Margaris Foundation is about the process of creativity, art production and exhibition making. We want to bring this process closer to the mainly non-specialized public through active involvement and to give artists the opportunity to exhibit outside -or perhaps in parallel- to the global art system we are all unavoidably part of. The Foundation is run by les yper yper - a multidisciplinary collective of artists, curators, designers, architects, filmmakers etc. who undertake all steps necessary towards the materialization of our ideas and projects - from the most creative to the most menial tasks, and who strongly believe that art can be a fun experience for everyone involved. Our projects can be exhibitions, residencies, talks, workshops for artists or the public of all ages. We collaborate with artists, curators, collectors, institutions -public, private, alternative and established. We love broadening our horizons and expanding our practice.
The Margaris Foundation – Centre for the Arts and Culture was founded in 2001, with the mission to convey the developments of contemporary art to the public of Greece, mainly Amfilochia and Thessaloniki, and to promote the communication and collaboration between artists from Greece and abroad in a non-institutional environment, in a city of the Greek periphery. The Margaris Foundation is based in Thessaloniki, where the central offices are, and in Amfilochia, a small town of the Greek periphery, where a fully refurbished traditional building, typical example of the local architecture, was turned into an exhibition space, the Margaris Gallery. The Gallery houses the permanent collection of the Foundation, that includes over 150 works by contemporary Greek and foreign artists. Beyond Thessaloniki and Amfilochia, the Foundation acts as a nomadic platform and travels according to the needs and aims of its projects.