Christina Tzekou lives in Thessaloniki, where she studied architecture and continued with an MA in Museology and Cultural Management.

Having worked closely with artists and art galleries as an exhibition designer and project coordinator, she has developed a deep sense of both conceptual and practical aspects of cultural planning. Moreover, she is co-director of FUTURES PAST: a cross-disciplinary design studio, creating conceptually motivated items that address notions of identity renegotiation, transcultural bonds and cultural reappropriation (themes that she is keenly interested to further investigate through her work as a cultural manager). Christina also has pedagogical experience, teaching architectural drawing to teenagers and art to children - this has strengthened her ability to communicate in a creative context, something she aims to expand via her own cultural initiative, Kottage.

Her participation in the START sociocultural program reflects her aim to gain valuable first-hand experience and skills, so as to realise her own project in an efficient, self-sustainable manner. Her vision is to create a community-focused cultural site operating as part of an international network, starting with her fellowship in Germany in 2019. Kottage is conceived as a pedagogical experiment grounded in experiencing creativity in common and the cross-nurturing of different perspectives.