by Fabrizio Gallanti

Manifesta 6 has been cancelled. The travelling art biennial, launched in 1996 in Rotterdam and subsequently held in Luxemburg, Ljubljana, Frankfurt and San Sebastian, was due to open in Nicosia on 23 September of this year. Based on a series of dubious pretexts relative to contractual breaches, the city council has revoked the contract of the three curators, Abu ElDahab, Anton Vidokle and Florian Waldvogel and has effectively eliminated a unique possibility to stimulate dialogue and an attempt to bring the Hellenic-Turkish community of Cyprus together on a cultural level. Manifesta 6, planned as a temporary school lasting twelve weeks, shaped an attempt to think of a single Nicosia connected by art and culture, spreading activities on both sides of the boundary. Despite such a violent interruption, the Manifesta Foundation and the curators are thinking of ways to carry out work that has attracted the interest and support of the island’s artistic and cultural scene. To discuss the situation regarding Manifesta 6