Our innovative artist in residence programme on environment, design and sustainability – taking place as part of our Circular Cultures I Making Matters programme in partnership with the Polygreen Culture & Art Initiative (PCAI) – returns to the island of Tilos in Greece for a fourth consecutive year from 29 September to 8 October 2025 to explore possible environmental solutions through the lens of artistic creativity and the means that art provides.
Following the success of previous years’ creative residencies with the RESOLVE Collective (2023) and the POoR Collective (2024), we are delighted to welcome STORE, our 2025 artists in residence – an association of artists, architects and designers supporting young people from underrepresented backgrounds applying to creative courses and addressing the social imbalance in art, design and architecture education – to this year’s Tilos Artist Residency.
STORE is a socially engaged association of creative practitioners. STORE STORE is the collective’s space in London and Rotterdam from which they run a programme of free design and architecture courses open to state school students. These courses provide a platform for young people to develop their ideas and creativity, encouraging and supporting a more diverse group of students into creative careers.
The Tilos Artist Residency aims to explore how the principles of upcycling, zero waste and the 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 delve deeper into the award-winning circular economy programme that has been implemented on the island from 2022.
In collaboration with the Municipality of Tilos, the schools and residents on Tilos, the artists aim to create a community-based work of art that will remain on the island as a result of their research. Similar ‘pieces’ taking the form of artworks, design items and fanzines were created by Hypercomf, The New Raw, Resolve and PoOR during their residencies and are currently on display at the Just Go Zero Tilos info point.
Just Go Zero Tilos, an innovative environmental project powered by PCAI, was launched on the island in 2022 aiming to develop solutions that promote the circular economy and sustainability, and make Tilos the first zero waste island in Greece.
The residency is organised as part of PCAI’s collaboration with the Municipality of Tilos.
Information
For further information, please contact Maria Papaioannou at Maria.Papaioannou@britishcouncil.gr.