A B R FESTIVAL

TY-CO is the heartbeat of a movement — a space where art, community, and sustainability collide. Born out of the former AfroBanana Festival's ever-evolving vision, TY-CO isn’t just an archive or a media hub — it’s a living, breathing platform for change.

With the ABR Festival's evolution, we’re expanding the pulse beyond its summer days. TY-CO marks the next chapter: a year-round creative engine driving audience engagement, transnational collaborations, and radical community-building — all with sustainability at its core.

This is about more than celebration. It’s about transformation. TY-CO channels the festival’s energy into an evolving network of plug-in events, initiatives, and ideas that ripple through communities across borders — giving back while pushing forward.

Here’s what powers TY-CO:

Audience Engagement, Year-Round

Creative Expression—Plug-in Projects

Networking & Policy-Shifting

Through intimate pop-ups, partner country activations, and interactive storytelling, we build ongoing conversations — not just crowds. It’s a living narrative that leads to the festival and beyond.

We reimagine what a festival community looks like. Through research-driven collaborations with local and global initiatives, we expand the AfroBanana ethos into new formats, places, and publics.

TY-CO connects a global web of like-minded festivals, collectives, and creators, creating fertile ground for collective resilience and culture-driven policy change.

TY-CO IS WHERE THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITY IS CO-CREATED

TY-CO is not just a continuation of the festival — it’s a transformation lab. It’s where we transfer ideas across space and time, transform creative methodologies, innovate for sustainability, and remain endlessly open-minded — to new audiences, new voices, and new ways of thriving in a challenged cultural landscape.

Umbra

A new bridge connecting the Municipal Gardens to the Theatre by Studio [lamarina] and Ferhat Yeşilada. A liminal space inviting us to pause and reflect, in-between the vibrant energy of the festival stages on either side of it. Water, light and sound respond to each movement transforming steps into ripples, light reflections, and shifting patterns.

Peacock Hand Juicer

Inspired by the giant orange sculptures of Famagusta’s Orange Festival, this mobile sculpture reimagines a forgotten symbol as a functional peacock juicer—linking Varosha and Nicosia through shared memory, citrus, and celebration. Created by Melina Philippou, Selin Genc, Elias Poullos, and Efstathios Papakostas, the project is presented by Visual Voices, a Nicosia-based nonprofit championing socially engaged art and multicommunal collaboration through radical, participatory practice.

Windows to the Soul

Inspired by the architectural lines of Neoptolemos Michaelides — the modernist visionary behind the 1960s redesign of the Municipal Gardens — Maria Mitsi creates sculptural installations that play with light, geometry, and space. Windows to the Soul responds to the architectural legacy of the site through a series of contemplative forms that echo both window frames and thresholds. Her work invites a slower gaze, drawing the viewer into quiet encounters with structure, memory, and the spirit of place.

Head & Hand Series

In her ongoing exploration of flow, care, and urban memory, Kyriaki Costa works with fragments of glass collected from the nearby Pedieos River. She turns to rivers — “not only as physical elements, but also as metaphors for life on Earth — to explore the fluidity of human experience.” Creating new compositions that grapple with the dynamic of flow, care, and urban memory — what the river leaves behind, and what traces people leave as they move through the garden. These quiet gestures become imprints of movement and presence, subtle acts of repair within overlooked urban spaces.

Curated by Denize Araouzou, the project is showcased at Fytorio during the festival

Our Streets

OPU Collective is an interdisciplinary group of designers, urban thinkers and active citizens, whose interventions aim to change our attitudes and ultimately our behaviour in the urban environment. Challenging us to think positively and communally, their work sparks dialogue and action.

During the festival, they invite us to reconsider how we move through and connect with urban space. Whether tracing the simple routes of their walking map or joining their bike bus along the Linear Park, discovering new street art or drawing our city as we imagine it could be — their interventions encourage curiocity, creativity and new ways of seeing the everyday.

Songbirds

Διακοινοτική Χορωδία Παιδιών Songbirds του ΟΙΔΕ

Μπες στον κόσμο των Songbirds, της διακοινοτικής παιδικής χορωδίας του νησιού, μέσω της οποίας η μουσική χτίζει γέφυρες.

Σε αυτό το διασκεδαστικό εργαστήρι, διάρκειας μίας ώρας, τα παιδιά θα καταλάβουν τι σημαίνει να είσαι μέλος της χορωδίας, μέσα από έναν συνδυασμό τραγουδιού, θεατρικού παιχνιδιού, παιχνιδιών ρυθμού και δραστηριοτήτων συνεργασίας.

Το εργαστήρι διεξάγεται στα Αγγλικά, στα Ελληνικά και τα Τουρκικά, και προσκαλεί τα παιδιά να συνδεθούν μέσω της φωνής, της κίνησης και του παιχνιδιού, δείχνοντας
πώς η μουσική μπορεί να φέρει μαζί τις κοινότητες του νησιού. Έλα να τραγουδήσεις μαζί μας και να ανακαλύψεις τη δύναμη της αρμονίας!

Λίγα λόγια για τη χορωδία

Η Διακοινοτική Παιδική Χορωδία Songbirds λειτουργεί από το 2017 και υλοποιείται από τον Όμιλο Ιστορικού Διαλόγου και Έρευνας (ΟΙΔΕ), σε συνεργασία με το Σπίτι της Συνεργασίας (H4C), τη Συντεχνία Τουρκοκύπριων Εκπαιδευτικών (KTÖS), και
την Παγκύπρια Οργάνωση Ελλήνων Δασκάλων (ΠΟΕΔ), με τη χρηματοδότηση του Ομοσπονδιακού Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών της Γερμανίας.

Αυτή η μοναδική χορωδία φέρνει κοντά παιδιά ηλικίας 5 έως 12 ετών από όλες τις
κοινότητες της Κύπρου, για να τραγουδήσουν στις κύριες γλώσσες του νησιού (Ελληνικά, Τουρκικά και Αγγλικά) καλλιεργώντας μια κουλτούρα ειρήνης και
συνύπαρξης μέσα από κοινές εμπειρίες.

Οι πρόβες πραγματοποιούνται κάθε Τετάρτη στο Σπίτι της Συνεργασίας, στη νεκρή ζώνη της Λευκωσίας. Δεν υπάρχουν ακροάσεις, δεν υπάρχουν δίδακτρα, και
προσφέρονται σνακ και ποτά — είναι ένας φιλόξενος χώρος, όπου τα παιδιά
μπορούν να τραγουδούν, να παίζουν και να μεγαλώνουν μαζί.

Οι εγγραφές για τη
σεζόν 2025–2026 ξεκινούν τον Ιούνιο ενώ τα εβδομαδιαία μαθήματα διαρκούν από
Σεπτέμβριο έως Μάιο.

AHDR Songbirds Intercommunal Children's ChoirStep into the world of Songbirds — the island's intercommunal children’s choir where music builds bridges.

In this fun one-hour workshop, children can get a taste of what it’s like to be part of the choir through a mix of singing, drama, percussion games, and team-building activities. Held in English, Greek, and Turkish, the session invites children to connect through voice, movement, and play — showing how music can bring us together across borders and backgrounds.

Come sing with us and discover the power of harmony.

A bit of background on the choir

The AHDR Songbirds Intercommunal Children’s Choir has been running since 2017, run by the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR), in partnership with the Home for Cooperation (H4C), the Cyprus Turkish Teachers’ Trade Union (KTÖS), and the Cyprus Greek Teachers’ Organisation (POED) and funded by the Federal Foreign Office of the Republic of Germany.

This unique choir brings together children aged 5 to 12 from all communities in Cyprus to sing in Greek, Turkish, and English, cultivating a culture of peace and coexistence through shared experience.

Rehearsals take place every Wednesday at the Home for Cooperation, in the UN Buffer Zone in Nicosia. There are no auditions, no fees, and snacks and drinks are included — just a welcoming space where kids can sing, play, and grow together.

Registration for the 2025–2026 season opens in June, with weekly sessions running from September to May.

AHDR Songbirds Toplumlararası Çocuk Korosu
Songbirds’ün dünyasına adım atın — adadaki toplumlararası çocuk korosunda müzik köprüler kuruyor.

Bu eğlenceli bir saatlik atölye çalışmasında çocuklar, şarkı söyleme, drama, ritim
oyunları ve ekip çalışması etkinliklerinin bir karışımıyla koronun bir parçası olmanın
nasıl bir şey olduğunu deneyimleyebilirler. İngilizce, Yunanca ve Türkçe dillerinde
gerçekleştirilen bu atölye, çocukları ses, hareket ve oyun yoluyla bir araya getirerek
müziğin bölünmüşlüğü aşarak farklı toplumları bir araya getirebilecegini
göstermektedir.

Gelin, bizimle birlikte şarkı söyleyin ve uyumun gücünü keşfedin. Koro hakkında kısa bilgi Songbirds Toplumlararası Çocuk Korosu, 2017 yılından bu yana Tarihsel Diyalog ve Araştırma Derneği (AHDR) tarafından, Dayanışma Evi (H4C), Kıbrıs Türk Öğretmenler Sendikası (KTÖS) ve Kıbrıs Rum Öğretmenler Sendikası (POED) iş birliğiyle ve Almanya Federal Dışişleri Bakanlığı’nın finansmanıyla yürütülmektedir.

Bu eşsiz koro, Kıbrıs’taki tüm toplumlardan 5 ila 12 yaş arasındaki çocukları adanın
başlıca dillerinde — Yunanca, Türkçe ve İngilizce — şarkı söylemek üzere bir araya
getirerek ortak deneyim yoluyla barış ve birlikte yaşam kültürünü geliştirmektedir.

Provalar her Çarşamba günü Lefkoşa’daki Birleşmiş Milletler Ara Bölgesi’nde yer
alan Dayanışma Evi’nde yapılır. Seçmeler yoktur, ücret alınmaz ve atıştırmalıklar ile
içecekler dahildir — çocukların birlikte şarkı söyleyip oynayabileceği ve
büyüyebileceği sıcak bir ortam sunulur.
2025–2026 sezonu kayıtları Haziran ayında
açılacak olup, haftalık provalar Eylül'den Mayıs'a kadar sürecektir.

ABR-Alternative Brains Rule

Alternative Brains Rule is a Nicosia-based non-profit company, with over 10 years of experience conceptualising, designing, planning and managing some of the island’s most innovative events and unforgettable brand experiences. Best known for designing and managing award-winning events and experiences such as: The AfroBanana Festival, ABR in LAB, The Wall Gallery, Cyprus Pride, ART.ACT.DISRUPT, Ballantine’s True Music Cyprus and Somnus VR platform.

A dynamic, high-performing team, who strive to push boundaries, merging our collective professional and creative backgrounds, to bring a new, innovative, unexpected and unexplored edge to all of our projects. Together with our network of collaborators, we lead creative initiatives that positively impact the creative scene.

Loonatiks Design Crew

Doric order driven design crew Located in Athens (GR) founded in 2017, Loonatiks Design Crew, is a highly acclaimed award-winning design studio with a distinct focus on typography-based design solutions.

The studio’s unique approach and commitment to discovering new paths in design has led to global collaborations with forward-thinking clients.

Arroz Estúdios

A non-profit cultural organization based in Beato, Lisbon. We provide working space for emerging artists and also music event spaces.

Their goal is to offer an environment for artistic growth where cultural events take place, contributing to Lisbon’s rapid development in a creative, open and multi-cultural way.

Barbot Bernardo

Barbot Bernardo is a future-forward studio co-founded by Alice and Miguel, rooted in the belief that climate-conscious culture starts with local action.

Drawing from backgrounds in architecture, business, design, and education, they shape tools, processes, and knowledge systems that strengthen ethical production chains and sustainable cultural ecosystems.

Miguel leads on strategic design and innovation—bridging creative industries, agroecology, and urban development, while Alice focuses on education and capacity-building, specialising in artisanal and semi-industrial practices, with a deep expertise in fibre and textile production.

Together with their team, they build infrastructures for climate transition that are tactile, collaborative, and grounded in place.

TY-CO is a an EU Project Funded under the Creative Europe Programme CREA-CULT-2024-COOP-1.

The project is a transcultural collaboration between ABR (CY),
BARBOT BERNARDO (PT), ARROZ ESTUDIOS (PT), LOONATIKS DESIGN CREW (GR)
Funded by the European Union.

Views and opinions expressed are however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.