elc team
POoR Collective from the UK has been selected as the artist group for the 2024 innovative environmental programme on the island of Tilos, Greece
The successful Tilos Artist Residency programme continues for the third consecutive year on the island of Tilos. For the 2024 edition PCAI continues its partnership with the British Council in the framework of the Circular Cultures (Making Matters) programme inviting British artists POoR Collective.
From October 16 tο 23, the artist collective will be on the island in an attempt to explore possible environmental solutions through the lens of artistic creativity and the means that art provides.
POoR stands for Power Out of Restriction, a socially minded organisation that focuses on the development of communities through the elevation of young people. The 2023 Emerging Design Medal winners will arrive on the island right after the display of their Together In Battersea installation, inside the iconic Battersea Power Station during the recent London Design Festival. This installation celebrated community, connection, and the spirit of coming together, using the unique backdrop of the historic power station to highlight themes of unity and collaboration.
The Tilos residency aims to explore how the principles of upcycling, zero waste and circular economy can inspire creativity, collaboration and regenerative thinking in architecture, design crafts, materials and urban design. More specifically, during their residency, the artists will have the opportunity to research further the awarded circular economy programme implemented on the island from2022. In collaboration with the island’s Municipality, the schools and the people of Tilos, the artists intend to create a community-based work of art that will remain on the island as the outcome of their research. Similar footprints taking the form of artworks, design items and fanzines were created by Hypercomf, The New Raw, and Resolve during their residencies and are currently on display in Just Go Zero Tilos info point.
The Tilos Artist Residency is organised in the context of Polygreen’s collaboration with the Municipality of Tilos. Just Go Zero Tilos, an innovative environmental project, powered by Polygreen, was launched in 2022 on the island aiming to develop solutions that promote circular economy and sustainability, and made Tilos the first zero-waste island in Greece.
More about POoR Collective
Power Out of Restriction is a socially minded organisation that focuses on the development of communities through the elevation of young people. They see the power of the younger generation and seek to get young voices heard. They are a design practice that works with young people to create tangible outputs in their local environments. Services include designing and creating murals, pavilions and architecture. Through knowledge sharing and design, they aim to bridge the gap between communities, bring together a wealth of demographics, and empower the youth of today.
POoR Collective believes that genuine engagement is achieved through the community’s stake in each project. Meaningful involvement promotes ownership, empowerment, and knowledge sharing. They have worked with organisations that include the RIBA, Royal College of Art, Design Museum, South London Gallery, Wandsworth Borough of London Council, Merton Council and London Borough of Bexley.
More about Polygreen Culture & Art Initiative (PCAI), Just Go Zero and the Tilos Artist Residency
PCAI is a nonprofit organisation, founded by Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Polygreen CEO, as a means to increase environmental awareness through an annual programme of commissions, contemporary art exhibitions, art residencies, workshops, conferences and events. The organisation implements its objectives through three areas of activity: its mainly commissioned-based art collection, its annual program of cultural projects and the support it offers to artistic initiatives and artists sharing its environmental concerns. In 2019, Kika Kyriakakou, PCAI’s artistic director, initiated the organisation’s artist-in-residence programme with a residency jury of esteemed members like Hans Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine artistic director, and Krist Gruijthuijsen, KW Institute Director. In 2021, PCAI became an official nominator for the Earthshot Prize, the significant environmental award established by the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The Tilos Artist Residency takes place within the framework of Polygreen’s collaboration with the Municipality of Tilos on the occasion of the innovative project Just Go Zero Tilos. Polygreen through this initiative, launched in 2022, successfully turned Tilos into an important case study for a zero-waste island. Through the Just Go Zero programme, Tilos is now the only island in the world and the only place in Greece that has been awarded the international Zero Waste City certification. As part of the programme, the first edition of the Tilos Artist Residency programme, in 2022, featured artists Hypercomf and designer duo The New Raw.
More about EU Circular Cultures – Making Matters
Circular Cultures (Making Matters) is the British Council’s sustainable design and creative economies programme in EU Europe, which aims to promote greater awareness around sustainable design, circularity and making cultures and to embed a more critical dialogue around design and circularity, and create new EU-UK networks around sustainability and circularity. Circular Cultures is part of the British Council global programme Making Matters, which aims to foster a global dialogue around the topic of circular design. The multi-disciplinary programme explores how principles of the circular economy can be a catalyst for creativity, collaboration and regenerative thinking within architecture, design and fashion practice.
