The Cultural Society, in collaboration with the Municipality of Thessaloniki, is organizing for the second consecutive year the MATAROA Street Contest — an initiative that transforms the Garden of the Mediterranean into an open-air “museum” of street art, attracting both residents and visitors of the city.

Alongside the extensive cleaning and aesthetic upgrades of the waterfront area that will also take place this year, the MATAROA Street Contest highlights the power of art in public space, fosters dialogue between creators and the public, and emphasizes the value of public space for the “culture of everyday life” in our city.

The first phase of the initiative, extending across the entire waterfront, includes:

• the removal of visual pollution in selected areas with the support of KARCHER,

• surface painting and restoration by the Municipality of Thessaloniki,

• cleaning of visual pollution and the annual restoration of the benches of the New Waterfront, supported by the private initiative of the Members of the Cultural Society.

This large-scale action culminates with the MATAROA Street Contest, the innovative project launched last year and warmly embraced by the public, which showcases street art/graffiti as a form of art and communication.

More than 65 creators responded to this year’s open call, out of which nine artists were selected to create their works in the Garden of the Mediterranean:

• Nami, @02__nami__4
• Ionas, @christos_ionas
• Amok, @amok893
• Karma twogee,  @karma_two_gee
• jorz, @jorz_one
• Xenia Kasapoglou,  @interstellar.pngs
• Sae, @Sae_0.50
• BILOS, @_bilos_
• silver.formz, @silver.formz

Their works will be hosted on specially designed panels, forming an outdoor exhibition that functions as an open “museum” of street art for the entire city, complementing the pieces created last year through the same contest.

A highlight of this year’s interventions will be the participation of artist/writer Thanasis Lalas, with a surprise action at the Garden of the Mediterranean. In addition, a group of artists — including members of the contest’s advisory committee (Apset, Kostis Damoulakis, Orestis Pagkalos) — will renew the much-discussed work at the Pumping Station, which was embraced by the people of Thessaloniki!

The official presentation of the artworks and the overall initiative will take place on Friday, September 12, at 18:30, at the Garden of the Mediterranean, while the exhibition will remain installed for a full year, adorning the city’s waterfront.

The initiative is organized by the Cultural Society in collaboration with the Municipality of Thessaloniki, with the additional support of EYATH and the Members of the Cultural Society George and Zoe Papageorgiou, ISOMAT S.A., TECHNOMAT S.A., and in partnership with KARCHER.