CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
The Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, associated with the Pierides Foundation [NiMAC] invites artists to apply for a six-week Summer Residency Program, with title “In Praise of Shadows” dedicated to fostering creative experimentation, dialogue, and exchange. Located in the heart of Nicosia, the program provides NiMAC’s spaces for artists to work on-site for the whole duration of the residency, a supportive environment for artists to develop their practice, and technical support to materialize their ideas and projects. The Summer Residencies @ NiMAC are a unique opportunity for artists to work in a shared gallery space, develop a community of practice, and explore new artistic directions.
- Title: In Praise of Shadows
The NiMAC Summer Residency Program aims to offer space for diverse art projects to evolve in an open studio format, with the potential to be informed by professional visits, and favoring an open-ended process rather than a rigid framework.
- Duration: 6 weeks (June 15 – July 26, 2026)
- Open Studio / Final Presentation: TBA (between July, 27-31)
- Location: NiMAC, Nicosia
- Who Can Apply: Emerging and established visual artists
Rationale:
The In Praise of Shadows 2026 – Summer Residencies @ NiMAC approaches darkness not as the absence of light, but as a distinct condition that transforms the way we perceive the world. Drawing on Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s essay of the same title, the program considers shadow as a field of understanding, where detail, materiality, and relationships emerge through ambiguity rather than through full visibility.
The residency program thus adopts darkness, shadows, and night not as a romantic or anachronistic choice, but as a research framework. When the rest of the world sleeps, cities take on a different dynamic: movement thins out, sounds deepen, and the atmosphere acquires a particular density that is not about romanticizing nocturnal silence, but about a shift in human perception. At the same time, darkness can be understood as an ecosystem, as during the night plants, animals, and insects become active and reshape the environment. Smells emerge as temperatures drop, sounds multiply in space, and forms of life that go unnoticed during the day appear as fleeting presences. The body becomes activated differently and the senses readjust. Most importantly, in darkness vision is limited, creating space for other forms of interaction: memory, attention, and imagination take on a greater role. The emphasis, therefore, is not on the “atmosphere” of the night, but on the possibilities that arise when dominant visibility recedes.
At the same time, the program positions darkness as a critical lens for understanding contemporary social and political conditions. In an era of constant exposure, image production, and enforced visibility, shadow functions as a space of resistance, where questions of invisibility, exclusion, and silence emerge. It also acknowledges the symbolic dimension of darkness as a metaphor for forms of cultural and political obscurantism, highlighting issues of access, representation, and the empowerment of marginalized voices. Through this dual approach, the program proposes darkness as a point of departure for artistic research and for exploring new ways of being and relating.
What happens when we cease to exist within this framework of continuous exposure? What can be discovered in silence? How can the uncertainty produced by lack of clarity evoke a sense of danger while also bringing forth thoughts that might not otherwise be expressed? And how might shadows function as a liberating force or connect us to our environment in different ways?
What does the program offer:
- Studio Space: Artists will be allocated space in the galleries of NiMAC, which will be transformed into open studios for the duration of the residency. Working surfaces (tables, chairs will be offered). Artists will be responsible for bringing their own materials and specialized equipment, ensuring compliance with health and safety guidelines while respecting the shared workspace.
- Technical support: Artists will have technical support and access to NiMAC’s audio-visual equipment.
- Workshops: Artists will have access to NiMAC’s workshop areas and facilities (i.e. printmaking facilities, engraving facilities, construction lab) with the support of NiMAC’s technical team during their working hours (Monday to Friday, 8:00 – 15:00).
- Mentorship & Critique: Opportunities for studio visits and feedback from curators and art professionals will be organised.
- Public Engagement: During the six weeks of the residency program informal “Meet the Artists” events will be organized, during which the artists-in-residence will have the opportunity to share their projects and practice with the public. Exact date/time TBA after consultation with the artists in residence.
- Networking Opportunities: Interaction with other artists and curators.
- Open Studio / Exhibition Final Event: Artists will have the opportunity to exhibit / present their process and final work during a celebratory pre-summer event open to the public.
Artist Fee: 1000 euros
Working Hours:
NiMAC will be open for the artists to work during the following hours:
Monday – Tuesday: 8:00 – 15:00
Wednesday – Saturday: 8:00 – 20:00
Expectations:
Artists-in-residence are encouraged to develop new work, conduct research, or explore site-specific projects. At the end of the residency, participants will have the opportunity to share their work through a public presentation/ exhibition in an open studio format event.
Selection Process:
Artists will be selected through a competitive application process. Interested applicants must submit a proposal as indicated below, which will be reviewed by a selection committee. Selection will be based on artistic merit, relevance to the residency’s theme/title, and the feasibility of the proposed project.
Selection Committee:
Dr Elena Stylianou, Director of NiMAC
Dr Stylianou is the Director of NiMAC [Nicosia Municipal Arts Center, associated with the Pierides Foundation] and Associate Professor in Art and Art History at European University Cyprus. She researches, writes, and curates at the crossings of the history and theory of photography, modern and contemporary art, and museum and curatorial practices. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes and is the co-editor of Contemporary Art from Cyprus: Politics, Identities and Cultures Across Borders (Bloomsbury, Spring 2021), Ar(t)chaeology: Intersections of Art and Archaeology (IAPT Press, 2019), and Museums and Photography: Displaying Death (Routledge, 2018). She is a recipient of numerous awards and grants, including a Getty-CAA grant, a Fulbright scholarship, and an ArtTable Curatorial Fellowship. She has curated several exhibitions in Cyprus and is the lead researcher in many EU funded projects on cultural heritage.
Marina Christodoulidou
Marina Christodoulidou is a curator and art theorist whose practice involves curatorial approaches aimed at creating critical infrastructures and communal spaces through participatory processes. Since 2014, she has participated in interdisciplinary programmes, exhibitions, and research projects rooted in the fields of visual and performing arts, architecture, film, and socially engaged practices. Between 2014 and 2019, she was a member of the curatorial team of the Cyprus Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Taking as a starting point the question set by the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, How Will We Live Together?, Marina co-curated the Cyprus Pavilion in 2021 with the project Anachoresis: Upon Inhabiting Distances. Among others, she has co-organised collective research projects addressing translocal social issues, including the ongoing projects The Broken Pitcher (2022–) and Hope is a Discipline (2023–).
Marina has participated in residency programmes and conferences in Cyprus and internationally, as well as in the curation and facilitation of similar initiatives. In 2023, she joined the de Appel Curatorial Programme, where she was later appointed curatorial fellow (2024–2026), collaborating on a series of artistic projects. Since 2023, she has been teaching at the nomadic postgraduate programme of the Dutch Art Institute at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Drawn to reimagining cooperative infrastructures and forms of place-making, she co-founded pitcherzzz, a Cyprus-based initiative, together with Natascha Sadr Haghighian. Marina was recently appointed artistic director of the Limassol Municipal Arts Centre – Apothikes Papadaki.
Ioulita Toumazi
Ioulita Toumazi is a writer, curator and art theorist based in Nicosia. Her current research revolves around language, memory and fiction, with a particular focus on the Cypriot context. She has (co-)curated exhibitions at art spaces such as NiMAC, GARAGE, and Thkio Ppalies. She co-founded and co-runs Fisherwomxn with Miriam Gatt and Seta Astreou Karides. In her writing, she seeks a more intimate and creative language to approach theory. She holds an MA in History of Art from UCL and a BA in Liberal Arts from the University of Kent.
Alexey Yurenev
Alexey Yurenev is an artist, visual researcher, and educator whose work explores the intersections of memory, technology, and production of knowledge. He is an adjunct associate professor in the visual arts MFA Program at Columbia University and a faculty member at the International Center of Photography (ICP). His work has been exhibited internationally at venues including FOAM (Amsterdam), Palazzo Poggi Museum (Bologna), Hangar (Brussels), MOMus Modern/Costakis Collection (Thessaloniki), and Rencontres d’Arles. He is the author of the book Seeing Against Seeing (2025). Yurenev’s projects have been featured in The New York Times, National Geographic, Literary Hub, and Topic. His work is held in collections such as Johns Hopkins University Special Collections, FOAM Museum, and the Anti-Krieg Museum. He has been recognized by Photographer of the Year International and received the Silurian Society Award for excellence in arts and culture journalism. He has also been nominated for an Emmy Award and the FOAM Paul Huf Award. Yurenev is currently enrolled in Fulbright specialist program and is on the advisory board of Art Works Projects. He is the co-founder of FOTODEMIC, an online platform for innovative visual strategies, and the founder and executive producer of Living Room, a monthly public program for ICP alumni.
How to Apply:
Applicants should submit a single PDF file (in English) including:
- A CV and short bio (maximum 3 pages)
- A portfolio (maximum of 30 pages including website link if applicable)
- A brief proposal outlining the project and goals for residency (500-700 words) within the context of the themes of “In the Praise of Shadows” as outlines above. If there are specific technical support requirements, these should be indicated in the proposal.
- Send your proposal to: info@nimac.org.cy and with Subject: Summer Residencies 2026. For any inquiries, please contact us at +357 22797394 during office hours (Mοn-Fri 8:30-15:00).
Important Dates:
Deadline for Applications: May 10, 2026
(Applications submitted after the above date will be considered late and will not be reviewed)
Notifications to artists: May 25, 2026
Beginning of Residency: June 15, 2026
End of Residency: July 26, 2026
Open Studio / final presentation: TBA (between July 27–31, 2026)