The International Nicosia Festival closes on Friday with a photography exhibition capturing what happens in the moments before artists step onto the stage and immediately after they take their final bow.
“Peras,” by visual artist Nikolas Louka, features individual portraits of all artists who participated in the festival’s productions, photographed shortly before their performances and backstage afterwards.
The closing ceremony takes place at 20:00 on 9 January at Nicosia Municipal Theatre, followed by a closing party with a DJ set on stage after 22:00.
In the “before” images, the camera captures anticipation, focus, tension, anxiety and each artist’s personal ritual before facing the audience. In the “after” shots, taken backstage, the energy of the stage has not yet subsided, showing joy, release, fatigue, emotion and alertness that has not yet faded.
The exhibition unfolds throughout all areas of the Municipal Theatre, from the entrance and foyer to the stage, backstage areas, corridors and dressing rooms. Visitors move through the theatre’s spaces that absorbed the festival’s intensity, encountering the images where they were created.
“Peras” marks the moment when something ends and something else begins — the boundary, the threshold, the brief moment of transition, the festival said. The exhibition forms a collective narrative rather than simply presenting portraits.
The title serves as a shared point of reference between the conclusion of the three-month cultural cycle and the personal ending of each performance, as reflected in the artists’ faces.
Louka studied photography in Athens and relocated to London in 2011. In 2017, he founded E2studios in East London, collaborating with international brands and publications including British Vogue, i-D, Dazed, Prada and Sony Music.
His work has been presented at major cultural venues. His solo exhibition “Beyond the Blur” was shown at the Cyprus High Commission in London, whilst “2033 Miles” was exhibited at Shoreditch High Street. His photographs were also part of the “Anew” project at the Venice Biennale’s 17th International Architecture Exhibition.
Louka returned to Cyprus in 2024 and continues developing projects locally and internationally.
