The Cyprus EU Presidency inaugurated its ‘Weather’ exhibition at the European Council’s main building, Justus Lipsius, in Brussels on Monday. The exhibition is curated and inspired by the renowned Cypriot designer Michael Anastassiades.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture Vasiliki Kassianidou said culture emerges as a vital tool for political cohesion and as the most significant expression of the shared European identity.
“It constitutes the cornerstone for shaping identities, preserving memory and creating a contemporary European vision,” she said.
Kassianidou explained that part of the mandate of the Cyprus Presidency is the enhancement of the Justus Lipsius building and the neighbouring Europa building, transforming the administrative headquarters of the EU Council into a space for cultural exchange, reflection and artistic expression.
Referring to Anastassiades, the Deputy Minister noted that he founded his studio in London in 1994, with the aim of exploring contemporary notions of culture and aesthetics through a combination of product, furniture and spatial design. His works are included in the distinguished collections of several museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Anastassiades was awarded the title of OBE by King Charles III in 2024 for his services to design, and in 2025 received the London Design Medal, the highest distinction awarded to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding and sustained excellence in the field of design.
Kassianidou said his principles are based on the belief that quality lies in subtle detail rather than overt spectacle, and that objects, whether a lamp or a chair, acquire meaning through interaction and context rather than imposition. “This very philosophy also embodies his curatorial vision for the Cyprus EU Presidency in 2026,” she noted.
She highlighted that Cyprus, located at the crossroads of three continents, brings to the Presidency a perspective shaped by the duality and convergence of land and sea, by continuity in movement, centre and passage.
Referring to the exhibition, she said it is deeply influenced by the island’s geography and millennia-old history and is articulated by the curator through the theme of weather, not merely as climate, but as a living system through which time, culture and exchange continually pass.
Drawing on the concept of ‘kairos’ (weather) as a critical opening rather than a fixed date, she explained, the Cyprus exhibition reflects the Presidency’s ambition to identify moments of connection, attentiveness and opportunity within a complex and multi-layered European landscape.
She also noted that the work proposes an enthusiasm for Europe that invites the gaze to turn back towards the island, recognising its role both as a place of arrival and return and as a bridge between Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
She thanked Michael Anastassiades, as well as Kleio Hadjigeorgiou, Penelope Ioannou, Stelios Kalinikou, Ioanna Louca, Marietta Mavrokordatou and Poly Peslika, who collaborated with him to create this artistic intervention in the heart of Brussels and the European Council, capturing with clarity the spirit, depth and beauty of Cyprus and its Presidency.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister was also due to host the opening of the exhibition ‘Nicosia International Airport’ by Cypriot photographer Andros Efstathiou at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday.
According to Isnotgallery, the exhibition presents a photographic series documenting the abandoned site of Nicosia’s former airport, and works of art from the European Parliament Contemporary art collection.
"Through a restrained and almost theatrical gaze, Efstathiou approaches the airport not as a historical document but as a monument to interruption, as a place where absence, waiting and incompletion become central narrative forces," said the gallery.
Source: CNA