Open Call APOSTAXIS

About the Project

Apply here.

Find the open call in Ukrainian language here. 

For those who are displaced, some things fit in a suitcase, while traditions from family, friends, or neighbourhoods are remembered: shaping conscious and subconscious ways of living our lives. APOSTAXIS recognises the need to distill what is important for resilience and solidarity when rebuilding in new contexts. It comprises residences, co-creation workshops and exhibitions in Ukraine and Cyprus, exploring resonances between these territories’ histories of internal and external displacement.

Under pressure from the war, public consciousness has been raised on the importance of keeping hold of tangible and intangible Ukrainian heritage that might be lost, while Cyprus has been dealing with the heritage of loss in multiple ways over the last 50 years.

Just as Apostaxis (gr) distills essence from the boiling points of component parts, APOSTAXIS recognises the trauma of enforced displacement and the need to distill what is important for resilience and solidarity when rebuilding in new contexts.

Against this background, APOSTAXIS brings together 3 artists from Ukraine and 1 from Cyprus to foster cross-border exchanges on displacement through:

• 20-day joint residencies in Ternopil (UA) and Larnaca (CY) culminating in public presentations. The residency in Ternopil will host 2 UA artists and the residency in Larnaca will host 1 CY and 1 UA artist
• An exhibition for all 4 artists in Larnaca
• A digital exhibition

Artists will research historic and recent displacement, gathering knowledge on how people managed their lives amid these changes and worked to preserve traditions and intangible cultural heritage. APOSTAXIS asks: how can this knowledge help in rebuilding new lives?

The project APOSTAXIS is implemented in the framework of ZMINA:Resilience, a cooperation between IZOLYATSIA (UA), Malý Berlín (SK) with support of Trans Europe Halles (SE). Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
About the Open Call
We are looking for 4 visual artists with participatory practices: 3 Ukrainian, 1 Cypriot (from all Cypriot communities) with lived experience or heritage of displacement.

We are looking for artists with a genuine motivation to join the Apostaxis process, to explore shared histories through artistic expression, to conduct meaningful research, and to help shape therapeutic practices that speak to common experiences of displacement.

Our expectation

Artists with experience in research-based or community-engaged practice, working with archive or live witnessing, documentation or non-fiction storytelling.

To apply, we ask you to fill out this short form with personal information and upload the following documents:

• CV
• Portfolio or a link to your artistic page (website, social media, artistic account)
• Motivation letter with the expression of Interest (Why do you want to participate? What do you want to focus on? What result do you expect to achieve?)
• For Ukrainian artists, to choose the residency you wish to participate in (NVAIR – Ternopil region, Ukraine or D6:EU – Cyprus; you can also choose both options)

Process & Timeline

Open Call: 15-26 July, 2026
Applications open 15 July and close at midnight on 26 July.

Shortlisted artists will be invited to interview on 29 July, with final decisions made 30 July.

Recruitment & Contracting:

September, 2026

• Contracting and an online meeting with the curatorial team.
• Monthly meetings connect all 4 artists as they develop and present new work throughout the process.

Joint Residencies: 6-28 October, 2026

• 2 joint residencies develop new research and cross-border dialogues on displacement. Facilitated through local cross-sector partners supporting Ukrainian communities, artistic research will include interviews, site visits, and workshops with Ukrainian residents. Each residency concludes with a public presentation targeting local audiences.

In Cyprus: 1 UA and 1 CY artist will be hosted by D6:EU, with a final event at Obimii, Larnaca.

In Ukraine: 2 displaced UA artists will be hosted at CoCA’s NVAIR residency, with a final event at Ternopil Regional Art Museum.

Post-production: November, 2026

• Artists refine their residency experiences to develop new work for exhibition.

Digital Exposition: December, 2026

• Bringing together all 4 artists’ work to reach a wider online audience.

Exhibition: January 2027

• Hosted at Obiimiy, Larnaca, and curated by Lucy Nychai, working closely with the 4 artists. The exhibition will draw threads between international contexts shaped by displacement.

Artistic fees and support:

The APOSTAXIS project will provide:

• Artist Fee: €1800 (including tax) / equivalent sum in Hryvnia for Ukrainian Artists (with exchange rate at the moment of payment)
• Production Budget: €300
• Local and international travel from the address provided in the application form
• Accommodation and subsistence for the residency and final exhibition.
• Online and offline support of research
• Curation of both the digital and offline exhibitions

We wish to bring all artists to the final exhibition in Larnaca, but if artists have any restrictions due to the war or personal reasons preventing travel, that is NOT a reason not to apply. We are open to having residents in Ukraine and presenting them and their projects in a hybrid format.

About the residency locations:

NVAIR, Ukraine
Web page, Instagram, Facebook 
Photos of the location. 

D6EU, Cyprus
Web page, Instagram, Facebook 

Context

Global displacement requires a re-evaluation of international cultural relations. The residencies will facilitate cross-cultural conversations around historical and current contexts of displacement in each region, exploring European common ground. This will foster long-term relations between artists, cultural and community NGOs, contributing to Ukraine’s broader European integration.

Addressing the need to support displaced artists, APOSTAXIS includes residences and community engagement in Ternopil, UA and Larnaca, CY, connecting regions of Europe that experienced internal and external displacement:

Beyond the displacement from the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Lemkos, an ethnic Ukrainian subgroup, were forcibly resettled from Poland to Ukraine between 1944 and 1946, experiencing intense, coerced displacement. The 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus divided the island, displacing over 250k from Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities (c.30% of total population) with the ongoing post-conflict politics of displacement shaping day-to-day realities on the island.