MONTH IN REVIEW: December 2025
A roundup of this past month’s art and design news about the makers and creators from Greece and Cyprus
By: Konstantina
Artist’s Exhibition in Cyprus was Cancelled Due to Public Scrutiny
Artist George Gavriel’s show at Blue Iris Gallery in Paphos was cancelled a day after its opening due to public scrutiny over its themes and visuals. The exhibition entitled “Antisystemic Art,” featured paintings that depicted figures including some Orthodox icons such as Christ and the Virgin Mary in contexts that felt explicit to locals and political figures. The detractors believed the works were an attack on the religious conscience of the public. Members of the artistic and creative communities in Cyprus called the closure of the exhibition an act of censorship that threatened freedom of speech and reduced its impact as a fundamental human right. The artist and gallery owner received death threats over the exhibition.
Renzo Piano Started Construction on KYKLOS in Piraeus
Construction started for KYKLOS, a creative center in Piraeus that is designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. When it’s completed in 2028, the building will become an epicenter for creativity and cross-cultural dialogue. It will be home to permanent collections of art from Africa, Oceania, and other global regions where the discipline is often underrepresented. Programming including contemporary exhibitions, lectures, screenings, and digital educational activities will allow local residents and visitors to explore the intersection of global cultures and artistic practices. More than half of the center will be dedicated to green and recreational spaces and its design creates a strong connection to the local context while also promising to become a sustainable landmark for the city.
Renzo Piano Building Workshop is also behind the design of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens and three new public hospitals across the country, developed in partnership with SNF.
Looted Ancient Artifacts from Turkey Were Returned
Earlier this month, dozens of ancient artifacts were returned to Turkey during a special ceremony in New York City. Items included a 2,000 year-old headless bronze statue of a Roman emperor, a marble head of Demosthenes – valued at $800,000 and seized from the Metropolitan Museum of art – and ancient Phrygian terracotta decorative items, to name a few. Investigators say the recovered pieces are valued at $80 million total.
The headless bronze statue is one of at least 13 more-than-life-sized statues that were looted from Bubon, a Roman-era shrine located in present-day Turkey. In the late 1960s, locals illegally excavated this ancient city, and the artifacts were then smuggled across the globe and left with provenance falsifiers and untrustworthy gallery owners. Artifacts from this city ended up in collections such as at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Turkey will create a dedicated gallery to display these artifacts that were returned.
Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki to Open in 2026
In 2026, the Holocaust Museum of Greece in Thessaloniki will open its doors. Designed by a coalition between Greek, German, and Israeli architects, the eight-story octagonal building sits along the Old Railway station, the exact site where nearly 50,000 Greek Jews were deported to Auschwitz in 1945. The museum will commemorate these souls through permanent and temporary exhibitions, archives, and educational programming centered around the Holocaust. Before WWII, Thessaloniki was known as the “Mother of Israel” as it was home to one of Europe’s largest Sephardic communities.
Documentary of the Cyprus Invasion Will Have its Global Debut at MoMa in January
Michalis Cacoyannis’ documentary “Attilas ’74: The Rape of Cyprus” will have its world debut at the MoMA in New York City as part of the Museum’s International Festival of Film Preservation on January 30 and February 1, 2026. For this film, Cacoyannis — best known for his Oscar-nominated “Electra” and infamous “Zorba the Greek” – combined archival footage and personal narratives of the two Turkish invasions and subsequent occupation of Northern Cyprus. Rare footage of bombings, interviews with figures such as Archbishop Makarios, and first-person accounts of the events from Cypriots share a screen, becoming one of the few cinematic records of that time.
First Lady of Cyprus Spearheading New Programming at the Presidential Palace
First Lady of Cyprus, Philippa Karsera Christodoulides, launched the project: “Cyprus: The World, Place, Word, Matter,” an initiative that aims to bring more accessibility the Presidential Palace — and Presidential Residence in Troodos — to locals and foreigners. The Palace is home to a collection of local and global artworks and archaeological artifacts that will now be on public display. By showcasing old and new artists, hosting initiatives, and creating new activities for visitors at the Palace, Christodoulides aspires to transform the building into a modern point of reference for the country’s heritage and history. Christodoulides is working with Palace administration to create public visiting days as well as a schedule dedicated to student tours.
