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Elena Kouma

The Tree in Me

DIATOPOS ART CENTRE

Diatopos Art Centre presents the new solo exhibition by Elena Kouma titled The Tree in Me, curated by Daphne Nikita. Opening Wednesday 18 November 2026 at 7 pm. The exhibition will last until December 16, 2026.

As Daphne Nikita writes in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition: “Elena Kouma is a visual artist who lives and works between Nicosia and Norway. Her artistic practice focuses on the relationship between human beings, memory and place, exploring concepts such as identity, origin, a sense of place, loss and renewal. Through painting, drawing, embroidery on linen fabric and installation, she combines different materials and techniques, creating works that preserve traces of personal experiences and collective memories.

In the exhibition The Tree in Me at Diatopos Art Centre, the tree becomes the central focus of her artistic exploration and a symbol of human existence. As a living organism bearing the imprints of time, growth and change, it functions as a metaphor both for the roots that connect us to our origins and for our capacity to adapt, move and redefine our identities.

The artist’s personal experience as a Cypriot living between Cyprus and Norway provides an important point of reference in her work. The two places, with their distinct landscapes, light and cultural references, coexist as spaces of memory and experience, shaping an intermediate space between what we leave behind and what we choose to create anew.

Through the materiality of linen, the slow, handcrafted process of embroidery, drawing and the interplay of different surfaces and materials, Kouma explores what continues to accompany us, even when it remains unseen. Her work connects personal memory with a broader human experience, while also turning our attention towards nature and our responsibility towards it. At once resilient and vulnerable, the tree becomes a symbol of endurance and regeneration, inviting viewers to reflect on their own roots, journeys and the multiple meanings of rootedness and connection to place.”

Cypriot visual artist Elena Kouma, born in Limassol, lives and works between Nicosia, Cyprus, and Vikersund, Norway. Her artistic practice explores the relationship between intellect and matter, nature and human experience, through a distinctive visual language that bridges abstraction and figurative expression. She presented Dialogue in Two Levels at Diatopos Art Centre, Nicosia, in 2022. Her solo exhibitions include Dialogue: Elena Kouma Meets Erling Saatvedt at Modum Kunstforening, Norway (2025), Dialogue Between Intellect and Matter at Modum Kunstforening (2020), Liquid Souls at Argo Gallery, Nicosia (2015), and the Heliogony series at Argo Gallery, Nicosia, and Silks Gallery, Limassol (2009–2010). Her exhibition history includes participation in significant international art events and group exhibitions. Her upcoming exhibitions include Novemberutstillingen 2026, which will take place in November 2026 at Drammen Museum in Norway.

Her previous participations include the Larnaca Biennale (2025), the group exhibition FemiNest at Diatopos Art Centre in Nicosia, Cyprus (2023), curated by Daphne Nikita, London Art Biennale (2021), Kunst Rett Vest at the Henie Onstad Museum of Contemporary Art in Norway (2019), and the exhibition Panspermia at Pantheon Gallery in Nicosia, Cyprus (2004). www.elenakouma.com

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After -hours by appointment.

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