Artika
Athens
Artika is a non-profit theatre cooperative company founded in 2006. The company creates performances for all ages, with a special focus in Theatre for Early Years (TEY), primarily based on devised theatre, blending diverse artistic languages and placing equal emphasis on both verbal and non-verbal theatre.
Based in Athens, Artika also coordinates experiential workshops for all ages, amateurs and professionals, and since 2023 organizes the only international biannual festival for Early Years (0-6) in Greece, called From the Beginning.
Artika believes in the power of international collaborations as a means to evolve, grow and share. It is a member of the Small Size Network and has also been a partner in European project Mapping. Its performances are travelling to international festivals since 2008. Finally, Artika also led the reestablishment of ASSITEJ Greece, with its artistic director, Marilena Triantafyllidou, serving as the first president of the board (2025-2027).
PEOPLE
Marilena Triantafyllidou
Project Manager
Founding member and Artistic Director of Artika Theater Company. With a background in Business Administration, Drama, and Music, she co-founded Artika in 2006, pioneering Performing Arts for Early Years (0-6) in Greece. Since 2013, she has directed the company’s productions, which are regularly presented also at international festivals.
She possesses experience in European cooperation projects, having served as Artika’s project manager for the large-scale “Mapping” project (2018-2023), a role she continues for the new EU project “The Right Time.” Marilena is the visionary behind the International Festival for Young Audiences “From the Start”—the only one of its kind in Greece—an initiative she conceived and now leads as Artistic Director. Since January 2025, she has served as the first President of “Assitej Greece,” working intensively to develop and advocate for performing arts for young audiences on both a national and an international level.
Katerina Alexaki
Theater Practitioner/Pedagogue
I am a theater practitioner and pedagogue who explores the relationship between applied theater and community through the creation of safe spaces that focus on social justice, women’s empowerment, and the right of young people to art. I have created and managed groups, primarily Artika Theatre Company, of which I am a co-founder and head of Education.
My work combines diverse elements that come from my Greek roots, my life in New York, and my encounters with mentors and collaborators as a performer, director, facilitator, and researcher.
I have studied theatre in Athens (MA NKUA) and New York (MA CUNY) and my goal is to create programs that will cultivate essential skills, improving the quality of life of participants.
I believe as an artist and a single mother of twin teenage girls, that we all have the right to shape the environments we live, work, and create, and to make choices that honor our values.
Kleoniki Karachaliou
Artist
Kleoniki Karachaliou was born in Athens in 1981. She studied Acting at the Higher School of Dramatic Art “Arhi” and Indian classical dance Bharata Natyam at Shantom School (Greece), Centre Mandapa (France), and Ambalam School (India).
As an actress, she has collaborated with major theatres and cultural venues in Athens and has performed in a wide range of productions. Since 2016, she has been a member of Artika Theatre Company, performing in productions for very young audiences (Theatre for Early Years), and participating in international theatre festivals in Cyprus, Hungary, and Italy. Since 2025, she has been collaborating with Ganbatte Theatre Company.
She has attended seminars in acting, theatre education, and Orff Approach. She has extensive experience as a drama teacher and has taught Bharata Natyam in studios, schools, higher education institutions (University of Athens), and seminars throughout Greece.
Vasilis Kazis
Artist
Actor, musician and songwriter. His work with early years audience started in 2014 through his collaboration with Artika Theatre Company. He has composed the music and performed in various Artika productions and has also participated in many workshops created by Artika such as “Early years meet poetry” and “The World of Tone”. The last was an idea of his own which was first introduced in Bologna, Italy at the VISIONI DI FUTURO, VISIONI DI TEATRO Festival by La Baracca Theatre Group. Since 2019, he has been leading groups of children aged 1-3 years old with their parents through music and movement, an experience that has given him a deeper understanding and appreciation for early childhood. He finds a certain kind of tenderness while communicating with the early years, which has been, and still is, an essential part of his artistic life.
