During the online discussion held by Berlin’s theater on the rise of the alt-right, things have heated up. Speakers and audience join paths in a creative interaction. At the same time, illustrator Yorgos Konstantinou visualizes everything that’s been said. His images record the words in real time, keeping them alive and offering a new perspective. Graphic recording, graphic harvesting, graphic facilitation are only a few words describing his professional activity, one of the professional activities to be more specific, of the Thessaloniki-born illustrator, who has been a Berlin resident the last few years, after having lived for several years in Barcelona. “I am not familiar with the word “permanently” as a state of living,” he says.

Also known as ЁРГОС or Jorgos or yorgos k., Yorgos Konstantinou points out that despite the abundance of images parading before our eyes on a daily basis, we have become familiarized with the reading of an image, but we know very little of its writing. Therefore, we lack the skill to analyze it. Yorgos Konstantinou assesses that “images could be of therapeutic use, creating a common ground for the identifying process of things and situations. Seeing something is far different than only hearing it. An intangible meaning suddenly obtains a concrete quality.”

Born in Thessaloniki, in 1967, Konstantinou is a pioneer in the fields of visual communication, ideas’ development and education. He has the gift of transforming complex ideas into accessible images, enabling the learning process through visual rhetoric. His art has been widely used, especially within the framework of conventions. “Images of everything that has been said might detract your attention, but always towards topic-related paths, getting you back on track of the discussion. You realize that something can be made understood through an entirely different way.”

What he has in mind is a large-scale visual library. He illustrates for the most part social-related topics, as in the case of a recent online meeting held by the members of a human rights international organization. He painted the discussion in real time, explaining that “when you see an image of what you’ve just said, you get the impression of being heard.”

Konstantinou has planned and put into force innovative educational ideas, actions, and tools for governmental, public service and private institutions on a worldwide scale, placing emphasis on peace building, interculturality, and creativity. At the same time, he is a founding member of the educational project “Irenia”, recipient of the Intercultural Innovation Award bestowed by the United Nations (UNAOC και BMW Intercultural Innovation Award).

His involvement with schools and the planning of educational programs dates back to his days in Catalonia, when he was asked to tell a fairy tale to the pupils of a school. It was then when he first discovered the pleasure of interacting with your audience. This experience served as a jumping-off point for the setting up of a team that came up with inclusive and non-competitive games “to enable children to grasp, though the triggering of emotions, several poignant issues, e.g. interculturality. The comprehension process is carried out through an experiential approach, tailor-made for children”.

Yorgos Konstantinou is involved in many projects, ranging from conventions and the elaboration of games suited for schools to a book on Afro-German history, in collaboration with “Irenia”, and a graphic novel that is already under way.

He is the co-founder of the “Stop Mare Mortum” organization, and the co-ordinator of the #MEDfaces art platform, which assembles and showcases the works of hundreds of artists, putting forth the dramatic aspects of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea, through the hosting of exhibitions and the use of social media. In addition to his exquisite command of the visual language, he is also fluent in Greek, German, English, Catalan, and Spanish, as well as fundamentally adept in Polish, Basque, and Arabic.