16th Culture Next Conference | Larnaka (Cyprus)

Meeting the Culture Next Board, Executive Members and SDG Thing Lab participants

Open to participants that arrive earlier 

• Ștefan Teișanu, Secretary General, Culture Next Network
  
• Kelly Diapouli, Artistic Director, Larnaka 2030 European Capital of Culture

Welcome words by: 

• Andreas Vyras, Mayor of Larnaka 
• Representative from Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture 
• Ștefan Teișanu, Secretary General of Culture Next Network

Welcome words by: 

• Andreas Vyras, Mayor of Larnaka
• Dinos Lefkaritis, President of the Board of Directors, Larnaka 2030
• Representative of Culture Next Network

Moderator: Andras Farkas, Policy Coordinator

Speaker: Ștefan Teișanu, Secretary General of Culture Next Network 

A journey through the history, the present and the ambitions of Culture Next, the State of the Network shows how Culture Next is working and how is the network contributing to an improved legacy of the European Capital of Culture project and to an increased impact of culture in Europe.

Speaker: Mary Ann De Vlieg, PhD, Independent consultant: artists rights and displacement.

With a focus on artists’ rights, the keynote speech examines how we as artists and culture professionals can empower ourselves through networking, solidarity and care

Mary Ann DeVlieg is an independent consultant.  She was a case worker for artists persecuted and at risk since 2009, and holds a PhD concerning policies and practices regarding artists impacted by displacement. She works closely with the Council of Europe’s  Free to Create – Create To be Free – Culture and Cultural Heritage initiatives, curates and consults for trainings and conferences, including the annual Safe Havens conference. She founded the EU working group, Arts-Rights-Justice; and was a co-founder of the Arts-Rights-Justice Academy, University of Hildesheim. With a focus on the MENA region since 1993, she has evaluated international cultural collaboration projects, policies and programmes for the European Commission’s culture, research, and international development programmes, the EESC and private foundations.  A former Secretary General of IETM (1994-2013), international network for contemporary performing arts, she founded/co-founded www.on-the-move.org and the Roberto Cimetta Fund for Mobility in the Mediterranean, and is currently a member of the Boards of Ettijahat – Independent Culture and SH|FT Safe Havens Freedom Talks

Moderated by: Tom Fleming, Director of TFCC and Culture Next Policy Expert.

Dr. Tom Fleming is a leading global expert on culture and the creative industries. He has led research, strategy and policy in over 60 countries. He is director of TFCC – an established cultural and creative industries consultancy, research agency and knowledge leader, with offices in Portugal, UK, and associates across the world. Tom’s overarching role is to develop evidence and knowledge on the role of culture in sustainable development. He shapes cultural and creative industries strategies for cities and regions, builds cultural policy and relevant regulations for nations, and supports partners to establish evidence-based solutions for culture and development. At TFCC, Tom also oversees a portfolio of evaluation and impact studies, feasibility studies and plans for cultural institutions and creative clusters. 

Tom is Editor in Chief for the foundational UNESCO Report on Global Cultural Policies – Culture: The Missing SDG. His clients include the European Commission, World Bank, EUNIC organisations, UNIDO, leading institutions such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation,  and many governments and municipalities. He has been directly involved in several European Capitals of Culture, starting with Guimaraes 2012 where he was director of the Creative Cities programme, followed by a range of advisory roles. 

Speakers:

• Alma Salem, Director,  Al Mawred  
• Carla Rogers, Steering Committee Member, National Campaign for the Arts of Ireland 
• Marilyn Gaughan Reddan, Chair, EIT Culture & Creativity 

The panel brings together different approaches to CCS empowerment, presenting a number of inspiring cases from different institutions, ranging from practices of the European Institute of Innovation (EIT), to Ireland’s Basic Artists Income Scheme and to Al Mawred’s policies for empowering artists and culture professionals on a Pan – Arab scale. 

Alma Salem is a cultural expert and curator with more than three decades of experience spanning the arts, protecting cultural freedoms, and fostering international cultural relations. She is a permanent fellow of Maryland University Arts Management Institute in Washington, D.C. Alma spent a decade at the Institut français du Proche-Orient (IFPO), where she managed photographic and cartographic archives and exhibitions. During this time, she established the Arab world’s first digital image bank, a collection of nearly 50,000 photographs and documents, later published in her book Photographies du Levant. She also contributed to the creation of the first Aerial Atlas of the Levant. Following this, she served for another decade as Regional Arts Programs Manager at the British Council for the Arab region. During the Arab Spring, Alma established networks of artists in Syria and abroad, built partnerships, and curated international touring exhibitions in Montreal, London, Paris, Delhi, Seattle, New York, Beirut, Brussels, and beyond. The exhibitions sparked unconventional debates that challenged taboos and stereotypes and questioned political neutrality, positioning the arts as a medium to counter cultural hegemony. As a cultural policy expert, Alma collaborates with leading organizations and numerous governmental bodies in the Arab region. Since 2019, she has led the partnership between the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and Global Affairs Canada, serving as Executive Director of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement, which advocates for women’s leadership in politics, public life, and decision-making. In 2015, Alma founded Atelier Alma for Curation & Cultural Consultancy at Place des Arts in Montreal, and in Damascus in 2025. 

Carla Rogers is a creative producer and arts marketer based in Ireland, with a passion for supporting artists in creating innovative and challenging work. Since 2017, she has worked with Irish company THISISPOPBABY, leading on multi-disciplinary shows such as WAKE, PARTY SCENE, 0800 CUPID, and Octopus Children. She has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, working across theatre, dance, visual arts, circus, community arts and film, and on multi-disciplinary festivals such as LIVE COLLISION, Where We Live, The Theatre Machine Turns You On, and Yestival. Carla has produced tours across major cities worldwide, including Edinburgh, London, and New York. Carla has held roles in marketing, project management, artist liaison, and research. She holds a BA in Modern Irish and Film Studies and an MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Management. She is a member of the steering committee for the National Campaign for the Arts, a volunteer-led, grassroots movement that makes the case for the arts in Ireland.

Marilyn Reddan is an experienced Cultural Manager, she is MD at MG Reddan Consulting| Strategic Development| Culture & Creative Industries| Expert in EU funding| EU Policy and Programmes| Board Director and Founder| Director Chambers Ireland| Chair of EIT CCSI (e.V) Association. Marilyn was also head of programme at the European Capital of Culture in Galway and also headed up its legacy programme and was also a former Expert member of the Panel (European Capital of Culture) EU Commission. More importantly, she is mum to three fiesty teenage girls and lives on the beach in Galway, where she lives life with her girls and her husband a husky called Rio.

This panel explores the empowerment of the cultural and artistic sector from the perspective of artists, with a particular focus on those living and working in conflict zones. It examines the challenges and limitations they face, while also highlighting the ways in which artists themselves act as agents of empowerment within their local communities.

Moderated by: Kelly Diapouli, Artistic Director, Larnaka 2030 ECoC

Speakers:

• Ahmed Tobasi, Artistic Leader, Artists On the Frontline
• Eleana Alexandrou, Artistic Director Lemesos 2030 ECoC Finalist, Performance Artist
• Nurtane Karagil, Visual artist 
• Yulia Khomchyn, Director, Cultural Strategy Institute Lviv

Ahmed Tobasi is a Palestinian actor, director, and cultural leader from Jenin refugee camp. His work is rooted in lived experience and explores power, identity, and resilience under conditions of conflict. Born during the First Intifada, he was imprisoned for four years at the age of 17 during the Second Intifada, an experience that continues to shape his artistic voice. He trained at The Freedom Theatre and later at Nordic Black Theatre in Norway, performing internationally across Europe and the Middle East. Tobasi served as Artistic Director of The Freedom Theatre from 2019 to 2024, during which the theatre received international recognition, including nomination in connection with the Nobel Peace Prize. His work creates powerful, human-centered performances that connect personal stories to global audiences.

Eleana Alexandrou obtained the DAS Theatre Masters from the Amsterdam School of Arts in 2016, and previously, a BA in Dance and Choreography from Bath Spa University in the UK in 2009. Since 2023, she is the Artistic Director of Lemesos 2030 ECoC Finalist, where she designed and led the bidding process and bid book composition for Lemesos’ candidacy. She has been working as performer since 2004, a performance maker since 2011, a creative writer since 2015. She is the co-founder of bytheway productions, a performance, theatre, scenography and applied arts non-profit company. Her artistic process involves a combination of extreme introspection and observations of a bigger picture, while constantly redefining her own positioning in the world.  Over the past 10 years, she has also served on various selection committees for festivals and residency programmes, and has worked as a mentor or artistic collaborator, supporting the work of her colleagues in the field of performance. Between 2017 and 2023, she has served as the President of the Board of ‘Nea Kinisi’, the representative organisation for dance companies, dancers and choreographers of Cyprus, advocating and working for the development of dance and performance practice in Cyprus, as well as for better work conditions for cultural professionals.

Nurtane Karagil (1989, Cyprus) studied Fine Arts at Hacettepe University and has an MA from the University of Brighton. She has been engaged with the Cyprus island’s socio-political environment on various levels, which in turn set the tone of the majority of her work. Using a wide range of artistic mediums such as painting, illustration, sculpture, video and photography, her art conceptualises the power of memory, dreams and surreal fantasies in juxtaposition with everyday life situations. Through this contrast, she invites the viewer into an uncanny zone where the edges of reality are somewhat sharper. She has exhibited her work in various exhibitions in the Czech Republic, Germany, the UK, Northern Ireland, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and Cyprus; collaborates with local and international NGOs to create workshops or curricula with a focus on ecology and human rights; serves on the board of the Famagusta New Museum and the European Mediterranean Art Association; and is currently working as an art lecturer at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, Cyprus.

Yulia Khomchyn is a cultural manager and public sector leader with over 20 years of experience in cultural policy, institutional development, and international cooperation. She is Director of the Cultural Strategy Institute in Lviv, where she leads the development and implementation of long-term cultural strategies, including the Lviv Culture Development Strategy 2035. She was the Application Lead for Lviv’s bid for the European Capital of Culture 2030, coordinating the “Responsibility to Be” programme. Yulia is also a Deputy of the Lviv City Council, contributing to policymaking in culture, international relations, and municipal finance. She lectures at Lviv Polytechnic National University, teaching cultural management and heritage. Her background includes leadership roles in NGOs and major cultural initiatives, as well as long-term work with the Dzyga Art Center. She is a board member of the Coalition of Cultural Actors and an alumna of the Aspen Institute, actively engaged in international cultural networks and partnerships.

An informal, unmediated encounter and a unique opportunity to connect with the local artistic ecosystem. Artists and cultural producers welcome conference participants into specially curated spaces, inviting them to share a coffee, play games, and engage directly with their work. They have prepared the following spaces: 

Larnaka’s Music Ecosystem

Meet the city’s diverse music artists who run the following music related projects in Larnaka 2030 programme: Follow the Music, The Earth’s Wounds, Fengaros City Festival.

Memory, Peace Building, Herstories

Meet with artists and cultural operators that work on projects related to memory and heritage, decolonial narratives, conflict and peace building and feminist approaches, including representatives of the following Larnaka 2030 projects: Home of Memory, Herstories, Recognize_Reconcile_Reconnect, New Chartographies, Pyla Project and cultural operators from Obiimy Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Larnaka.

 Synikismos

Meet the team that is working on Synikismos project of Larnaka 2030 programme, that reimagines refugee housing estates as common grounds of memory, resilience and co-creation.

Common Ground Kafenio & Mahallart

Enjoy traditional Cypriot coffee and the cult of coffee reading! Get to know the people behind the Larnaka 2030 network of community-led neighbourhood festivals activating public spaces and celebrating diversity.

CARE Festival

Get to know the people behind Larnaka 2030’s CARE Festival, a year-round programme and festival placing children, families, and care at the centre of artistic creation and civic life.

Makers & Designer

Meet with local makers and designers, involved in the Larnaka Youth Makerspace and in Larnaka 2030’s projects ξι-/un– and Common Ground Design Centre.

Insular Europe

Meet the people behind the Insular Europe project of Larnaka 2030 that develops a network of artists and cultural operators from the Mediterranean who deep dive into the questions ocean sustainability and blue growth.

please enjoy!

Food and drinks on the beach. High heels are not recommended—opt for flip-flops instead. Don’t forget to bring a towel and your swimsuit, as an evening swim is scheduled.

Official, yet not (entirely) accountable to the European Athletics Federation rankings, the first edition of the Culture Next Running Event brings together those who don’t run away on an early morning  and if they do, they prefer to do it in an organised way.

Join the race! It might just make it into the Culture Next history books.

Facilitator: Bruno Inacio, Membership Coordinator

Session dedicated to match making for the mobility programme open only for CN full members

A mysterious part of the conference prepared by the Executive Team and the Board. Let’s buckle up and embrace the bright future they are cooking for us!

The Network aims to transform the Mediterranean basin from a geographical boundary into a shared space for cultural innovation. The initiative seeks to connect urban centres that share historical roots and contemporary challenges, promoting culture as a driving force for sustainable development, peace and social cohesion.

Moderated by: Rita Orlando, General Coordinator Matera 2026, Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 

Speakers: 

• Stefano Dotto, Senior Expert – Team Leader Good Governance, European Commission (online)

• Genci Kojdheli, General Director of Integration, Strategic Planning, Environment, and Economic Development at the Municipality of Tirana 

• Agnès Ruiz, Policy Officer. Focal Point for Culture, United Cities and Local Governments  

Rita Orlando is Director General of the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation. An architect and cultural manager, she has extensive experience in the design and management of territorial development processes, urban regeneration, and cultural innovation, gained in both national and international contexts.

She has been part of the Matera 2019 team since 2014, playing key roles in the successful bid and in the delivery of the European Capital of Culture programme, with a focus on social innovation, artistic residencies, and cultural planning. Since 2016, she has been Head of the Open Design School, a participatory and transdisciplinary design laboratory and official partner of the New European Bauhaus initiative.

Throughout her career, she has coordinated numerous complex projects, including I-DEA – The Archive of Archives and the conversion of Cava del Sole into a venue for large-scale performing arts events. She currently oversees national and European projects of the Foundation, including Fantastico Medioevo and Matera Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2026.

In parallel, she works as a consultant and lecturer in the field of cultural management and coordinates territorial development programmes in the Euro-Mediterranean area.

Genci Kojdheli, 48 years old, is the General Director of Integration, Strategic Planning, Environment, and Economic Development at the Municipality of Tirana. Genci has been with the Municipality since November 2015, working on main infrastructural projects, policy design, integration and EU projects, and was the leader of the teams that led Tirana towards the European Youth Capital 2022, European City of Sports 2023 and Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2025 awards, as well as being the thematic coordinator of the Presidency of Tirana for B40 Network of Balkan Cities. Prior engagements with public administration include executive positions within the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth and the Ministry of Interior, while having worked with international organizations such as World Vision, the UNDP, and the OSCE. Genci holds a BA in Law from the University of Tirana and an MA in International Law and Human Rights from the University of Utrecht, while he has had over 10 years of lecturing experiences in various public and private universities in Tirana, in academic subjects including international human rights, comparative international law, international relations, roman law, history of institutions, etc.

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Agnès Ruiz Clarasó works as a Policy Officer and Focal Point for Culture at UCLG, supporting the efforts of local and regional governments to make culture a central dimension of sustainable development and inclusive local policies. Her work contributes to strengthening the voice of cities in global governance and fostering dialogue between local and international actors. She has a background in cultural management, music, and international relations and diplomacy, with a keen interest in how culture can contribute to a more sustainable world and help address the challenges of climate change. Her work bridges cultural policy, international cooperation, and local action, with a strong focus on collaborative approaches to building more democratic, and resilient societies.

Agnès Ruiz Clarasó is a Policy Officer and Focal Point for Culture at United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). She brings a solid academic and professional background that bridges the cultural sector, international affairs and public policy—combining her experience as a professional musician, in cultural management and expertise in international relations and diplomacy.

This session will focus on exploring collaboration and partnership opportunities within and beyond the network. Participants will hear short presentations from platforms, cultural networks, and member cities showcasing potential projects, funding schemes, and areas for joint action.

It’s an opportunity to discover synergies, exchange ideas, and spark new collaborations that can strengthen our cities and the Culture Next community as a whole.

Members’ Pitching Session

In this session, participants will have the opportunity to  present and discuss case studies on how Capacity Building Programmes can be organised and implemented, with a focus on the methodologies behind them. In case you are interested in presenting your case in a 5-minute presentation, please contact Larnaka’s team. 

In this unusual “therapy session,” participants will split into groups according to their stage in the European Capital of Culture journey: candidate cities, cities preparing for their title year, cities that did not make the final selection, and cities that have already completed their title year.

Discussions will be guided by experienced members of the network who know the ups and downs of the process all too well. It’s a chance to share stories, laugh about our challenges, and realise that –  thankfully – we’re not the only ones who have had a tough ride!