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December 30, 2025

Introducing the Collaborative Working Groups

P.A.I.R. is guided by a simple principle: cultural experiences should be shaped together with the people they aim to include. To make this happen, P.A.I.R. has set up Collaborative Working Groups (CWGs) in each partner country: Greece, Cyprus, and Estonia.

CWGs are not formal committees or external advisors. They are active collaborators and creative partners, involved in the project from start to finish.

PAIR programme poster. Against a pink background, a circular photograph shows a group of people seated in a circle in a room with large glass doors and staircases in the background. Some of them are seated in wheelchairs, others on chairs. At the bottom, in dark purple lettering, appears the text “Advisory Working Group.” In the upper right and lower left corners, circles of different sizes in dark purple, cyan, and dark green are visible. At the top left is the programme logo in deep green, and along the bottom, on a white band, are the logos of the participating organisations, the EU, and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

What is a Collaborative Working Group?

Each country’s CWG is based in its local cultural scene and reflects its unique artistic, social, and accessibility needs. The groups bring together:

  • Representatives from partner organisations

  • Disabled artists and cultural practitioners

  • Digital and media artists

  • Accessibility experts

  • Cultural managers and producers

CWGs combine lived experience, professional expertise, and creativity to connect artistic vision with accessibility and inclusion.

What do CWGs do?

CWGs have a dual role as quality advisors and creative agents. They collaborate closely with selected artists throughout the creation of digital artworks, supporting the development of accessible concepts, translating accessibility principles into creative choices, and reflecting on diverse audience experiences through dialogue, mentoring, and shared experimentation.

At the same time, CWGs work alongside artists and project teams to design and deliver the national events, co-creating inclusive physical and digital spaces and multisensory environments, and making sure accessibility is embedded across communication, infrastructure, and programming.

Meet the Collaborative Working Groups

Greece

1. Nikos Voyiatzis

A man wearing a shirt stands in front of a wall under intense blue lighting, as if at a concert. His gaze is directed to the right, and he smiles as though watching something that has captivated him.

Nikos Voyiatzis is an archivist, artist, educator, and media designer working around digital and often neglected cultural heritage. He works as a documentation specialist and designs educational projects for students and professionals in the fields of art, media, technology, and archiving. His practice centers on the preservation, access, and dissemination of digital culture.

2. Eva Gkritzali

A young woman with round eyeglasses and straight brown hair down to her shoulders poses looking at the camera, her head slightly tilted to the right. A faint smile rests on her lips. She wears a blue top with a neckline and a delicate chain necklace.

Eva is an Electrical and Computer Engineer specializing in digital accessibility. She has participated in a research project at the Multimedia Analysis Lab of NCSR “Demokritos,” focusing on speech-to-text technologies to support accessible mathematics. For the past two years, she has been working at the National Bank of Greece in the UX field, leading the accessibility efforts for the bank’s digital applications and websites. Her goal is to promote inclusion and design digital experiences that are accessible to everyone.

3. Thomas Diafas

A man with curly brown hair falling onto his forehead and a moustache looks at the camera with a gentle smile.

Thomas is an orchestrator of artistic projects working interdisciplinarily, exploring crip queer identity, practices of care, and forms of socio-political engagement. He is the founder and artistic director of the Thessaloniki Queer Arts Festival and the School of Performance Art in Berlin. His work combines participatory actions with pedagogical dimensions, emphasizing collaboration with local communities and the creation of collective experiences.

4. Andreas Plemmenos

A young man with blue eyes and a grey streak at the center of the fringe of his short hair smiles softly at the camera. He wears a patterned shirt over a black top, has piercings in his ears and nose, and is seated in a space that resembles a café.

Andreas is a dramatist with a master’s degree in Special Education, Community Liaison at liminal and author of the book “Yellow Insanity”. He has volunteered with various cultural organizations and is actively involved in programs focused on empowering the Deaf community in the arts.

5. Maria Thrasyvoulidi

A young woman with bangs, long brown hair, and brown eyes poses looking straight into the camera. A faint smile spreads across her lips. She wears a black shirt and a black cardigan.

Maria is an Accessibility Services Supervisor at liminal, creating Audio Descriptions and coordinating Touch Tours for people with low vision or blind. She also works in theatre and cinema as an actress and director, and has collaborated with several NGOs as a coordinator of educational programs and trainer in promoting social inclusion.

Estonia

1. Daniel Kotsjuba

A portrait photograph of a light brown–haired man with sparse facial hair and green eyes, posing with a gentle smile.

Daniel is a graphic designer and educator, currently leading the Master’s programme in Social Design at the Estonian Academy of Arts. From 2018 to 2023, he served as a member of the State Innovation Team and has mentored numerous design processes. He is an expert and strong advocate of inclusive, human-centered design. His extensive network within the design and arts community is a significant asset to the CWG.

2. Mare Kõrtsini

A woman with blue eyes, short blonde hair, and round eyeglasses poses outdoors on grass, smiling at the camera. She wears a black T-shirt with white designs resembling clothespins and fishnet gloves. She holds out an orange ribbon that reads: “If you want to reach the top, start climbing from the bottom.”

Mare designs books and works in theatre as a scenographer. She studied at the University of Tallinn with a focus on art education and has additional studies in media and web design. She also curates and decorates art exhibitions. While not a specialist in accessibility, she integrates accessibility considerations into her design process. She works full-time at the publishing house Koolibri, designing printed books as well as digital materials, and contributes creative digital solutions for theatre productions.

3. Hendra Raud

A platinum-blonde woman wearing yellow sunglasses and a nose piercing winks and opens her mouth as if laughing loudly. She is seated in a power wheelchair, wearing a green Iron Maiden T-shirt, fishnet tights, and a black furry boot.

Hendra is an Accessible UX & UI designer, creative strategist, and social media marketing specialist. She is also a disability advocate and activist, committed to human rights and equal treatment. She has led campaigns advocating for continued access to expensive treatments for adults with rare genetic diseases, pushing for their reimbursement.

4. Mari Puuram

A black-and-white photograph of a blonde woman wearing a black full-body outfit with an open-knit texture, smiling softly at the camera.

Mari is  an Accessibility Advisor at the Estonian Chamber of People with Disabilities. She is a member of the P.A.I.R. project team for Agrenska, contributing to its implementation. Her experience spans cultural events and museum accessibility initiatives. Mari delivers accessibility trainings and evaluations, involving people with disabilities as speakers and experts, ensuring high-quality and impactful services.

Cyprus

1. Constantinos Kyprianou

A grey-haired man with round eyeglasses stands on a pedestrian street. He wears a dark blue shirt with multicolored brushstroke-like details reminiscent of an abstract painting and holds a small bottle of water in his hand.

Constantinos, co-founder of Alternative Brains Rule-ABR, is an innovator exploring the potential of multidisciplinary collaborations. Trained in architecture, he specialises in orchestrating user experiences in large-scale interactive installations. From the 2008 Venice Biennale to establishing the Afro Banana Republic Festival, Constantinos emphasises collaborative efforts for interactive interventions in festival and event spaces.

2. Nina Poulouzasvili

A black-and-white photograph of a woman with brown curly hair styled half-up and half-down, and large brown eyes. She wears a white sweater and poses in a three-quarter stance, smiling softly at the camera.

Nina is a performer, choreographer, cultural professional and youth worker based in Nicosia/Cyprus. She is the co-founder of Team Hiphop Collective Centre and Commonground.cy cultural lab. Her practice is rooted in dance, exploring the body’s capacity to craft narratives and visual metaphors. She has a BA in Architectural Interior Design where she earns the ‘Creative Concept Award’, for her Thesis in 2014. She has over 15 years of teaching experience in dance, empowering and coaching dancers of all levels. She is active in the local and international dance battle scene through the genres of Hip Hop and Waacking dance. She has taught the Hip-Hop course at the University of Nicosia’s Department of Music and Dance, and she also serves as the Executive Director, youth worker at YEU Cyprus.

3. Lamarina

A black-and-white photograph of a woman with brown curly hair styled half-up and half-down, and large brown eyes. She wears a white sweater and poses in a three-quarter stance, smiling softly at the camera.

lamarina is a designer and installation artist that works with disciplines borrowed from across fields. Her work toys with ideas of immaterialism, performance and materiality. The aim of each work is to ask questions and provoke an experience that lingers with the viewer for a while after the conclusion of their interaction. In lamarina’s work, technology and digital media are used as tools to enhance reality, always in service of analogue intimacy and meaningful engagement. lamarina has been an experiential designer for the last five years with professional experience in creating interactive environments and sensory-driven experiences. Over the years, she has explored artistic expression alongside her design work through a number of personal projects.

4. Melina Theodorou

A young woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail stands outdoors on a grassy area in front of a white building. She is wearing a grey top and jeans and smiles broadly at the camera.

Melina is a Project Manager and Communications Officer at RESET with a background in education, media, and culture. She works on initiatives that promote inclusion and community engagement, and has a particular interest in intangible cultural heritage and the preservation of traditional crafts.

5. Eve Petrakidou

A young woman holds a small disco ball and smiles playfully at the camera. Her brown hair is pulled back. She is wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and red trousers, posing in front of a vertical metal mesh with hanging plant pots.

Eve is a graduate of German Philology and Linguistics at the University of Helsinki and holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Studies. She has experience in civil society, working with NGOs and educational organizations where she coordinated European and national projects focused on human rights, cultural & artistic diversity, and civic engagement. Currently she works as Head of Project Management at RESET, working at the intersection of culture, social transformation and community engagement.