community’s expectations from our organisation. Additionally, we will share the initiatives we plan to undertake to enhance the well-being of the LGBTQI+ community.
The event will take the form of a soiree, featuring members of the Accept team who will lead discussions on various topics, including Education, Health, Trans Issues, Projects, and lobbying. The discussion will commence at 7 PM, while the evening will conclude with a house and disco music session by guest DJ Marcos.
Suggested donation: €3
SATURDAY, 2/12, 15:00-18:00, The Cerebral Gym presents: Zine workshop: How to make pamphlet stitch books (by Pinna Nobilis Bookworks)
The workshop is an introduction to one of the most common structures of making handcrafted books. Pamphlet binding is the easiest form of bookbinding. It is characterised by a single section folded in half, where all pages are held together using linen thread sewn in a specific pattern (3, 4, 5 or 6-hole techniques). In this workshop we will explore these variations of sewing techniques, which are beginner-friendly and a perfect introduction to bookbinding and zine making. Participants will create by hand using threads instead of stapling their own pamphlet books.
All materials and tools required will be provided. On completion each participant will make at least 3 - 4 hand-bound books. The workshop is aimed to all creatives, zine makers, artists, and paper aficionados.
Free participation
Registration required: https://forms.gle/ntXmG9yTSbZNS9rS7
SATURDAY, 2/12, 20:30, ΘΗΡΑΜΑ (by Αlexis Vassiliou)
In his new work 'ΤΗΙRAMA', Alexis Vassiliou continues the research he began in 2020 with the creation of the short film entitled ΕΓΚΑΤΑ. Τhe artist attempts to compose a rhythmic, acoustic and bodily ritual having as a dramaturgical axis the reenactment and embodiment of instincts and emotions.
Concept/Direction/Choreography: Alexis Vassiliou
Performers: Arianna Marcoulides, Loukia Pieridou, Βianca Casaburi, Rafael Candela, Hubert Mielke
Music score composition/development: Alexis Vassiliou
Music composition-instrumentation/Sound design: Marianna Michael
Voice coach: Cοnstantine Andronikou
Light design: Aleksandar Jotovic
Photo: Stelios Kallinikou
Graphic design: Philippos Vassiliades
Μain sponsor: Department of Modern and Contemporary Culture - Deputy Ministry of Culture-Cyprus
Tickets: €5
Reservations at 22479600
or online on https://forms.gle/ntXmG9yTSbZNS9rS7
SATURDAY, 9/12, 20:30, 22° halo (by Ichomagnetics)
The duo Ichomagnetic Thoughts (Antonia Kattou & Stelios Antoniou) unfold a platform titled ‘ichomagnetics’ that will engage in transdisciplinary interactions and happenings. Their first event, 22° halo, is co-curated with Nicola Mitropoulou.
22° halo is a sensorial flow within the bounds of Sessions x SPEL, an invitation to listen intently and gaze widely. Ichomagnetics beseech reflection — to absorb and re-emit. In kaleidoscopic sonic and visual interactions, whispers linger, transforming the terrestrial into a dreamscape of ethereal reverberations. Mirrors morph into liquid pools, where the image of self becomes a rippling surface – a perpetual metamorphosis. Echoes refract, bend and multiply.
In more honest and important words, speak up. Find the light to continue the fight. Not in our name. End the genocide. Free Palestine.
Curation: Ichomagnetic thoughts (Antonia Kattou, Stelios Antoniou) & Nicola Mitropoulou
Sound: Ιchomagnetic thoughts, George Bizios, Jφrg Holland, mystiki fleva (Antonia Kattou), Stelios Antoniou
Visuals: Orestis Telemachou, Khaled Khalifa, Ioanna Economidou, Nicola Mitropoulou
Tickets: €5
WEDNESDAY, 13/12, 20:30, Sssssinema: Faggy Films as Archiving Tools (Queer Wave x Cerebral Gym)
Publishing and sharing books, zines, magazines and other ephemera was a way that marginalised communities built networks prior to the arrival of the internet. Publishers faced criminalisation, censorship, difficulties in production and circulation yet queer printed matter played an important part in the histories of queer struggle.
The two films featured in Volume III of Faggy Films as Archiving Tools focus on queer publishing practices, the environments from which they sprung, and the conditions that made them necessary. The first film is an intimate portrait of the creator of the first openly queer comics published in Spain and the second traces the trajectory of the Greek Gay Liberation Movement and the magazine it published.
Curated by: Diego A. Aparicio & Loizos Olympios
The Garden of Fauns
Pol Merchan / 24’ / Germany, Spain / 2022
A short film retracing the life and work of Spain's Nazario Luque, groundbreaking queer artist and author of the first openly gay underground comic strips. Romantic and sharply provocative, The Garden of Fauns is an intimate portrait of a man who devoted his life to love and freedom, amplifying queer culture in a country still discovering its freedom after Franco's dictatorship.
AKOE/AMFI: The Story of A Revolution (*Just to Sleep on Their Chest…)
Iossif Vardakis / 71’ / Greece / 2023
Greece, 1977. A proposed law brings gay men and “transvestites” together in a historic event and sparks the creation of the first Greek LGBT movement. For the next 13 years, AKOE and its magazine AMFI, would define the way LGBT Greeks think about themselves. This film celebrates their story and legacy.
Tickets: €5
Reservations at 22479600
or online on https://forms.gle/ntXmG9yTSbZNS9rS7
FRIDAY, 15/12, 18:30, Fisherwomxn Thinking Stream #1 (Fisherwomxn)
On 15 December we invite you to join us in celebrating the launch of our fresh new journal. Fisherwomxn is a literary journal by womxn, working towards the decolonization of minds. This event will be the first iteration of a series of gatherings, aimed to create a space for sharing knowledge, cooking, listening, eating, writing, dancing, and thinking together.
7:00 pm Weaving our fishing nets, collective reading with Miriam Gatt and Ioulita Toumazi. Presentation of the first issue & open discussion around the role of literature in decolonising our minds.
8:30 pm Film screenings accompanied by food sharing of Aljotta (maltese soup).
Fisherwomxn is a literary journal by womxn against colonialism. The journal aims to deconstruct narratives that push and pull us from the places we call home. How can we bear the responsibility of regenerating our lands within our postcolonial realities? How can we find alternative spaces of refuge and commoning beyond the futility of nation states and other imperialistic structures? Each edition of Fisherwomxn invites a womxn to reflect on these questions through various forms of creative writing. These contemplations are continued with a series of gatherings that focus on study as a practice of resistance.
Free Entrance.
SATURDAY, 16/12, 20:30, Exercise in Light (by Androula & Circle of voices)
As our panting breaths converge
our spirits slowly merge
and in that oneness
suddenly we know:
we are part of a beginning,
not an end.
A live performance and collective meditation led by a circle of voices formed through a recent programme of open workshops at Sessions. Built around a series of sonic meditations which the audience is invited both to witness and enter into at its will, Exercise in Light explores the curing and radical potential of shared musical experience and sound-making, especially in times of collective despair—an experiment in common grief; an attempt at joint solace; a spell for hope.
Concept and direction: Androula Kafa
Performers: a circle of voices, Androula Kafa
Light design: Demetris Shammas
Graphics and garments: Nikos Stephou
Tickets: €5
Reservations at 22479600
or online on https://forms.gle/ntXmG9yTSbZNS9rS7
WEDNESDAY, 20/12, 19:30, Tour & Discussion Session by Dimitris & Lex
From Sapfous 6 to the State Gallery, the project of Sessions is an ongoing, improvised experiment. Dimitris & Lex will present the project through a tour in the building of SPEL, followed by an open discussion.
THURSDAY, 21/12, 20:30, Kakies Ginekes (by Endrosia)
“Dear diary,
The year is 2003. In the confines of a bedroom, a late night variety show, “BRAVO! ISE I XEIROTERI!” transmits a brash dream of media stardom, a symposium fronted by naughty spirits of abjection. Please, do excuse the ladies on stage. They are not actors, but they are full time kakies.”
The “performance” will be in Greek, followed by a DJ set by Kajares.
SATURDAY, 23/12, 11:00-14:00, Christmas Rainbows (Organised by Team Rainbow Families of Accept Cyprus)
Rainbow Families of Cyprus is thrilled to announce the first ever Christmas Party! We invite you to join us for a festive day brimming with joy and creativity. The event guarantees a diverse range of activities suitable for children of all ages, including arts and crafts, a display of children's books featuring LGBTQI+ families from around the world, and a book reading session.
Throughout the event, children will have the exciting opportunity to craft Christmas cards and ornaments, infusing a personal touch into the holiday season. Committed to fostering a sense of community and inclusivity, we would be delighted to share this festive experience with you. Feel free to bring friends and family to join in the festivities.
SUNDAY, 24/12, 20:30, Sessionmmas Eve with A Man to Pet
Be careful of what you wish for Christmas, you’ll never gonna get it, especially if A Man To Pet is around.
A Christmas tree, a star, a ghost and a clown…
You told your lover you needed space this Christmas instead of telling him you needed to separate. Pet will sort that out for you, but things are only about to get worse. Darlings! Bring your dancing shoes and your terrible sense of fashion. Yes you can judge art but the artist can judge you too 💋
A Man To Pet has been an asset of gay culture for 18 years, taking the vibe even higher by showing up and performing at some of the most important events in the city of London and around the world. Defying ugliness and beauty and always flirting with the concept of kitsch, the characters he animates in real life and also on stage are nothing but a mixture of his genuine eccentricity and silly, almost hilarious references.
Tickets: €5
Pre-sales available at the Cloud.
FRIDAY, 29/12, 16:00-00:00, Last Session: Pista Caca-Dada-Booboo
As Sessions x SPEL comes to a closure, we invite you to join us for one last jam at Pista Cacophonias. From 16:00 until midnight, we invite you to ride the waves of improvisation together with us and invited musicians, allowing for all that there is to be expressed to find its place. Videos and instagram stories will be collected on the spot, and edited live by Aggelos Charalambous. The 8-hour long sound recording and the video montage created by all of us on the day, will mark Sessions’ second collectively made movie.
No experience or preparation is needed.
Free participation.
*CLOUD TRANSMISSIONS EVERY THURSDAY 20:20 AT THE THEATRO
_______________________________________
STATE GALLERY OF CONTEMPORARY ART – SPEL
73 Ammochostou Street, 1016 Nicosia
Opening hours
Tuesday - Saturday 12:00–00:00
(closed on public holidays)
Information: T: 22479600, info@moca.org.cy , Facebook / Instagram: spelstategallery