Meet the speakers and artists presenting ideas and discussions on colonial heritage and environmental stewardship.

Public conference – 24 January 2025 | Larnaca, Cyprus

Speakers

Clymene Christoforou, Co-Director, D6:EU​

Clymene Christoforou has a long history of cultural development and has led a number of international, multi-partnered programmes. She advocates for putting art and culture at the heart of public debate and decision-making; putting this into practice as trainer for the British Council to develop cultural partnerships between the UK and Ukraine, and as Lead Expert for UCLG’s Pilot Cities and Eleusis 2023, a project that helps cities to develop cultural policies to support sustainable development. She is a Board Member of On the Move, which supports artists and professionals to operate internationally, an active member (former board member) of Culture Action Europe, an inaugural member of Disorderly Women – the European Alliance of Women Leaders in Culture, and more recently as an expert for the Asia Europe Foundation.

Maria Hadjimichael, the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute

Maria Hadjimichael (PhD) is a Senior Associate Scientist at the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute, working in the interdisciplinary field of marine and coastal governance. Her work on blue degrowth has become key reading in discussions around the blue economy and the importance of ensuring we understand the limits to growth that exist at sea.  Maria has extensive academic and research experience, including a number of interdisciplinary EU research programmes.

Portrait of Argyro

Argyro Toumazou, Co-Director, D6:EU

Argyro Toumazou is an experienced cultural producer of socially engaged cultural activities and art practices. She has collaborated closely with artists’ groups, communities and Cypriot NGOs, and has extensive expertise in multi-communal art initiatives. She is a founding board member and cultural advisor to the Gardens of the Future community garden in Nicosia, a European Winner of the New European Bauhaus Prize 2022 – People’s Choice Award, and is  co-creator of  the New Forest in the Skouriotissa – a reforestation project. Over the last five years she has been lobbying for the interests of the visual arts community in collaboration with visual arts NGOs in Cyprus and in dialogue with the Department of Contemporary Culture of the Cyprus Ministry of Culture.

Artists panel

Portrait of Andrea in Black and White. She is framed between two blurred figures.

Andrea Carter, D6:EU - chair of the artists panel discussion

Andrea Carter is a visual arts producer working in the field of cultural heritage and socially engaged arts for nearly twenty years. Based in the North East of England, Andrea has worked for cultural organisations including Northern Architecture, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and Northumberland Museums (now North East Museums) and nationally with Tricolor Associates. She is a Board Member of Dingy Butterflies, a social enterprise developing creative community projects in Gateshead. As Lead Producer at D6, Andrea has led on artistic engagement and research, audiences and ethics for D6’s international programmes, including Contested Desires and ASSEMBLE, which supports the professional development of artists whose practice has been impacted by exile, displacement and migration.

Portrait of Sümer Erek

Sümer Erek - Contested Desires artist

Sümer Erek is a multidisciplinary artist born in Cyprus, who currently lives and works between the UK and Cyprus. His practice is informed by his lived experience of displacement, trauma and a longing for new futures. His work includes paintings, installations, performances and participatory practices, often conducted in public spaces. He has exhibited his work internationally, including at biennials, exhibitions and site-specific interventions.

After starting his studies at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, he moved to London, where he completed his Bachelor’s degree and postgraduate studies in Sculpture at Central St. Martins, and later received his Master’s in Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TRAIN) at University of the Arts London.

Andreas Mallouris - Contested Desires artist

Andreas Mallouris’ research and work encompass sculpture, painting, drawings, installation, video and performance. It concerns the position of the body in relation to its history, mythologies, hierarchies and queer politics and memory. He was born in Nicosia, and lives and works in Nicosia and Athens. He is a visual artist and holds a Bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Fine Arts from the University of West of England, Bristol and a Master’s in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London.

He is a Board Certified Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeon who trained in plastic surgery in Athens and London and has been awarded a PhD in Plastic Surgery. He is a co-founder and director of Koraï project space, an artist-run space in Nicosia that has been active since 2017.

Amaia Molinet - Contested Desires artist

Amaia Molinet’s photographic and site-specific installation works explore territory, borders, belonging and historical memory. She develops works collaboratively, with recent projects engaging archaeologists, feminist researchers, witch-artists and tour guides. She lives and works in Bilbao and is a PhD Candidate at the University Basque Country and an Associated Artist at Azkuna Zentroa-Alhondiga Bilbao (2024-2025). She has carried out site specific projects and residencies in the Western Sahara, Iceland, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Chile, Argentina, France and Spain.

For Contested Desires, Amaia’s photographic work will explore the introduction of non-human species as a result of postcolonial practices informed by her country’s colonial past – from the invasive species brought back from North and South America and planted by Basque workers to the parrots taken from Argentina that now populate Madrid and Barcelona.

Rocío Paz Guerrero Marín - Contested Desires artist

Rocío Guerrero’s practice emphasises sharing, listening and presence through objects, installations and social practice. She explores the interplay between bodies, environments and language, examining how relationships shape our understanding of the world. Recently, she has focused on collective artistic processes with diverse communities, creating safe spaces for mutual learning. During her Contested Desires residency in Portugal, Rocío aims to delve into environmental issues by engaging with the Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência (MUNHAC)’s natural history collections and education department. She seeks to harness these resources to develop narratives that amplify marginalised voices and foster a deeper understanding of environmental colonialism.

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