ABOUT THIRD SPACE
The ideas, history and questions that shape the project.
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WHAT IS A THIRD SPACE?
WHAT IS A THIRD SPACE?
The idea of the “Third Space” comes from postcolonial theory, most closely associated with the cultural theorist Homi K. Bhabha. In his 1994 book The Location of Culture, Bhabha argued that cultures are never pure or fixed. When different histories and identities meet, especially in the aftermath of colonialism, they create an in-between space where meaning is negotiated and remade. In this space, no single story has the final word, and something new can emerge.
“…a third space—where the negotiation of incommensurable differences creates a tension peculiar to borderline existences.”
— Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture
The geographer Edward Soja developed a related idea in Thirdspace (1996), describing space as more than the physical places we occupy or the maps we draw of them. For Soja, the third space is lived space: shaped by memory, imagination and the everyday experiences of the people who move through it. Sociology has a similar notion, the “third place”: a shared ground beyond home and work where communities gather, talk and recognise one another.
For Cyprus, these ideas carry particular weight. The island’s colonial past, its division, and the line that still runs through its capital have often been told as stories of two sides. A Third Space does not erase those histories or the differences between communities. It opens room beside them, a place for dialogue, shared memory and collective imagination.
CYPRUS: A DIVIDED YET SHARED HOMELAND
CYPRUS: A DIVIDED YET SHARED HOMELAND
Cyprus is a small island with a long, layered history. For centuries, its communities lived side by side, sharing villages, markets, music, food and ways of life. They also shared the land itself: the same mountains, the same coastline, the same light.
The island is also marked by division. Since 1974, a line has run across Cyprus, and through the heart of Nicosia. The United Nations buffer zone separating the two sides is a reminder of separation, loss and memories that are still felt across generations. When the first crossing points opened in 2003, people could visit places they had not seen in decades, and many met neighbours from the other side for the first time.
Third Space begins from this tension. Cyprus is both divided and shared, a homeland held in common yet experienced apart. Our core question is simple to ask and harder to answer:
What do we share, what keeps us apart, and what could we create in the space between?
WHY CIRCUS?
WHY CIRCUS?
In a divided society, words can carry a heavy load. Language itself can mark which side you come from, and familiar phrases often arrive weighed down by history. Circus and physical theatre speak another way.
Partner work and aerial arts depend on trust: one body supporting another, without the need for words. Juggling together asks for shared rhythm and attention. Clowning welcomes failure and vulnerability, reminding us how much we have in common when our defences come down. Masks let performers step beyond their everyday identities, and drum ritual gives the whole ensemble a single pulse.
Through these practices, artists from different communities build something together with their bodies first, and find that understanding can grow from there.
THE DISCIPLINES
THE DISCIPLINES
Third Space brings together Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot and international artists, weaving movement, rhythm and storytelling into one performance.
Mask & Physical Theatre: The body becomes the voice, and masks reveal archetypes beyond everyday identity.
Clowning: Play and imperfection, revealing the vulnerability we share.
Drum Ritual: Ancient rhythm as a common heartbeat.
Dance: Bodies carrying the stories of a shared island.
Hair Hanging & Aerial Dance: Strength, risk and trust, suspended between earth and sky.
Juggling: Objects passed hand to hand, a picture of exchange.
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