When the trees spoke
The Gift of the Birds

📍 Home4Cooperation (Markou Drakou 28, Nicosia 1102)
📅 Wednesday, 25th of November, 2026
⏱️ 17:30 – 20:00

Ticket price: 15 €

👆 Get tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/when-the-trees-spoke-the-gifts-of-the-birds-tickets-2002796612582

When the Trees Spoke: The Gifts of the Birds is a bicommunal environmental storytelling performance taking place at the Home for Cooperation in Nicosia, bringing Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots and people from all communities together through storytelling, nature and imagination.

At the heart of the event is a simple idea: the environment is something we share, and caring for it can bring us together.

Through an imaginative story in which trees and birds become the voices of the island, the performance invites audiences to see Cyprus from a different perspective. Nature does not experience the human divisions of the island. Birds cross boundaries freely, seeds travel, forests grow across landscapes, and ecosystems connect places and communities. The story therefore becomes an invitation to reflect on what connects us, rather than what separates us.

The event aims to create a welcoming space where people can meet one another not as representatives of two communities, but as Cypriots who share a home, a landscape, a history and a responsibility for the future. By experiencing a story together, audiences can discover common emotions, values and concerns, while opening space for conversation and new relationships.

The environmental dimension is particularly important. Cyprus faces shared challenges that cannot be solved by one community alone. Protecting biodiversity, caring for forests and natural habitats, reducing waste, responding to climate change and preserving the island’s natural heritage all require cooperation. Working together on environmental issues offers a practical way for communities to build trust while creating something positive and tangible for the future.

The event is organised by Peace with Smiles and the Reconciliation Committee of Volt Cyprus.

Peace with Smiles is a movement focused on peace, love, unity, kindness and community action. Founded in 2024, it grew from a philanthropic initiative centred on bringing people together and supporting communities and people in need. Its activities include community outreach, workshops and events that use human connection, creativity and joy as tools for positive change.

The Reconciliation Committee of Volt Cyprus works within Volt’s wider vision of building bridges and supporting a common future for Cyprus. Its work includes creating opportunities for Greek and Turkish Cypriots to interact and cooperate. Importantly, the committee has already supported bicommunal environmental action: in 2025, it organised a Peace Garden where Greek and Turkish Cypriots planted trees together and created a peace symbol from herbs, celebrating a shared and sustainable future.

For both Greek and Turkish Cypriot participants, bicommunal events can offer something valuable and deeply human: the opportunity to meet people from the other community in an informal, positive environment. Shared experiences can help replace assumptions with personal connections, distance with familiarity, and stereotypes with real conversations. They can also create friendships and networks that continue beyond a single event.

When the Trees Spoke: The Gifts of the Birds therefore goes beyond an environmental performance. It is an invitation to listen; to the stories of nature, to one another, and to the possibilities of a shared future.

Because the trees do not belong to one community. The birds do not belong to one side. The island is shared, and its future can be cared for together.