MONTH IN REVIEW: May 2026
May was filled with new and enduring art, design, and culture fairs across Greece and Cyprus. We rounded up some of our favorites!
By: Sophia
VIMA Art Fair Hosted its Second Edition
Now in it’s second season, the invitation-only VIMA Art Fair in Cyprus featured 26 galleries and more than 150 artists from over 20 countries. Attendance and sales for the fair increased significantly from its inaugural 2025 edition, indicating a flourishing contemporary art scene on the island and a rise in global awareness for it.
The fair emphasized local discourse and cross-cultural exchange with standout exhibitions including “The Crashing Waves,” brought together by former Serpentine Gallery curator Kostas Stasinopoulos. Participants included Ramina Saadatkhan, Hanie Soltani, and Ani Toidze, whose works explored themes of identity, remembrance, and renewal.
Beyond the fair itself, Limassol and Nicosia hosted parallel exhibitions which featured renowned artists such as Bill Viola and Anselm Kiefer. The VIMA Art Fair established itself as an ambitious platform underlining Cyprus’s role as a cultural crossroads connecting several major landscapes. Participating galleries from cities including Dubai, Istanbul, and Beirut highlighted the fair’s growing geographic influence, while a new Public Acquisition Program placed works into Cypriot museum and municipal collections.
Athens Epidaurus Festival Unveiled its New Season
The Athens Epidaurus Festival announced its upcoming season, filled with dynamic, internationally focused programming that blends ancient drama, postmodern theater, dance, and music. Under new artistic director Michail Marmarinos, the 92-day festival includes more than 2,500 artists from 26 countries across 104 productions.
One of the main stages of the festival, Peiraios 260, will host a revival of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s iconic work Einstein on the Beach. Acclaimed dance work MÁM by Michael Keegan-Dolan will also grace the stage. The festival continues its emphasis on politically driven pieces, with multidisciplinary artists exploring memory, identity, and the rise of artificial intelligence. At the historic Epidaurus amphitheater, audiences can see productions of Medea, Persians, Peace, and the much-anticipated Antigone by Norwegian director Alan Lucien Øyen. The Athens Epidaurus festival is a cornerstone of summer’s cultural celebrations and has promised an engaging and vibrant line-up of performances this year.
Awaited Athens Biennale Announced its Return
After a five-year hiatus, the Athens Biennale announced its return in April 2027, hosted at the Public Tobacco Factory cultural center in Athens. This eighth edition, titled “Stasis/Ekstasis,” is presented under the artistic direction of Poka-Yio and curated by Thiago de Paula Souza. This year’s exhibitions will explore the tension between stagnation and transformation in a world shaped by deep political instability and fear.
The theme combines the Greek concepts of “stasis” (stillness and immobility) and “ekstasis” (ecstasy and change), reflecting the visceral contradictions of our modern lives. Organizers say the event aims to create a space for solidarity, experimentation, and critical reflection through contemporary art.
Additionally, this month’s announcement included an introduction to the structure shift for the Biennale. A new administration model with advisory and curatorial boards is set to strengthen its international standing and legacy as a leading European contemporary art platform.
Nicosia Hosted The On Bodies Festival
The On Bodies Festival 2026 in Nicosia took place this month at Dance House Lefkosia. As a contemporary dance and performance event, the festival focused on the theme Abundance, which investigated concepts of prosperity, resilience, and emotional well-being in a world continually shaped by uncertainty.
Both emerging and established artists from Cyprus and abroad produced captivating live performances, workshops, lectures, and celebrations. Their pieces centered on themes of identity, violence, and collective healing, highlights included performances by international artists Jasmina Križaj, Ixchel Mendoza Hernandez, and Simon Wehrli, as well as local creators such as Androniki Marathaki and Dimitris Chimonas.
The festival positioned contemporary dance as a tool for social reflection and connection, encouraging audiences to collectively reflect on the forces that sustain humanity.
Athens Debuted its Street Photography Festival
Athens hosted its first international festival dedicated solely to street photography with the launch of the Athens Street Photography Festival (ASPF). Held at T.A.F. (the art foundation) in the city’s historic center, the festival was produced to establish Athens as a global hub for contemporary urban photography.
The event featured photo walks led by renowned Greek and international photographers, as well as exhibitions, workshops, talks, and portfolio reviews. The presence of Magnum photographer Nikos Economopoulos as the final judge for the festival’s international competition was a significant highlight. The finalists’ works were displayed during the opening exhibition.
Organizers describe ASPF as “a festival by street photographers for street photographers,” focused on capturing the immediacy and authenticity of urban life. With free public admission and activities spread throughout Athens, the festival built an accessible and vibrant creative community, a truly resonant inaugural event.
Thessaloniki Opened its Biennale of Contemporary Art
The ninth Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art opened and will run through the beginning of July. This year’s program, “Everything Must Change: Radical Intelligence. Saloniki 9,” is hosted across multiple venues, TIF-Helexpo, MOMus, and the Kalochori Lagoon. Independent curator Nadja Argyropoulou helmed the project, which addresses pressing global demands for social, political, and ecological transformation through contemporary visual art, performance, and film.
The Biennale investigates the concept of “radical intelligence,” opposed to artificial intelligence, and focusing instead on collective imagination, solidarity, resistance, and integrated ways of living. Organizers describe it as a “para-biennale,” an embrace of contradiction, experimentation, and “joyful militancy” while addressing themes such as climate crisis, authoritarianism, displacement, capitalism, and community care.
Featuring artists including Pierre Huyghe, Arthur Jafa, Forensic Architecture, Meriem Bennani, and Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, the program weaves together distinct interdisciplinary events that connect art with everyday realities in present-day Thessaloniki.
