Rizes Lab

Rizes Lab is a non-profit organisation based in Athens, Greece, founded in 2024 by Dr. Stella Dimitrakopoulou (dance and performance artist, researcher and educator) and Korina Kotsiri (designer, performer and cultural programmes coordinator). The organisation brings together long-standing experience in the fields of performing arts, visual arts, education, community engagement and artistic research.

Rizes Lab operates as a platform for interdisciplinary artistic research, participatory creative processes and socially engaged practices, with a strong focus on youth, inclusion and community-based work. Its mission is to design and implement innovative artistic and educational programmes that promote equal access to culture, diversity and social cohesion, while addressing contemporary social challenges through embodied and experiential methodologies.

The organisation works at the intersection of art, education, wellbeing and social inclusion, collaborating with local communities, cultural institutions, schools, youth groups and educators. Its approach is grounded in participation, co-creation and accessibility, using artistic practice as a tool for empowerment, dialogue and lifelong learning.

Rizes Lab’s programmes engage diverse participant groups, including young people, women, migrant and refugee communities, educators and emerging artists, fostering social inclusion, intercultural dialogue and community resilience through creative processes.

In 2025–2026, Rizes Lab designed and implemented “The Youth Performance Art Project” in official collaboration with the Museum of Cycladic Art, under the auspices and funding of the Greek Ministry of Culture. The project focused on youth participation, contemporary performance practices and cultural access. During summer 2025 the company designed and facilitated arts-based educational workshops for the Hellenic American Union (HAU), focusing on creative pedagogical approaches.

In 2026–2027, the organisation will deliver the program “Youth Across Cultures”, an intercultural artistic and educational programme addressing young people from vulnerable social groups, with an emphasis on inclusion, participation and intercultural learning.

Rizes Lab actively participates in European cooperation and transnational partnerships. It regularly collaborates with international organisations and contributes to EU-level artistic and educational initiatives. The organisation is an implementing partner of the transnational European programme VAHA Hubs (2025–2026) as part of which it is a co-founding member of "Kilim Hub" and of the Greek–Turkish collaboration "Jineika Hub".

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