CIA
The C.I.A. is a fluid, art initiative that exists somewhere between a physical space and a shared way of thinking. Rooted in a close circle of family, friends, and collaborating artists.
It operates across two distinct environments: an alpaca farm in the English East Midlands and a quiet mountain woodland on the Welsh West Coast in Eryri. These places shape a playful, experimental approach to creativity and the understanding relationship we have with our environments.
Amusingly recreating the formality of traditional art institutions, the C.I.A. describes itself as “a collection of art spaces where ideas can be explored, relationships can be formed, and artists can come to play”. Its work centers on low-technology, hands-on making, with a focus on collaboration, process, and connection over polished outcomes. It hosts residencies, exhibitions, performances, and lively public events, including parades and site-specific ceremonies, often designed to reimagine how art can inhabit and interact with different places through ritual, gathering, and performance, turning everyday landscapes into sites of imagination and story, a blend of daydreaming, wandering, and creative exchange through film, objects, and live interaction.
At its heart, the Carousel Institute of Arts (C.I.A.) is driven by curiosity, play, and the belief that art is not just something to be seen, but something to be lived, shared, and built together.
Our plan for the expo:
Title: Secret Sentinels
Our ongoing work – This Is My Lamp Post – was originally created by the Roberts family in Wales in 2007, which was developed to highlight the absurdity of power, monarchy and war, and to explore how power is ultimately transient, fickle and ever‑shifting, never permanent or secure. We first brought this work to Susak Expo in 2018 with – This is my Lamp post, Susak – where we invited the artist taking part in Susak Expo to join us in a flag making workshop, we lead a flag parade across the island and installed all the artists flags on the top of Vela Straža, the island’s highest point. The site has deep roots as a prehistoric Illyrian lookout and defensive hill‑fort; its name meaning “Great Watchtower”, a direct reflection of its historic purpose to guard and oversee the land. While on the island we performed various actions to protect Susak around including the positioning of whispers, lighthouses, wax hand gestures and ceramic genitalia around the island leaving minimal impact on the environment.
For 2026, we intend to present a collection of artworks from our selected artists, and display them on the island. All works will be delivered to Susak by the Carousel Postie, who will install the art, announce the opening of the show and host the exhibition. These works are intended to protect the island and reinforce our core message: that structures and systems of power rise and fade.