FELLOWS

Maria Dimitriou

2018/19 Athens

Born and raised in Athens, Maria works in theatre as both a production coordinator and theatre educator. She completed Theatre Studies in Athens and an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where she also discovered her passion for participatory and arts educational projects. Following her studies she worked in the production of LIFT and other international theatre festivals in London, coordinated art programmes for schools and youth groups with Eastside Educational Trust, and was a drama facilitator at Theatre Royal Stratford East for community-based projects with young people.

Back in Athens, she has coordinated the production of a number of theatre shows and applied her arts education knowledge in teaching drama to primary school students. As she strongly believes that everyone has creative ability, Maria seeks to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to imagine, create and share their artistic skills within their community. Collaboration, respect and fun are keywords for this vision and opportunities such as her participation in the 2018 START program offer her the means to achieve it.

Project Title

HiC | open art.project

The project is encouraging people to express themselves through different forms of art.

This initiative can be described as a one-day festival-in-progress where people can participate and express themselves through different forms of art. It is a project that includes elements of a happening and a party. It is free and open to everyone with the ultimate goal to inspire people to share their artistic skills in a fun environment. In particular, HiC | open art.project is based on the fact that all people have creative abilities.
A free and open space can encourage people to discover their creativity and facilitate them to explore ideas. Using as tools, different forms of art such as drawing, photography, music, acting, singing, dancing, storytelling, participants are welcomed to actively get involved and develop an idea. Every piece of art is produced and displayed on the spot during the event.

Host Institution

Kulturzentrum Tollhaus

TOLLHAUS is a sociocultural centre in Karlsruhe, Germany staging 250 - 300 events per year. Its two halls have capacities of 450 (seated) or 700 (standing) in the smaller hall and 850 (seated) or 1,300 (standing) in the larger hall. During summer TOLLHAUS organizes a series called ZELTIVAL with approximately 30 concerts.

In 2016 we also founded the ATOLL festival for contemporary circus which takes place during five days in September each year at and around the centre.