http://www.artforum.com/news/week=200624

What went wrong between Manifesta 6 and the city of Nicosia? Curators Anton Vidokle, Florian Waldvogel, and Mai Abu ElDahab hoped to open an art school in the tradition of Black Mountain College or Bauhaus for one-hundred days in the Cyprus capital this fall. But plans to locate part of the school beyond the Green Line - in the contested zone that Turkish troops have occupied since 1974-prompted city officials in Nicosia to terminate the curators' contract, effectively canceling an event that could have stimulated relations between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.

The English-language daily Cyprus Mail charts Manifesta 6's dissolution over recent weeks, from a May 28 report by Agnieszka Rakoczy, which claimed that the curatorial team was ready to resign, to a June 8 report by Elias Hazou describing the latest defense of those responsible for terminating the curators' contract, Nicosia for Art (NFA) and the Nicosia municipal government. The curators maintain that the city and the NFA agreed from the beginning that Manifesta 6 would take place on both sides of the Green Line and involve both Greek and Turkish communities. Cyprus Mail archives lay forth several theories about why the municipality suddenly changed its policy, including the possibility of interference from Cyprus president Tassos Papadopoulos.

Meanwhile in Holland, NRC Handelsblad reports that the International Foundation Manifesta (IFM) in Amsterdam is taking legal action. IFM director Hedwig Fijen insists that the NFA knew from the start that Manifesta's project would cross the Green Line. "That was even fixed in the contract," said Fijen, adding that IFM hosted a successful conference on Cyprus earlier this year. According to the newspaper, lawyers for IFM initiated a lawsuit against the NFA at the end of last week. In total, €1.8 million ($2.3 million) had been slotted for the biennial's art school component, with €1 million ($1.6 million) brought in from local donors.

On Cyprus, local artists have begun a petition with the motto "Give us our Manifesta." "It is essential that the cultural development of Cyprus not be governed by political decisions," the artists said in a statement. The next chapter in the Manifesta 6 saga is expected this week at Art Basel, where a press conference will be held to discuss the cancellation and perhaps some new solutions.