CYENS Art Residency

Between September and December 2024, I took part in the CYENS Residency Programme as an artist-in-residence. For the first time, it was organised in partnership with different research labs, thus six artists came to Nicosia to do their artistic explorations. I was lucky enough to be selected to take part in the residency programme in collaboration between ▶▶ CYENS, ▶▶ Thinker Maker Space, and ▶▶ EdMedia.

During my residency, I’ve started my research on the topic of “future design” and created a tool to talk about it - the social artist game ▶“Our Future Is Somewhere Here”. It is a social artistic game for people who are interested in exploring potential future scenarios and are open to asking themselves questions about the relation between past, present, and future. It is a tool for people to have valuable conversations without fighting about today's hot topics.

Residency

My residency lasted between 24th of September and 20th of December 2024. It took place at the ThinkerMaker Space in Nicosia and was coordinated by Stella Taousiani. I had weekly meetings with Eleni Pashia from EdMedia research lab, who was a great support to me during the whole time. Together with Sonia Andreou, the organised the first game playing session in Limassol.

Game playing session in Limassol

Hosted by EdMedia at the Cyprus Interaction Lab in Limassol. The game was played by four players, who tested the first prototype and gave me valuable feedback on the gameplay and their overall experience.

Exhibition

The opening of the CYENS Artist Residency Program Showcase was on the 13th of December, and each artist presented their work. For the exhibition, I’ve created an installation: a game set for visitors to play the game, an info spot with additional resources for the game, and a video that presents the concept of the game. This event was a celebration of the end of our residency at CYENS - a celebration of creativity, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Game session at the gallery

During the exhibition, there was a 1-hour game playing session. Together with three more players, we tried out the game and had fascinating conversations while exploring how our backgrounds influenced the future scenarios we’ve been collecting.