Communitism

Communitism

Communitism is an open community of creative professionals experiencing practices of commoning at Keramikou 28 in Metaxourghio, Athens. They revive abandoned or under-utilized cultural heritage buildings transitioning them into cultural commons entrusted and operated by active communities by building a cooperative relationship between owners and community members. Communitism calls for building owners (public or private) and communities to share responsibilities on maintaining and preserving cultural heritage. They consider collaborative artistic expression as a generator of common knowledge and practice. They believe space can shift behaviour and transform character. Art is the methodology to invite people used to acting as individuals into common practices to transcend into active citizenship.

Communitism is based on sharing spaces, means of production, competences and time through practices of cooperation, solidarity and mutualism. Inspired by civic use principles Communitism grants accessibility, usability, fairness, inclusiveness and common decision-making process in the use and care of spaces.

What makes the organisation unique?

The uniqueness of the organisation lies in the social experiment that is being performed in the specific socio-economic circumstances for the first time. A society that has lost collective memory in commoning, is being called to consciously cooperate towards a specific goal: The revival of an abandoned cultural heritage building in Athens . The process has attracted people with diverse cultural backgrounds and needs. Together they reverse the damaging factors that have caused decay in the building by keeping it in use, in collaboration with numerous communities of the local creative ecosystem. This exchange is producing rich outcomes on self-regulation dynamics developed within the organisation. The sustainability of the experiment is a measuring factor, as well as the establishment of common ethics. The state of maintenance of the building is a mirror of the community residing in it.

What TEH activities is the centre a part of?

Balkan Hub