2026 ~ Roaming Assembly #33 ~ Ever Given / Intro by Thkio Ppalies (Peter Eramian, Stelios Kallinikou)

As Palestinian peer, Munir Fasheh, writes “we discovered our sources of strength that were connected to our internal immune systems.” Taking this as our starting point, the focus of this assembly is to unpack the notion of the ever given, as in, what are the sources of strength and resistance that we have at our disposal, at hand, at all times? Departing from the case of the Suez Canal incident in 2021, when ‘mere’ strong winds resulted in a giant container ship named the Ever Given blocking the canal and causing a global trade disruption, we are interested in acknowledging and contemplating on forces that have the potential to traverse scale.

The island of Cyprus has historically been a crossroads for trade, extractivism and antagonistic colonial powers, due to its geostrategic location in the Mediterranean and its abundant natural resources. We see this until today, as large corporations and global powers are increasingly exploiting the island either for its low tax schemes or for military operations in the region. In this sense, Cyprus is not dissimilar to the Suez Canal, a narrow passageway serving global interests, bearing implications beyond its geographical boundaries.

In response, now more than ever, local communities are organising and (re)forming radical configurations, bringing together activists, artists, musicians, writers and academics from across the island, but also making active efforts to create and revive transnational alliances with communities across the region. The assembly is curated with these urgencies in mind, inviting participants whose practices are demonstrative or expressive of qualities that could be situated as ever given and in solidarity with critical infrastructures and grassroots ecosystems.

About Peter Eramian

About Stelios Kallinikou