Vision and Concept

Vision and Concept

The Michalis Pieris Cultural Centre of the University of Cyprus has emerged as a respected institution with international repute, which integrates culture and the arts into the core of academic life. It highlights cultural diversity, promotes the universal values of European culture and fosters the living heritage of Cyprus and the wider Mediterranean tradition. Furthermore, it actively encourages the involvement of students with culture and the arts, strengthening the role of the university community as a vehicle for creativity and dialogue.

The Cultural Centre pursues a twofold mission: to add a holistic perspective to traditional academic education and to promote Euro-Mediterranean culture as a common asset, shaped through centuries of interaction between nations and ethnic groups in the region.

The first part of the Cultural Centre’s mission is realised through the activities of Theatrical Workshop of the University of Cyprus (THEPAK), which strives to strengthen academic education and literary research by encouraging the participation of students in the stage presentation of well-known or lesser-known masterpieces of Greek literature that have as a common denominator the idiomatic language of peripheral Hellenism.

By applying cross-genre approaches – and in particular by adapting works of ancient and modern Greek literature for the stage – THEPAK creates a complex aesthetic experience, both for its members and for its audience, while publicising in a dynamic and proactive way important works of literature, both in Cyprus and abroad.

The second part of the Cultural Centre's mission is carried out through the annual Cultural Festival of the University of Cyprus, an established institution that promotes culture and the arts, encouraging the creative expression of recognised as well as emerging non-commercial artists from Cyprus, Europe, and the wider Mediterranean region. Through high-quality events, the Festival enriches the cultural agenda of Cyprus, contributes to the constant revitalisation of cultural life, and highlights creative polyphony, but also the underlying unity of Euro-Mediterranean culture, as a common cultural heritage.

The Michalis Pieris Cultural Center is an essential vehicle for the realisation of the University of Cyprus’ mission, which apart from the promotion of scholarship and knowledge through teaching and research, includes also the cultural development of Cyprus.

Through the activities of the Cultural Centre, the University participates actively in the advancement of artistic expression and culture, while offering its students and the general public valuable opportunities for cultural refinement, aesthetic edification, and intercultural dialogue.