*The Insiders is a new addition to our blog, which aims to shine the spotlight on the people who have worked with us to create and develop the Black Celebration experience and whom we now consider family.

Barbara Panayiotides is half German - half Greek and lives in Thessaloniki with her husband, filmmaker John Karabelas. As a graphic designer she is part of the LesYperYper collective and has worked closely with us for the graphic identity of Black Celebration. She is also the designer of our site.

"This pavilion was a portal to a parallel world. It provided a break from the overload of history that oozes everywhere else from Venice’s bricks. The experience was refreshingly disorienting. Were we still in Venice? Where were the souvenir tote bags and officials from the national ministry of culture and lavishly produced catalogues? What on earth was going on? What was the work and what wasn’t? For once it was nice to simply enjoy the mystery"

So proud of our store designer, artist Phanos Kyriacou, who represented Cyprus (along with artists Constantinos Taliotis, Natalie Yiaxi, Lia Haraki and Maria Hassabi) at the 55th Venice Biennale.

Cyprus participated in collaboration with Lithuania in a project called "Oo", curated by Raimundas Malašauskas. "Oo" (or, "oO" if you prefer),...