Cyprus in Louvre

For the first time, the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities of the Musée du Louvre presents 16 exceptional works on loan from Cyprus within its Cypriot archaeology galleries, enriched by an original digital and multisensory experience.

Organised by the Musée du Louvre in collaboration with the Deputy Ministry of Culture of Cyprus, the University of Cyprus and CYENS Centre of Excellence, the exhibition takes place within the framework of the Cultural Programme of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.

The Cypriot antiquities act as cultural ambassadors in dialogue with the Louvre’s permanent collections, guiding visitors through a journey of sight and sound enriched with poetry by George Seferis, Constantine Cavafy and Kostas Montis, alongside traditional Cypriot songs.

As a key partner, CYENS developed a suite of digital experiences that animate and contextualise the works on display including interactive tables, the Talking Statues of Cyprus installation, 3D animations, and bespoke multisensory storytelling. Through 3D animated talking head statues physically exhibited in the space, poetry, archaeology and advanced digital technologies converge.

In parallel, the CYENS – Thinker Maker Space team contributed to the digital fabrication and production of the exhibition display structures. Most notably, a life-size bust of Nefertiti was digitally fabricated to function as a sculptural stand for the bronze archaeological fragment on display. Based on a 3D reconstruction developed through research by the University of Cyprus, the model was computationally sectioned, laser-cut in plexiglass, and assembled into a layered full-scale structure translating digital geometry into physical form.

Additional mountings were designed and constructed using brass and plexiglass, ensuring conservation standards, structural precision and visual coherence. The Nefertiti head became both the conceptual and technical centerpiece of this contribution, embodying the dialogue between archaeological research, digital reconstruction and contemporary museological display.

This achievement is the result of a collective effort by the ITICA/MUSEUM LAB, PULSE and TMS teams and the 3D Software Development Team at CYENS.

👏 With special thanks to:

Kleanthis Neokleous
Panayiotis Charalambous
Andreas Kopriva Lernis
Fotos Frangoudes
Maria Pavlou
@Marina Toumpouri
Alexios Polydorou
Ismail Kamil Hadjri
Panayiotis Kyriakou
Myrto Aristidou
Stratis Pantelides
Pantelis Panteli

A heartfelt thank you to the Ministry of Culture of Cyprus for the trust and collaboration.

Through this powerful combination of heritage, fabrication and innovation, Cyprus’ history, poetry and artistic legacy resonate within one of the most important museums in the world.

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