The speaker series Mediatised Portraits of Women asks a simple question: What does it mean to be a woman in Cyprus in 2021? The project centers on the value of media literacy to address challenges of every woman’s empowerment and is part of the POWER project (Portraits Of Women's Empowered Representations), funded by the US Embassy Cyprus. The series will run in May-June 2021, every Wednesday at 18:00-19:00. 

Through seven online sessions, we will explore understandings of dominant and marginalized media narratives and facilitate a wave of voices that can offer new ways of imagining female personhood within the Cypriot society. By exploring the political, religious, and social structure of the Cypriot society in the context of the economic crisis and COVID-19, we will talk with women about their own experiences and the ways in which their lives have changed in the past decade. 

The speaker series aims to connect women, give them a space to voice their opinions over different media representations, and reimagine what it means to be a woman in Cyprus today.  

The themes of Seeing and Being Seen in the Media and Reclaiming Media Representations will be our starting points, and we will investigate them with invited speakers, academics, activists and women in the media, who will share their insights and engage with participants through interactive activities. 

The project aims to promote media literacy and offer the opportunity for participants to: 

1. Develop media and critical skills through targeted activities during the sessions.

2. Empower women’s participation in the media sphere by critically engaging, questioning, and recognising (mis)representations.

3. Help women navigate an increasingly complex media landscape.

By bringing in examples of how women’s roles are represented in magazines, newspapers, and online spaces, this speaker series will conclude with two artist residencies that will tell the stories of women in Cyprus multi-modally. 

Participation in the online speaker series is free, but registration is required. Information on the speakers and how to register can be found here. 

Additionally, in collaboration with Youth Makerspace Larnaka and Youth Board Cyprus, we are offering a paid artist residency on the theme of "Making Womanhood". See the open call here. 

This project is made possible through funding from the U.S. Embassy Cyprus.