FEDORA
Education Prize 2025
Nominee

Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia
Platform member

Greece
Greek National Opera


Crowdfunding Results

€1,800
collected

€0
Matched

€9,000
target

3

Number of donors

Pledge without a reward

Incorrect value. Please check the field

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive € thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €100

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch a performance on GNO TV, the digital platform of the Greek National Opera.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €200 thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €500

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch as many GNO TV performances as they wish and as many times as they want, for one year on the digital platform of the Greek National Opera.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €1,000 thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €2,000

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch as many GNO TV performances as they wish and as many times as they want, for one year on the digital platform of the Greek National Opera. Additionally, they will recieve an exclusive plexiglass item, showcasing iconic moments from Maria Callas performances at the Greek National Opera. Each piece is meticulously designed to capture the essence of the legendary divina.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €4,000 thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €4,000

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch as many GNO TV performances as they wish and as many times as they want, for one year on the digital platform of the Greek National Opera. Additionally, they will receive an exclusive plexiglass item, showcasing iconic moments from Maria Callas performances at the Greek National Opera, as well a silk twill scarve inspired by Tsarouchis, produced in Soufli, Greece. Each piece is meticulously designed to capture the essence of the legendary divina.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €8,000 thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €5,000

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch as many GNO TV performances as they wish and as many times as they want, for one year on the digital platform of the Greek National Opera. Additionally, they will receive an exclusive plexiglass item, showcasing iconic moments from Maria Callas performances at the Greek National Opera, as well a silk twill scarve inspired by Tsarouchis, produced in Soufli, Greece. Each piece is meticulously designed to capture the essence of the legendary divina.

They will also travel to Northern Evia to attend the final performance of Melisma. Travel and accommodation costs will be included.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €10,000 thanks to the matching of Variations International.
Special notice about recommending a donation:

You are about to make a donation to FEDORA, a French non-profit organisation, to support the crowdfunding campaign of the FEDORA Prizes Biennale 2025 on the FEDORA Platform. Donors can recommend a distribution of their donations to a specific nominated project, but FEDORA is in charge at its discretion to forward the funds to the Nominees. Upon completing your donation, FEDORA or the Transnational Giving Europe Partner will provide you with more information regarding your donation receipt, allowing you to claim tax relief on your donation. Please note that by donating online, you accept our Legal Notice (https://www.fedora-platform.com/more-infos/legal-notice). Thank you for your generosity!
If you are a company or tax resident in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland or United Kingdom and do not wish to receive the associated crowdfunding benefits, you can receive a tax receipt instead. To do so, please click on “Pledge without a reward” and type in the amount you wish to donate.
Please note that according to the Charities Aid Foundation, UK residents can only obtain a tax receipt for donations between GBP 100 and GBP 9,999.

Please note that according to the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, Swiss residents can only obtain a tax receipt for donations of minimum 100 CHF. Donations as of €5 are still possible via FEDORA's payment page for anyone wishing to make a donation of under £100 or 100 CHF without receiving a tax receipt.

Learn more about possible benefits or tax deductions related to your donation here.

Learn more about the crowdfunding campaign here.

Melisma is an ongoing educational and artistic program for residents of all ages in Northern Evia, a region severely affected by the unprecedented wildfires of summer 2021.

About the Project

Melisma is a cycle of educational and artistic activities for residents of all ages in Northern Evia, a region of Evia Island severely affected by the unprecedented wildfires that took place in the summer of 2021. The project aims to present interdisciplinary art and research that focuses on cultural knowledge and practices identified as local, traditional, folk and contemporary, linking them with intangible and natural heritage while highlighting their role in building environmental and social resilience.
Read more

Acknowledging the crucial role of arts and culture in all three dimensions of resilience (economic, social, environmental), the Greek National Opera (GNO) inaugurated Melisma aiming to present interdisciplinary art and research, focusing on cultural knowledge and practices, linking them with intangible and natural heritage, while sharing with the community the necessary tools to create an even broader local sustainable artistic and education community able to develop and host significant cultural events, thus contributing to the decentralization of cultural production in Greece.

Through the program, residents are given the opportunity to express themselves artistically and get in touch with research methodologies while rediscovering and studying their local traditions and history.

During the preliminary research period, the artistic team engages with the community by applying mixed research techniques drawn from both fields: academic and artistic. The findings in public records blend with the stories and testimonies of the residents. At the same time, the project team will engage in a long period of participant observation, focusing on and aiming to highlight the significance of tradition and its affiliation with contemporary practices, social as well as artistic. Those findings are further processed during the workshops period with members of the local community, providing access and rediscovering at the same time cultural activities and creative expression to and from different population groups.

All these different elements will gradually shape the components (story, dialogue, songs, music, movement, costumes etc.) of an original performance, supervised by the artistic team and performed by, and for, the community. Furthermore, members of the community will be taking on different positions in the production: communication, set and costume design etc.

The program has been launched since June 2024 and is expected to climax with a site-specific music theatre performance in Northern Evia & the GNO Alternative Stage at the SNFCC.

Why should you support us?

North Evia is an area of over 1000 km2. It contains more than 70 smaller or bigger villages, many of which are located in remote areas and are therefore difficult to access.

Most of them lack rehearsal rooms and performance halls with musical and sound equipment adequate for proper rehearsals or performances. Therefore, residents usually are discouraged from getting involved in cultural activities. Otherwise, they need to move from one village to another in order to pursue musical activities.

Crowdfunding proceeds will be used to provide musical instruments and sound equipment for the local communities. The equipment will initially be used for the new music theatre performance curated by the Melisma project and then donated to local municipalities to inspire future projects created by the locals themselves.

As major environmental disasters tend to amplify existing inequalities and injustices, Melisma can act as a springboard for different communities and arts organisations wishing to develop projects that empower vulnerable and marginalised populations by making their voices heard. The tools that opera and dance offer can potentially contribute to the artistic expression of emotions, such as admiration, pride, fear and despair, acting subconsciously for the participants as a shelter conducive to contemplation and a space of free expression.

As populations of rural communities tend to be isolated and local communities less open to outside influences and visitors, the collaborating partners will assist in bridging communication and developing relationships of trust. Local traditions, historical events and elements of local cultural heritage will strengthen social bonds and motivate inhabitants to engage actively in an ongoing process of reinvigorating regional communities, bringing social cohesion within the communities of Northern Evia. Moreover, opera, music and dance may become more accessible to the localities via their association with oral traditions, lived experiences and local culture.

Conducting such a program can have multiple benefits for individuals and, collectively, for the communities, highlighting the therapeutic role of art and its ability to bring people together when difficult situations occur. Having already affirmed the feasibility of the project through the successful implementation of the first year of the program, the Learning & Participation Department of the Greek National Opera wishes to engage with a larger group of people from different communities throughout the wider region of Northern Evia.

Who are we?

The GNO Learning & Participation Department was founded in March 2016. Its main purpose is to make opera and related performing art forms, such as music theatre, more accessible to diverse audiences and especially communities that might not have regular access to cultural experiences. Therefore, it arranges educational and artistic programs not only within its premises or the Athens metropolitan area but also in the Greek periphery.

Its annual programme is associated with the repertoire of the Greek National Opera and is based on freedom of speech and expression, interaction, cooperation, dialogue, inclusivity, understanding and acceptance of diversity and, above all, access to the learning process regardless of age, abilities or knowledge.

The GNO Learning & Participation Department develops every year a variety of educational programs for primary and secondary schools, families, people over the age of 65, people with or without disabilities, refugees and immigrants, as well as programs for young artists. It also coordinates two amateur ensembles: the GNO Intercultural Orchestra and the GNO Intercultural Choir.

The Melisma creative team consists of interdisciplinary artists, researchers and educators, multiply engaging with the local community for almost a year and a half via extended research, regular workshops and everyday living, resulting in a collective artistic endeavour based on methods and practices of co-creation.

Anna Tzakou

Anna Tzakou

Artistic Director

Stamatis Pasopoulos

Stamatis Pasopoulos

Composer

Anna Housiada

Anna Housiada

Other

Maria Olga Athinaiou

Maria Olga Athinaiou

Other

Partners

“To Lymni” - Cultural Association for Traditional Greek Dances

“To Lymni” - Cultural Association for Traditional Greek Dances

Greece

Common Space

Common Space

Greece

Supporters

Education Banner (2)

William Wells donated 1 month ago

Anonymous donated 1 month ago

Carl de Poncins donated 1 month ago

Pledge without a reward

Incorrect value. Please check the field

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive € thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €100

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch a performance on GNO TV, the digital platform of the Greek National Opera.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €200 thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €500

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch as many GNO TV performances as they wish and as many times as they want, for one year on the digital platform of the Greek National Opera.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €1,000 thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €2,000

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch as many GNO TV performances as they wish and as many times as they want, for one year on the digital platform of the Greek National Opera. Additionally, they will recieve an exclusive plexiglass item, showcasing iconic moments from Maria Callas performances at the Greek National Opera. Each piece is meticulously designed to capture the essence of the legendary divina.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €4,000 thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €4,000

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch as many GNO TV performances as they wish and as many times as they want, for one year on the digital platform of the Greek National Opera. Additionally, they will receive an exclusive plexiglass item, showcasing iconic moments from Maria Callas performances at the Greek National Opera, as well a silk twill scarve inspired by Tsarouchis, produced in Soufli, Greece. Each piece is meticulously designed to capture the essence of the legendary divina.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €8,000 thanks to the matching of Variations International.

For €5,000

Donors will receive a brief thanking message and a free pass to watch as many GNO TV performances as they wish and as many times as they want, for one year on the digital platform of the Greek National Opera. Additionally, they will receive an exclusive plexiglass item, showcasing iconic moments from Maria Callas performances at the Greek National Opera, as well a silk twill scarve inspired by Tsarouchis, produced in Soufli, Greece. Each piece is meticulously designed to capture the essence of the legendary divina.

They will also travel to Northern Evia to attend the final performance of Melisma. Travel and accommodation costs will be included.

With your donation, Melisma: A participatory & interdisciplinary project for the fire-ravaged community of Northern Evia island will receive €10,000 thanks to the matching of Variations International.
Special notice about recommending a donation:

You are about to make a donation to FEDORA, a French non-profit organisation, to support the crowdfunding campaign of the FEDORA Prizes Biennale 2025 on the FEDORA Platform. Donors can recommend a distribution of their donations to a specific nominated project, but FEDORA is in charge at its discretion to forward the funds to the Nominees. Upon completing your donation, FEDORA or the Transnational Giving Europe Partner will provide you with more information regarding your donation receipt, allowing you to claim tax relief on your donation. Please note that by donating online, you accept our Legal Notice (https://www.fedora-platform.com/more-infos/legal-notice). Thank you for your generosity!
If you are a company or tax resident in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland or United Kingdom and do not wish to receive the associated crowdfunding benefits, you can receive a tax receipt instead. To do so, please click on “Pledge without a reward” and type in the amount you wish to donate.
Please note that according to the Charities Aid Foundation, UK residents can only obtain a tax receipt for donations between GBP 100 and GBP 9,999.

Please note that according to the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, Swiss residents can only obtain a tax receipt for donations of minimum 100 CHF. Donations as of €5 are still possible via FEDORA's payment page for anyone wishing to make a donation of under £100 or 100 CHF without receiving a tax receipt.

Learn more about possible benefits or tax deductions related to your donation here.

Learn more about the crowdfunding campaign here.

Support
Special notice about the crowdfunding campaign

You can find out more about the donation-based crowdfunding campaign on the FEDORA Platform here.

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