PLEX Open Pilot 1: Athens’
New Cultural Experiment Begins in Kerameikos

Do you want to be part of
the future of culture in Athens?

Do you want to explore how we can reshape everyday life in Kerameikos
through creativity and community?

Do you want to witness the birth of a new cultural centre and have a say
in how it grows?

Do you want to hear how AI, virtual reality, and digital worlds are
transforming our sense of space and presence?

Do you want to step into the real-life struggles and resilience of sex
workers and marginalised communities in Athens?

Or maybe you simply want to connect, dance, and celebrate?

If yes, then PLEX OPEN PILOT 1
is where you need to be.

Kerameikos has always been a
neighbourhood of thresholds. Ancient burial ground and potters’ quarter,
industrial district of weavers and factory workers, and today a patchwork of
realities: abandoned neoclassical houses, migrant families squeezed into small
apartments, short-term rentals pushing residents out, sex workers operating in
neglected streets, and artists transforming vacant spaces into temporary stages
and studios. It is messy, fragile, and contradictory.

This living contradiction is where
BIOS, one of Athens’ most restless cultural organisations, has decided to
launch its boldest experiment yet. On Friday,
26 September, BIOS opens the doors of PLEX
Open Pilot 1, the first in a series of events that will shape PLEX, a new cultural space that unfolds
across two neighbouring buildings on Kerameikou Street.

●      
At Kerameikou 28, a historic weaving factory complex, PLEX will create
its main cultural centre: a space for exhibitions, performances, workshops, and
community gatherings.

●      
At Kerameikou 30, the adjacent hotel building will become the Kerameikos Hotel: a social housing and artists’ residency unit, providing
affordable living for creators while rooting them in the life of the
neighbourhood.

We imagine PLEX not just as a venue
but a cultural and social infrastructure for Athens, designed to support
artistic experimentation, community engagement, and inclusive urban
regeneration.

From theory to
reality

The PLEX project draws directly on
years of research into the needs of artists and the dynamics of Kerameikos
itself. The CreatorsClass survey with more than 300 artists, mapping of
abandoned buildings, interviews with residents, and participatory workshops
with community groups all fed into the design of PLEX as a support structure
for both artists and the neighbourhood.

The vision is to combine:

●          A cultural centre at Kerameikou
28 where artistic work can be created, shown, and debated.

●       A social housing and residency
unit at Kerameikou 30, ensuring stability for artists while connecting them to
the community.

●       An open-air designers’ market
to reactivate the district’s legacy of crafts.

●       A network of community gardens
to provide green and shared public space.

Together, these infrastructures form a
superstructure that anchors artists in the area, creates space for residents,
and generates cultural and economic activity without displacing local life. PLEX Open Pilot 1 is the public’s
first chance to step into this vision.

The program

The program begins with presentations
on commons-based cultural practices. The GLAMMONS
project introduces approaches to sustainability and participation, while La Friche la Belle de Mai from
Marseille presents practical lessons from citizen-led collective ownership.

This is followed by a lecture from
cultural theorist Thanasis Moutsopoulos
on “The End of the Real,” examining
how cyberpunk, artificial intelligence, digital nomadism, and new technologies
are reshaping concepts of presence and space.

Architectural contributions come from
Athens- and Milan-based practitioners, who propose participatory and unfinished
design approaches for Kerameikou 28,
aimed at keeping the building adaptable and integrated into the life of the
neighborhood.

The program then turns to the
screening of Raffaela, a docufiction
by Ilias Maroutsis. The film tells
the story of Rafaela Mouzakiti, a
transgender woman and sex worker in her 60s, whose experiences connect directly
to the realities of Kerameikos.

The evening concludes with music. The
courtyard of the former weaving factory will be activated as a social space
with DJ sets by Adamantios, Supermario, Fagdoll & Lovecat and Bekha
Mujiri.

Why
Kerameikos, why now?

Athens is at a critical point. Housing
prices have risen over 50 percent in recent years, and nearly 80 percent of
renters are considered overburdened. Artists, who have long sought out
Kerameikos for its affordability and community, now face precarity and
displacement. Residents experience daily the contradictions of development: new
bars and Airbnb's alongside abandoned plots and buildings in decay.

Kerameikos, with its layered history
of crafts, industry, and working-class life, is more than a backdrop. It is a mirror of Athens’ struggles and
possibilities. What happens here could signal what kind of city Athens
wants to become: a playground for investors or a place that values culture,
solidarity, and diversity.

A beginning,
not an ending

PLEX Open Pilot 1 wants to ask the
important questions: What kind of infrastructures can make artists and
residents stay? How can cultural centres avoid becoming islands of
gentrification? Can art, housing, and community projects coexist with
nightlife, migrants, and marginalised groups?

PLEX
Open Pilot 1
Kerameikou 28 & Kerameikou 30, Athens
Friday 26 September 2025
Starts at 5.00 PM

PROGRAM