A Collective of Collectives
| A self-organized, non-profit festival taking place between the 2nd and 12th of October, uniting Athenian artist‑run spaces. Explore the city’s independent cultural scene through exhibitions, workshops, screenings, music and performances across multiple venues — a living map of Athens’ underground and experimental art. |
A Collective of Collectives is an effort to focus on the developing art scene of Athens. The inaugural edition of the Collective of Collectives Festival, held in October 2024, brought together ten artist-run initiatives that collaborated to align their schedules over the course of one weekend, making their programs highly accessible to everyone. This year, the festival returns between 2nd to 12th of October 2025 with eighteen participating artist-run spaces and an extended runtime. Notably, many of these self-organized spaces are initiated and sustained by women and queer communities, shaping the scene with their perspectives and practices.
In recent years, Athens has witnessed an explosion in its artistic community. Beyond large profit-oriented institutions and galleries, much of the production and creation by new and emerging artists and communities takes place in self-managed, independent spaces. These collective-based initiatives have nurtured a thriving ecosystem that the CC Festival seeks to bring together, strengthening self-funded or semi-funded artist-run projects that constitute the contemporary incubator of Athens’ underground, experimental cultural scene. Criticizing centralized models of artistic authority, these spaces challenge conventional structures of curation and meaning-making in favor of personal, collective, and networked approaches. By shifting the focus from external demands to personal narratives and positioning artists as both subject and creator, they cultivate a non-hierarchical, fluid structure where individual and cultural histories intersect. The emphasis is on co-producing rather than imposing, reinforcing art as an evolving, participatory process rather than a fixed, authoritative statement.
By creating connections between art spaces across Athens, we seek to promote greater accessibility, visibility and collaboration in the local art community. We aim to empower art spaces, artists and curators to reach a wider audience, share resources and collaborate to enhance the city's cultural landscape.
Through comprehensive mapping and outreach, we are building a network of self-managed art spaces, fostering partnerships and joint programming that highlight the diverse artistic voices of Athens. At the same time, by making it easier for people to discover, access, and engage with these spaces, we hope to inspire a deeper appreciation of the city’s art scene and provide a platform for creatives to thrive.
This project is more than just a catalogue or an advertising campaign. It's a concentrated effort to strengthen ties within the city.