Thessaloniki Collage Club

Thessaloniki, Greece

HISTORY

The Thessaloniki Collage Club was founded by Dorothee Mesander (a Dutch collage artist living and working in Greece) in September 2018. The steady meeting place is Koumbi Cafe owned by Anthi Chrysopoulou, an experienced museum educator and collage enthusiast. They connected after an invitation in December 2017 by Koumbi to Dorothee to start a monthly collage workshop in the cafe’s creative space. Upon return in September 2018 from her second participation in the international Collagistas Festival in Dublin, the increased need and wish to continue to interact with other artists and collage enthusiasts made her decide to set up the Thessaloniki Collage Club.

MISSION

Their goal is to bring the medium of collage and it’s various techniques and expressions under the attention of a broader public and by way of picking specific themes, to increase awareness and knowledge. Artists and beginners can comfortably sit side by side and thus we increase easy access to an art process. They want to inspire and encourage talented beginners to continue their art process and independently develop themselves and show their collage art. They also wish to create a small, steady, and committed group to exhibit their work together and publish a zine.

JOIN

They have a small group of regular attendees, creative in various other fields (textile, painting, etc.) who became collage enthusiasts. They mix together with beginners who are eager to learn more about collage.

They are an open, social, and free club and they provide all of the materials. Meetings are announced on their Instagram account. You will need to reserve a seat by calling Koumbi Coffee & Crafts Café. Anyone can attend at their own pace and frequency.

KEY ACTIVITIES

The group holds monthly meetings on the last Sunday of each month, centered around a specific theme, technique, or pioneering collage artist. Whoever can, participates in between in open calls of other collectives or art magazines.

Open call work is regularly exhibited in the centrally located Koumbi Café, for both local citizens and foreign travelers to see. In 2018 they celebrated World Collage Day with over 25 people participating in a large collaborative collage. In May 2019 they organized a weekend full of collage activities, with invited collagists from 5 countries, together with regularly attending club members, covering the complete café space.

They ask guest collagists to give workshops on their view and collage technique and are already planning for several guests/mixed media artists to show how they incorporate collage in their work.

CONTACT

INSTAGRAM