Day 1 - Live performance
Date: Tuesday 09 June 2026
Time: 13.00
Location: Front Square, Trinity College Dublin
No booking needed for the live performance - all very welcome.
Day 2 - Performance screening followed by a discussion with the artist and project participants
Date: Wednesday 10 June 2026
Time: 19.00 - 21.00
Location: Old Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Trinity College Dublin.
Booking is essential for the screening and discussion, please click here.
Organised by the Department of Classics, School of Histories and Humanities, Trinity College Dublin.
DIVA event June 9th-10th 2026
The event series “DIVA” created by visual artist PASHIAS, focuses on the art of performance, as framed by academic research, bringing forth the significance of Cyprus’ cultural heritage and reconnecting historical evidence with current social urgencies.
Arriving in Dublin, internationally acclaimed visual artist PASHIAS, widely known for his research exploring the relationship between human body, historical artefacts and mythological narratives, approaches the "Aphrodite of Soloi" - presented and reproduced without the bodily parts that would enable her to move, act and react - as means for understanding contemporary contingencies.
It takes place over two days: the first part is a live public visual performance on June 9th at 1 pm in Trinity's Front Square, while the second is the performance screening followed by a discussion with the artist and project participants on June 10th from 7 pm in the Old Anatomy Lecture Theatre in Trinity. The panel discussion features Dr. Giorgos Papantoniou, Prof. Carmel O'Sullivan, Prof. Christine Morris, Evi Numen, PASHIAS and Aggelika Gana.
No booking needed for the live performance - all very welcome.
Booking is essential for the screening and discussion, please click here.
Additional information:
By identifying Cyprus as a sanctuary to the female divine, exemplified in the statue "Aphrodite of Soloi", the goddess can be approached as an emblem of beauty and eroticism, fertility and care, strength and resilience. Her versatile character directly reflects the multifaceted cultural identity of Cyprus, connecting it with regions in the Eastern Mediterranean, such as the Levantine Astarte or Egyptian Hathor, the Hellenistic “Aphrodite of Milos”, and the Renaissance-era Venus of Botticelli. Via the Cypriot Goddess image, the island is diachronically manifested as a crossroads and a connecting bridge of cultures, as fertile ground for dialogue between countries and communities.
Beyond the societal persistence of assigning binary characteristics to each gender, the artist’s body and the body of Aggelika Gana are publicly exhibited together on a raised pedestal. Framed by the arch of Trinity College’s bell tower - one of Dublin’s most iconic landmarks - the performance on June 9th signifies again an in-between threshold of crossings.
In a child-like game, through their stillness and interaction, the figures complete, reshape and contrast with the paradigm of Aphrodite, and with their own social positioning. An evolving live sculpture projects a set of corporeal images that challenge notions of gender, status and socially-bound relationships. By blurring the divisions between creator and artefact, author and narrative, "DIVA" signals the significance of coexistence and unity - from the island of Cyprus to the island of Ireland at the two edges of Europe, and from Ireland to the world.
Under the auspices of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the project “Fostering Cypriot and Greek Studies in Ireland”, and the network “Unlocking Sacred Landscapes”, in collaboration with Dr. Giorgos Papantoniou and Prof. Christine Morris, celebrating 30+ years of Cypriot Studies at Trinity College Dublin, and marking the transition of the Presidency of the European Union Council 2026 from Cyprus to Ireland.
For further Information please see the website www.pashias.art/diva and/or email contact@pashias.art