Founded in 2013, Xarkis was first implemented as a social experiment and final major project in the course of an MA programme in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts in London (2012-2014) attended by Christina Skarpari – Xarkis’ director. Originally implemented in the village of Arsos (2013), it was tested as a means of building communal identities, cohesion and resilience through creative, socially engaged and participatory practices. It was essentially a creative reaction against the former socio-economic crisis which took its tool in different parts of the world, climaxing in Cyprus back in 2013. Taking the form of a Festival, we used DIY practices in one big self-organized celebration.
