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ArtCargo brings 12-year-old Japanese slackline champion and street culture to Nicosia
Kanon Ito, the youngest artist at this year’s ArtCargo Festival, is a 12-year-old Japanese slackline champion ranked world No.1 in women’s freestyle tricklining for 2025/2026. She will bring her acrobatic skills to Nicosia this October for three performances and a workshop, as part of the festival’s Youth Programme, alongside a graffiti workshop, local slackliners and DJ sets.
Ito is the first girl to land a Rikuto flip on a slackline, an International Gibbon Pro Rider and the Women’s World Champion at the Trickline World Cup in Munich, Germany.
Performing on a line just a few centimetres wide, Ito will showcase her jumps and aerial tricks, including her signature move, ‘Cannon Ball’. The performances take place on October 24 at 13:00 and 15:00, and October 25 at 17:00, at the square in front of the old Nicosia City Hall, near Eleftheria Square.
Ito will also lead a slackline workshop on October 25 at 13:00, introducing participants to the basics of balance, movement and tricklining at the old Nicosia City Hall.
The performance forms part of the ArtCargo Youth Programme, supported this year by its primary partner, VF Foundation, and the Embassy of Japan in Cyprus. Bringing together sport, circus and street culture, the programme aims to introduce young people in Cyprus to these urban art forms and encourage participation in creative and physical activities.
“Urban spaces belong to everyone, especially the youth,” says the VF Foundation. “Bringing young artists and athletes into public spaces creates opportunities for inspiration and connection. Kanon Ito is an incredible young artist whose skills challenge expectations and inspire people of all generations. We are thrilled to bring her to Cyprus for the first time and grateful to the Embassy of Japan for its support.”
“We are delighted to support Ms Kanon Ito’s participation in Art Cargo in Cyprus,” says the Embassy of Japan. “It is wonderful to welcome such a talented young slackline athlete, bridging the geographical and cultural distance between our two countries. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the organisers of Art Cargo for making her journey from Japan possible and look forward to witnessing her inspiring performance.” The Youth Programme also features a Spot Tagging workshop led by George Kyrou, in collaboration with Spot Art Supplies, on October 25 at 15:30. Participants will practise creating their tags in notepads using markers designed for tagging. DJ sets and street performances by local slackliners will take place across both days, spreading the celebration of urban street culture.
With the support of Exness and bbf:, all performances and workshops have free admission, giving children, teenagers and audiences of all ages the opportunity to see an internationally recognised young athlete perform live in the heart of Nicosia.
