Intangible Commons

An intimate and extended observation of plant and animal life on my Athens balcony. Each individual journey and identity is intermingled with the biodiversity of this 30 square meter space. Daily observations and epiphanies guide a gentle documentation of wonder and exchange. Deeper relationships…

Mouries Collective is a fluid and interdisciplinary group of female artists, researchers and  therapists based in Athens, Greece. Originally gathered due to our common interests in healing and  divination practices, we recently focused on developing connections with trees, plants and the  diverse beings with…

Radical care – protest and social change through fashion WAYS OF CARING – PRACTICING SOLIDARITY organized by ArtEZ University of the Arts, in collaboration with State of Fashion Supported by Gemeente Arnhem. A participatory online workshop by House of Refashion CONFERENCE PROGRAM The House of…

Khora Community Center Athens, Greece 2019 – onging The Beehive is a welcoming and supportive maker space with a focus on art and creative expression as a means to well-being and mental health. After forced displacement refugees face many obstacles to thriving and integration,…

Textile Stories BEIN 2021 Textile Bienalle Kranj, Slovenia July-August 2021 Installation text: Over three weeks social practice artist Maria Juliana Byck investigated the embedded social, cultural and emotional implications of textiles in Kranj. Holding a wealth of inter-generational wisdom, textiles contain a complex network…

HOUSE OF REFASHIONCircular Fashion Place-based Interventions This creative reuse project features new designs made of 100% recycled clothing. The goal is to raise awareness of the environmental and social issues related to the over-consumption of low quality clothing, to inspire more sustainable fashion choices,…

Art Pluriverse: A Community Science Series Intangible Cultural Heritage | Art | Open Knowledge Biennale of Western Balkans 1st edition: Textile Month December 2020 “Art Pluriverse” is an annual community science series initiated by the Biennale of Western Balkans in connection with the History…

The unMonastery is a social clinic for the future. It is a place-based social innovation is aimed at addressing the interlinked needs of empty space, unemployment and depleting social services by embedding committed, skilled individuals within communities that could benefit from their presence. The…

Working collectively these zines combine research, texts, exercises and imaginations gathered for workshops, public space interventions and presentations.…

Athens Subsumption traces the commodification and financialization of our daily life by bringing the universal and particular into relation. We are building a generative, socially integrated practice to observe and respond to new geographies emerging locally from the backdrop of globalization. Where space is…

Occupy Museums is a direct action group within the OWS movement that seeks to reoccupy our art galleries, museums, and cultural institutions with the needs, values, histories, and art of the 99%. We love museums and we love art. Yet corporate and economic interests…

Making Worlds: a Commons Coalition is a collaborative effort by individuals and groups to explore the utility of the commons in creating a better world. It brings projects working to reclaim the commons to the fore. Commons can be defined as resources managed and…

Matera, Italy 2014 unMonastery Public space intervention, napping in Basilicata, rest as resistance, preserving cultural heritage. In Southern Italy the Pisolino is called controra (from contro (“counter”) + ora “hour”), that is believed as a magical moment of the day, in which the world…

This series documents the emergency Covid-19 response coordinated by volunteers in Athens, Greece. With diverse backgrounds, skills and experiences, their goal was to to support refugees and displaced people in need of essential services during the first lockdown. These mini documentaries highlight the work…

Steel Sewn River two channel video installation Traveling within Everyday Life TAV Taipei, Taiwan 2016 Revealing that which is rendered invisible or obscured in fleeting interactions with the urban environment. This installation offers a glimpse of the territories that hover beyond the borders of…

Poem of Lefkes Paros, Greece, 2016 A meditation on the rhythms, shapes, patterns, and soundscapes of a small village on a Greek island. Inhabited since before 2400 BC, Lefkes was a hub of commerce during the Byzantine period, and served as capital of Paros…

Reflections through Movements Solo show, cumulative installation CROSS Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2016 Share, listen, and discover with others, ways to separate self from the systems constructed around us. Created through merging the traditions of psychogeography and documentary film, this installation seeks to break out…

Paros Poetry Translation Symposium Video Poems Isternia, Tinos, Greece 2018 words helen dimos ghazal mosadeq elizabeth willis marty hiatt katia gousia sudden darling & ari banias william rowe larry kearney Toilet of the Voice images and sound maria juliana byck Please dont make me…

#PROJECTSEMEDAKI Collective Fashion Show  Victoria Square Project Athens, Greece 2019 and Yellow Days Festival, Athens School of Fine Arts 2019   #ProjectSemedaki is the result of discovering large quantities of unwanted or unused handmade textiles in Greece. Most are forgotten, thrown away or stored…

CREATIVE REUSE LAB Social Practice Victoria Square Project Athens, Greece 2018-2019 Creative Reuse Lab, organized and curated by Maria Juliana Byck, took place over nine months, during the course of which weekly sustainable arts skillshares were held. The Lab was a convergence between arts,…