{Have you ever wandered the streets of Athens and felt a great need to brighten up a schoolyard, brush away offensive graffiti, or clean out a neglected alley? You are not alone! The Atenistas are a like-minded group of individuals that does just that in various parts of Athens. Bringing a fresh look and feel to the city through a variety of volunteer-led activities, the Atenistas have taken action into their own hands. Nadia Papadimitriou of the Atenistas shares some insights about the independently organized citizen-action group and its activities across the city of Athens.} BY MICHAEL NEVRADAKIS
Q&A Tell us more about Atenistas, and how the organization started. Atenistas is an open group of people living in Athens. We started back in 2010, and the people who inspired the launch of the team were graphic designer Tasos Chalkiopoulos and journalist Dimitris Rigopoulos. They started without really knowing what they wanted to do, they just wanted to do something for the city they loved. They really thought that Athens has many things to give to all of us and there are so many nice things we can enjoy in the city. We have existed for almost four years and have completed more than 180 actions, most of them based in the city center, but also in some neglected neighborhoods around Athens. What are some examples of these organized actions? The Atenistas have cleaned spots around the city, created public parks, rejuvenated playgrounds, and painted in bright colors, schools around Athens, for example. We have also organized a lot of cultural events, or guided tours in historic areas and unpopular neighborhoods, to help the Athenians members get to know their city better, to feel safe in the city, and to enjoy it. Some of
the biggest events have been, for example, organizing the concert of the National Opera of Greece in the Varvakeio Market, or the Tango Night at the former Peloponnese train station, or the Swing Night in Omonia Square. We also have another sub-team that is working with people who are in need and who help in collecting food, medicine, and clothes. Tell us a bit about the urban renewal projects the Atenistas initiate and how the locations in Athens are chosen. Sometimes we choose the locations because we pass by and we see something. There are also a lot of civilians who have sent us mail, pointing out places where we can go and help them improve their neighborhoods. We have also been receiving a lot of letters from schools, to help them improve their environments. There is no definite process. Either the people ask us to go there or we pass by and identify these places. Everything we do, we really believe has to be done on the basis of what is common logic to the people and what is simple. The simpler, the better.
COMMUNITY
Atenistas
the team that’s regenerating Athens... one citizen at a time
they can enjoy being there and understand that there are many interesting things they can explore. We also have a campaign on our website where we announce all the theaters that offer, once or twice a week, cheap tickets so that people can enjoy going to the theater during a difficult period without spending much money. It’s something that we think is helping young people go out and enjoy the city. Since all of these initiatives are volunteerbased, how do you encourage the citizens of Athens to participate, and what is the general reaction? It is completely volunteer-based, although we don’t really use this word in Greece. The people participating in the Atenistas don’t
What more should we know about the cultural events that are organized or promoted by the Atenistas? What we mainly do within our cultural subteam is organize events to help people visit neglected areas to see that they are safe, so portes magazine | spring 2014
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