3. - 7. October 2018
CTB Lab 02 Athens
In the framework of MitOst Festival (Athens, Greece, 03-07th of October 2018), CTB members developed strategies for the further programing of the former municipal market in the historical and multicultural district of Kypseli.
In collaboration with the Impact Hub Athens, which has been running this neighborhood project since 2017, CTB-Lab implemented two existing CTB-tools, adapting it to the specific local conditions and additionally enhancing operational logic of the market.
The Municipal Market of Kypseli, refined modernist structure built in 1930 as an ordinary meat and vegetables market-hall, has a dramatic history and represents one of the main identification points for the locals. Market saw the days of glory, rebellion and resistance of the local inhabitants, decline and closure, squatting, renovation and finally repurposing by the group of young social entrepreneurs. Today's market consists of several so called ‘residents’; which are rather long term projects such as electronics repair-shop or Caritas Hellas, accompanied with a diverse program made of pop-up markets, educational and cultural events.
Super Kypseli
CTB-Lab in Athens was inspired by two tools that were nicely fitting into the spirit of the Kypseli market as a place of social cohesion, informal education and skills-exchange. Berlin-based Speisekino (Food&Footage) which combines cinematic and gastronomic experience perfectly matched the vision of Impact Hub to have a critical view on food-politics, to promote regional products and introduce multiscalar views on food production and consumption. Newly established format CINE-ΜΑΓΕΙΡΕΜΑΤΑ became regular event linking local food producers and small catering start-ups, accompanied by curated movie program usually done by non-profit organisations with the specific agenda from the field of sustainable development.
However, we mostly focused on transferring the knowledge from the CTB-Tool Gütermarkt which is a hybrid of the neighborhood flea-market, repair cafe, bicycle market and cultural program that binds them. Similarities with the ZK/U Berlin (where Gütermarkt was developed) and Kypseli Municipal Market were obviously a starting point : hyper-diverse neighborhood, socio-cultural institutional envelope, historical building and fragmented communities.
We organize a set of workshops with existing projects at the market (12 social entrepreneurs in the fixed spaces) but also with neighbors and Impact Hub Team, in order to map where is the space for possible intervention and which programs just need enhancement. Kypseli Market had already two running markets seen rather as events; Pop-Up Brunch (once per months) and Community Farmers Market Mpostani (once per week), although publicly accessible where not addressing the crucial questions and challenges of the local community. For that reason we decided to create neighborhood-driven market Super Kypseli, blending small business from the area with local creatives and after all giving stage to invisible ethnic groups from Africa and east Europe. Its hybridity and complexity became main quality; fortune-telling meets dreadlocks-making workshop, upcycling clothes meets electronics-repair, senior’s choir singing while refugee kids practicing violins.
After a couple of initial Super Kypseli markets it was clear that this format is rather a small community-festival, so the rhythm was set on once per two months, due to the organisational complexity. Every Super Kypseli also gets a thematic focus depending on the current development in the hood, being that campaign for responsible disposal of trash or simply a christmas celebration.
Finally, Super Kypseli became what the market was at the beginning, a place for very different people, with different interests and political viewpoints (sometimes even conflicting ones), but after all a place for mutual exchange and respect.
Team: Impact Hub Athens and CTB Network
Partners: Actors of Urban Change, MiTost Festival, Municipality of Kypseli