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FELLOWS

Alex Dimitriou

2019/20 Athens

Alex Dimitriou has been working in cultural production in Berlin and Athens since 2007, producing film and performance festivals that deal with queer and body politics, activism and LGBTQI+ visibility.

Alex was the production manager for the film production of 3x3x6 by conceptual artist Shu Lea Cheang, which was showcased in the Venice Biennale Arte 2019 at the Pavilion of Taiwan. In Athens Alex was one of the curators and managers of Sound Acts: a sound and performance festival that engaged the local queer arts community and brought them together with international artists, making queer political performance visible to a more mainstream audience in Greece for the first time.

Through START Alex strengthened abilities for community building, and - inspired by a passion for cycling - created safe and inclusive spaces for queer, trans* folk and women in Rhodes and Athens, where people exchanged, created art and fixed their bikes together. In the future Alex aspires to create the first physical feminist makerspace in Greece.

Project Progress Phase III Phase II Phase I

Phase III

Scaling the projects in Greece

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Duration

Sep onwards

Project Title

Sazman

In its third phase, Sazman opens up to a broader audience, sustaining its feminist identity.
The project continues to offer some workshops for women and queers only, yet it is going a step beyond. It offers a wider range of events and workshops directed towards all genders and ages including children.

 

Phase II

Project implementation in Greece

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Duration

Dec - May

Project Title

Sazman

Sazman is inspired by the feminist makers movement, DIY culture and feminist makerspaces that exist in many places in the world, but somehow haven’t yet found their way to Greece and Rhodes. Feminist makerspaces help unite people with similar backgrounds in order to network and learn different skills by providing free or low-cost workshops to learn makers skills like coding, bike mechanics, 3D printing, woodworking, even salary negotiation. Participants might not get qualified knowledge for getting a job in these fields, but they do get something that they might not get anywhere else: confidence. Sazman wants to make a contribution towards this direction in Greece.

Phase I

Capacity building in Germany

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Duration

Sep - Nov

Project Title

Sazman/Changement

It is not an uncommon experience of women in Greece and especially in smaller cities, that they have less access to mechanical knowledge, and their abilities to such an affinity are many a time underestimated. I myself have had to learn a lot by doing on my own, while wishing that there was a place where I could learn with people that I feel comfortable with, who want to teach me and who will help me do it myself. Sazman/Changement aims to create feminist, inclusive and empowered communities in Rhodes, Athens and
eventually in other Greek cities, with people that share a love for bicycles. Through workshops, events and actual bike repairing sessions, I aim to create a strong community in different cities in Greece, with women and minorities of diverse cultural backgrounds who need a safe space to exchange, meet, create and learn how to fix their own bikes. These kind of spaces do not exist in the rural area of Greece.

Host Institution

art der stadt

The registered society "art der stadt e.V." (literally: the art of the city) is a melting-pot of artistic expression. It is a socio-cultural platform for artistic, cultural and education related engagement. It gives the artistic means and possibilities, especially to young people, to experience participation and fulfillment within a society. We see ourselves as a platform for self-organized youth-work and active leisure-time. We offer theater, music, fine arts, dance, movie, and literature. We offer art projects, performances, workshops, and courses.

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