Toula

The play follows the journey and development of visual artist Toula Liasi through the events of contemporary history of Cyprus that have marked her life and work. Toula is written verbatim in Cypriot Greek by director Diomedes Koufteros and actor Elena Agathokleous, based on interviews they took from Toula Liasi. With the same methodology, Campos had developed and presented the play Loulles in 2023.

The play premiered in November 2024 at the State Gallery for Contemporary Art in Nicosia, in collaboration with the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture – Department of Contemporary Culture. The play was presented in London in collaboration with the Cultural Section of the Cyprus High Commission in the U.K., and in Limassol at the Vinegar Factory.

Toula Liasi was born in Ayia Triada, Karpasia, Cyprus, in 1957, and lived there until she was eighteen years old. In 1975, after living for a year in her enclaved village, she left Cyprus to study abroad; first in Greece and later in The Netherlands, where she went to finish her studies in visual arts. Since 1980, she has been living in the Hague, working as an artist. In recent years she has also been working in her hometown Ayia Triada, Karpasia, Cyprus.

Toula Liasi’s visual arts work is deeply influenced by the political situation in her homeland – dealing primarily with the difficult aspects of the recent history of Cyprus. Her work is inspired by deeply personal issues that are public at the same time, such as the issues of the missing persons and those enclaved in Karpasia, Cyprus. Through her work she attempts to show the power of art in dealing with painful human emotions, as well as themes of politics, history and memory.