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 the fifth consecutive year from 28 September to 7 October 2026 to explore possible environmental solutions through the lens of artistic creativity and the means that art provides.
Following the success of previous years’ artists residencies with the RESOLVE Collective (2023), the POoR Collective (2024) and STORE (2025), we are delighted to welcome Black Females in Architecture (BFA), our 2026 artists in residence – a global membership organisation and social enterprise with a network of nearly 600 members, connecting and supporting Black women and Black-mixed women working across architecture, design and construction – to this year’s Tilos Artist Residency.
BFA’s work spans a range of pioneering projects that centre the experiences, knowledge and creative contributions of Black women in the built environment. In 2023, BFA was invited by Professor Lesley Lokko to contribute to the Venice Architecture Biennale, presenting A Voice for the 450 Plus, a short film celebrating the diverse and ongoing contributions of Black women to architecture and spatial practice. In 2024, BFA collaborated with Studio Gil on a co-designed public space for teenage girls and young women at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, exploring inclusive approaches to safety, belonging and wellbeing. In 2025, BFA curated Earth, Memory, and the Spaces We Inhabit for the London Festival of Architecture, an exhibition exploring matrilineal knowledge, memory and legacy through sound, sculpture and architecture. In 2026, BFA curated You’re Invited: A moment to rest, to listen, and to reflect on Women’s Ways of Knowing the City in Accra, Ghana, showcasing selected works from an open call exploring how women perceive, navigate, shape and create meaning within urban environments.
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.
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.
Watch the Tilos Artists Residency 2025 film with the STORE.
Directed by Ilias Madouros
Information
For further information, please contact Maria Papaioannou at Maria.Papaioannou@britishcouncil.gr.