Annual Open Call for Cypriot
and Cypriot diaspora artists
SYNO invites Cypriot and Cypriot diaspora artists to apply to its Open Call. Shortlisted artists will receive dedicated public profiles on the platform and will be featured through editorial formats, including dialogues with internationally recognized curators and critics. Finalists will also receive an unrestricted cash prize.
Applications open May 14
Application deadline August 31
Jury review September
Shortlist and finalists announced End of October
Jury
-
Kyle Dancewicz
Kyle Dancewicz is Deputy Director at SculptureCenter in New York, which he joined in 2016 as Exhibition and Programme Manager. He is also curator of the Cyprus Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. -
Hicham Khalidi
Hicham Khalidi has been Director of the Jan van Eyck Academie since 2018. In 2024, he curated the Dutch Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Previously, he worked as Associate Curator at Lafayette Anticipations and held curatorial roles for the Sharjah Biennial, the Biennale of Sydney, and the Marrakech Biennale. -
Elena Ketelsen González
Elena Ketelsen González is a curator, writer, and educator currently serving as Associate Curator at MoMA PS1. Previously, she held curatorial and programming positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Gracie Mansion Conservancy, and the Museum of the City of New York. She is also the founder of the grassroots curatorial initiative La Salita. -
Elena Stylianou
Elena Stylianou is Director of NiMAC and Associate Professor in Art History and Theory at European University Cyprus. She has curated exhibitions including Repetitive Acts, In the Sea of the Setting Sun, and Ar(t)chaeology, and co-edited several important publications on Cypriot contemporary art and visual culture. -
Ioulita Toumazi
Ioulita Toumazi is a Cypriot art theorist, curator, and writer. Her texts have appeared in exhibition catalogues, artists’ books, and platforms dedicated to art criticism.
Awards
of €3,500
Three finalists in each category — emerging and established artists — will be selected, with each receiving an award of €3,500. In addition, up to 10 shortlisted artists will be featured on the website through editorial formats, including dialogues with internationally recognized curators and critics.
All shortlisted artists will also be featured in the SYNO Yearbook, to be published by the end of 2026.
Art Map
A comprehensive, regularly updated guide to artist-run spaces, museums, galleries, festivals, regular and pop-up exhibitions, and more across Cyprus
About
SYNO is a contemporary art institution based in Limassol, Cyprus, dedicated to humanism, pluralism, and non-extractive cultural collaboration
Launching through a year-long soft launch in 2026, SYNO will introduce its core platforms — including the Cyprus Contemporary Art Map, the Curated Cyprus Artist Registry, and the Yearbook — and will present selected initiatives publicly at Vima Art Fair in May 2026.
Rooted in Cyprus’s histories of coexistence and shaped by its diverse contemporary communities, SYNO operates as a living infrastructure for making, learning, and co-creation — a framework where cultural work develops through reciprocity and respect for individual agency.
SYNO’s growth is incremental and open: the foundation will continue to evolve beyond 2026, shaped by relationships and feedback developed throughout its soft-launch year