Theme: If You Don't Have Red Use Blue

The famous phrase of one of the greatest artists in history is an ode to resilience. Just as an artist, in order to achieve longevity and identity in their work, they should not be limited by the circumstances surrounding them, so should modern man improvise, be flexible and imaginative, in order to create and leave their own mark.

They may need to touch on aspects of themselves they did not know they possessed or did possess but remained dormant, or they may need to change their view on what "should be" and what "is", create their own status quo and be faithful to it, proceed to uncharted waters with courage, armed with their own intuition and their own values.

Because to create, you need audacity and perspective, not just ability.

And what is life without creation?

Municipal Art Gallery of Larissa
Geor. Papandreou
Patera
Larisa, Larisa, 41222
Greece

Abid Shamdeen

Executive Director - Nadia's Initiative

Abid Shamdeen is a global development specialist. Shamdeen was born and raised in Sinjar, Iraq. For the past six years, he has advocated for victims of the Yazidi Genocide and has managed projects that have brought aid and assistance to internally displaced Yazidis in Iraq. Abid worked for the United States Army in Iraq as a cultural advisor and translator. He holds a master’s degree in political science from the School of International Service at American University.

Achilleas Gabrielides

Care Clown - Angels of Joy

Achilleas is a child psychologist and theatrical play therapist. He studied psychology at the University of Toulouse in France, and in parallel, attended theatrical clown seminars with Nicole Garreta and Juliette Jamois. He has worked as a child psychologist in schools and in various institutions (daycare centers, institutions for people with disabilities) in Toulouse, where he was particularly engaged in the therapeutic use of the clown character. In 2016, he co-created the play “Neurotypiks” with the aim of raising public awareness about neurological disorders; a play which was performed at various institutions in Toulouse. Since 2019, he has been participating in “Angels of Joy” programs as an animator at Child Protection Institutions and Children’s Hospitals. Since 2020 he is the Coordinator of the Digital Programs.

Cecilie Fjellhøy

Activist & Spokesperson

I was thrown into the public eye when I came forward with my cheating story. First in 2019 through VG's original Tinder Swindler case, which became VG's most read of all time. February 2022 saw the Netflix documentary of the same name. Through the trials and tribulations, I and so many others have been under, I understood that something had to be done for fraud victims, and with my experience as a full-time usability designer in the IT industry for almost 10 years, I saw a golden opportunity to use the qualities and strengths I had developed there and use them to further the fraud cause. I have experience working with both digital identity and the banking system. Since 2019, I have fought and stood up in various media in Norway, and had meetings with various organizations and parties to promote the fraud case for victims. Through my organization, action:reaction, I hope to create a place for fraud victims to get mental help and support. This work is now underway.

Christina Tripodianaki

PR & Communications Specialist. Founder of CT Communications

Christina Tripodianaki is a PR & Communication Specialist. Her work experience in positions of Public Relations, Marketing & Communication at the University of Crete, in tourism and other business sectors resulted in setting up her own business. With the freedom to work and create with clients in diverse business and career fields, Christina Tripodianaki aims to understand and evaluate each field, thus enhancing their professional progress and development by helping them build and formulate a completely operational and communicative business image. She is a consultant and collaborator for international and Greek entrepreneurship programs, alongside being PR & Communications Manager of the International Chamber of Commerce Women Hellas (ICC WomenHellas).

Christina - Ariadne Valagkouti

Analog Astronaut Nutrition Expert - Interstellar Performance Labs

Everyone deserves access to nutritious, delicious food, but there are populations at extremes for whom these standards are not met. I'm Christina-Ariadne, and I want to apply the science of dietetics to innovative ventures that will solve this very problem. My internship at the European Space Agency and my work with astronaut nutrition taught me a lot about the limitations that the environment can impose. Currently, in the mornings I train the staff of the Dutch branch of the online supermarket "Gorillas" to perform quality checks to reduce food waste. Also, I work for the company Connectomix, checking how safe it can be to consume micro-organisms that have not been part of our diet until now. At the same time, I am the official dietitian of Interstellar Performance Labs, a company that trains people who participate in simulated space missions, the so-called analog astronauts.

Despοina Kanakoglou

Founder of GiatiOxi Media

Despοina Kanakoglou is the founder of GiatiOxi Media and the hostess of GiatiOxi Podcast. Despοina is self-taught in the world of podcasting and the art of interviewing. She learned how to produce a podcast at the beginning of 2016 and she has produced and hosted more than 420 episodes ever since. GiatiOxi podcast is a talk show where Despοina has intimate conversations with her guests about a great range of topics, from emotional and financial wellbeing to entrepreneurship, feminism, health, and science. She uses her platform to promote gender equality, diversity, and social responsibility issues. She is a mental health advocate. She constantly seeks to raise awareness and speaks out against the stigma associated with mental illness and promotes seeking medical help. GiatiOxi is one of the most popular podcasts among greek speaking audiences, it is independent and has more than 50.000 listeners. It is featured on the Apple Podcasts Homepage.

Georgios Trantas

Director of Education - Detention Centre of Larissa

Giorgos Trantas was born in Larissa. He studied Theology, Sociology, and Philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. After relative training, engaged in Journalism in Thessaloniki and Larissa. At the same time, he worked as an educator in private and public education and training. As a certified adult trainer has taught in private and public I.E.K. and in S.D.E. For the past sixteen years he has focused on incarcerated education populations. Today he is the Director of Education at the Detention Centre of Larissa, Secretary of the Association "Diexodos", Vice President of the "Juvenile Protection Society Larisa" and a member of the Board of Directors of the Greek branch of the European Prison Education Association. He has published two books with literary texts of inmates and a reintegration guide, while he has participated in the writing of two collective works, a literary and a Greek learning guide for inmates.

Ioannis Nikolaou

Professor in Organizational Behaviour & HR - Athens University of Economics & Business

Dr Ioannis Nikolaou is a Work & Organizational Psychologist, Professor of Organisational Behaviour & Human Resources Management at the department of Management Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, and Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal International Journal of Selection & Assessment. He teaches courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels at the Athens University of Economics and Business, the University of Valencia, and the University of Cyprus, while maintaining active links with the industry through Human Resource consulting projects. He is the co-founder of the European Network of Selection Researchers (ENESER), and since 2017 he represents Greece in the European Network of Organizational Psychologists (ENOP). He is also the co-founder of the NGO Job-Pairs, supporting young graduates via mentoring, and Chief Science Officer of Owiwi, a Greek-based start-up company specializing in the field of gamified assessment.

Kadinelia .

Music Group

Ο Θανάσης Ζήκας είναι γιος, του τραγουδοποιού Γιώργου Ζήκα και η σύνθεση του τραγουδιού αποτελεί τη βασική επιρροή του. Παρόλα αυτά οι σπουδές του στο Τμήμα Λαϊκής & Παραδοσιακής Μουσικής του ΤΕΙ της Άρτας και συγκεκριμένα η ενασχόλησή του με την οργανοποιία, έστρεψαν το ενδιαφέρον του προς την εξειδικευμένη έρευνα και τεκμηρίωση. Μάλιστα, η τσαμπούνα είναι το όργανο στο οποίο εστίασε την έρευνά του, αφού η συχνές επισκέψεις στις Κυκλάδες του έδωσαν την ευκαιρία να γνωρίσει από κοντά τους εναπομείναντες παλιούς μουσικούς ενός οργάνου, που μπορεί να στερείται της δισκογραφίας που του αρμόζει, αλλά έχει να επιδείξει μία παμπάλαια παράδοση. Από την πλευρά της, η Εύη Σεϊτανίδου, ξεκίνησε να τραγουδάει από πολύ μικρή ηλικία ακολουθώντας το παράδειγμα της μεγαλύτερης αδελφής της. Η οικογένειά της αντλεί καταγωγή από τον Πόντο. Έτσι, παρότι η λαϊκή κιθάρα είναι το κύριο εκφραστικό μέσο της, η ποντιακή λύρα έπεσε στα χέρια της σχεδόν αναπόφευκτα.

Kosmas Marinakis

Senior Lecturer of Economics - Singapore Management University

Kosmas Marinakis is an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) at Singapore Management University and a PhD at North Carolina State University. He has worked in academic and research positions in the USA, Cyprus and Russia. His research interests focus on motivation theory, industrial organization and the economics of education. His articles have been published in international scientific journals and he has been honored with the "Best Teacher of the Year" award of the Higher School of Economics for 7 consecutive years. Alongside his scientific and research duties, he has created the popular economic knowledge channel "Greekonomics" on YouTube, through which he presents and explains in simple terms the ways in which the economy affects society.

Marica Labrou

Business Consultant & Author

Marika Lambrou is a Business Consultant and Author of the book "Success Secrets for Family Businesses in the New Era". Today she is a member of the Board of Directors of the companies DEPA, Entersoft & Focus Bari. She has more than 30 years of successful executive experience in large Greek and multinational companies, and the last 15 years in the positions of General Manager and CEO. She is a member of the WCD (Women Corporate Directors) Foundation, the NED Club (Association of Non-Executive Board Members), a mentor of Endeavor and WoT (Women on Top), and a member of two OPA (Economic University of Athens) Advisory Committees. She was the Vice President of EASE (Society of Top Business Executives) and a member of the Women's Committee of the Greek-American Chamber. Being committed to the principles of compassionate entrepreneurial leadership, she has founded and runs the consulting firm CEL (Compassionate Entrepreneurial Leadership).

Vasileios Tzikas

Multi-instrumentalist & Song-writer

Vasileios Tzikas is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. Already as a toddler, he was drumming on stones and woods, listening to the sounds of the streams and the wind at the foot of Mount Olympus. His search for the sound of life led him to the island of Crete. As a student he learned to create the optimal sound, to unite singing and instruments with each other, and to listen to the expression of the many different ideas and conceptions of the people. He himself founded his first bands and traveled with his family to Germany, learning to love Berlin and to lose it again. His first album "Aposmos" was released in 2017. In a mixture of longing, anger and loneliness he plays loving, cinematic songs wrapped in the cultural cover of his childhood days. He was even awarded first place at the "German Songwriting Awards" for his work, at the “Open” category.

Yama .

Indie Pop Band

Οι Yama είναι Αθηναϊκή Indie Pop μπάντα. Το 2021 βγάλανε τον πρώτο τους δίσκο και κάνανε το sold out show ντεμπούτο τους τον Μάρτιο του 2022. Ο δίσκος τους "Λουλούδια στο Μπαλκόνι" πλησιάζει τα 1.000.000 streams, με κομμάτια όπως το "Τι να κάνω?", "Δεν Πειράζει" και "10 Ταχύτητες". Από τότε έχουμε παίξει στο Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης, το Schoolwave και κάνανε καλοκαιρινό tour στην Αμοργό και την Αστυπάλαια.

Οι Βλάμηδες

Folklore Band

Οι Βλάμηδες είναι μια παραδοσιακή κομπανία εμπνευσμένη από την ομώνυμη λέξη (χαρακτηρισμός που δίνονταν στους ανύπαντρους φίλους του γαμπρού και της νύφης) με ηχοχρώματα από τις περισσότερες περιοχές του ελλαδικού χώρου με αφετηρία πάντα την Ήπειρο, την Θεσσαλία και τις περιοχές του Bλαχόφωνου ελληνισμού! Η κομπανία αποτελείται από την στεριανή ζυγιά ·κλαρίνο ·λαούτο και ·ντέφι συνάμα με το ·ακορντεόν, προσαρμόζοντας το ηχόχρωμα της στις απαιτήσεις του σύγχρονου ελληνικού γλεντιού! Η χαρά όταν μοιράζεται γίνεται διπλή, το ίδιο και η μουσική!