Our University will host the next edition of the EU-CONEXUS cultural Festival, which is dedicated to arts, culture, sports and scientific culture. The Festival will be held from the 13th to the 15th of May, 2025, in various places in Limassol. 

The EU-CONEXUS Festival aims to reinforce the identity of the Alliance, to bring together the cultures that constitute it, to sensitize the populations to the themes of Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability (SmUCS), and to create synergies between cultural actors of the Universities, students and different communities.

To this end, we are launching an Open Call to all students of the nine Universities of the Alliance, to submit their cultural and artistic projects proposals.

The Call seeks to identify and accompany one to two artistic projects per University to be presented during the 2025 edition of the festival. 

EU-CONEXUS festival has a strong Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability identity. For the 2025 edition, the theme which has been chosen in relation with this identity and which will be enhanced during the festival is “Welcome to the Hotel Mediterranean”.

The theme concept:

Almost completely enclosed by land, the Mediterranean Sea’s history dates to prehistoric periods and involves the shifting of populations from south to north and from east to west.

Throughout the years, it has provided routes for trade, colonization, war, as well as food, cultural connections and games of power. Many historians contend that the history of the Mediterranean began when ships set sail from one end of the sea to the other, while the movement of people in the Mediterranean has been called an exploration, commerce, leisure, migration. In recent times, the sea itself has been called a graveyard*.

The shifting of people and populations is a never-ending story and a paradox ranging from the movement of human cargo and the journey to a precarious future, to a touristic ‘invasion’ that searches for paradisiac vistas. The shores have witnessed hundreds of human beings lying in the sun and soaking vitamin D as well as human bodies left lying down still and soulless.

By introducing the theme “Welcome to the Hotel Mediterranean”, the festival aims at pointing out the dynamics of the Mediterranean Sea that surrounds us, as well as the multiple challenges it is faced with today. We ask participants to question the notion of the Mediterranean Sea as a homeland, a refuge, a holiday destination, a welcoming or unwelcoming shore; to wonder on its shift from bridge to border; to sustain its legacy; to be critical to its present and to imagine its sustainable future at all levels: from the environmental to the utmost humane. 

*Martin Schulz, European Parliament President’s statement (October 2013), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20150423STO45411/schulz-lack-of-european-migration-policy-turning-mediterranean-into-graveyard

Who is eligible to EU-CONEXUS call for cultural and artistic projects?

The Call is open to all EU-CONEXUS students. The projects can be made individually or in groups.

Please note that, for group projects, only a limited number of students can receive funding for travelling to EU-CONEXUS Festival and presenting the project – the number will depend on each partner University (2 students or more depending on the University budget).

Which types of cultural and artistic projects?

There is no limitation in the disciplines to be presented and performed by the student(s):

• Visual arts of any genre
  (Painting, drawing, design, photography, video, sculpture, installation) submitted in a digital image of high resolution 300dpi, 125cm height by 185cm width. The works will be part of an outdoor exhibition that will take place at the open public space of the seafront of Limassol during the Festival. The printing and installation on outdoor stands will be carried out by the curatorial team of Frederick University.
• Performing arts
  (music, dance, drama, fashion show, literature/poetry reading) submitted with all specifications needed (see the application form). Alternatively, the visual impression / image of a music/theatre/dance performance or of a fashion show or a written text of literature / poetry can be included in the outdoor exhibition. The image must be submitted in high resolution 300dpi, 125cm height by 185cm width.
  
  Students will be responsible for transporting their project to the venue of EU-CONEXUS Festival and therefore all project proposals in performing arts must respect “a small or easily self-transported format” and not require too many logistics or technique. The setting in the place of production should not be too heavy as the performances will take place at the amphitheatre of the seafront of Limassol during the Festival.

You can find all information necessary here.