Mikhail Karikis is a Greek/British artist based in London and Lisbon. His work in moving image, sound, performance and other media has been exhibited in leading contemporary art biennials, museums and film festivals internationally.

Standing out on the international art scene, his work has now been recognised with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award, a distinction awarded annually by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to artists and composers, giving them financial support - this year to the value of £75,000 - to develop creative ideas in the artistic world.

Earlier this year, Braga Media Arts had the privilege of collaborating with Mikhail during the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Annual Conference in Braga. Inspired by the conference's theme, ‘Bringing Youth to the Table for the Next Decade’, the artist led the creation of ‘Universe of Solutions’, a powerful community project that brought together over 150 young people from four UNESCO Creative Cities in northern Portugal (Amarante, Barcelos, Braga and Santa Maria da Feira).

From April to July, Mikhail led a series of workshops with students and educators from six schools, inspiring them to explore and reflect on the radical transformations we’ll face in the next 25 years. Under his artistic direction, areas such as urban dance, theatre, choral singing, among others, came together in an unforgettable interdisciplinary performance that marked the opening of UNESCO's Annual Conference, on the historic stage of the Theatro Circo in Braga, one of Portugal’s most iconic and beautiful theaters. It is with great excitement that we look forward to seeing what Mikhail Karikis will accomplish in the future.

Know more about this artist and his work at mikhailkarikis.com.