Services

Consulting

MÁTI GREY is an Athens-based creative studio – translated to ‘grey eye’, we infuse vernacular principles into contemporary design thinking through research-based consulting, curated exhibitions, creative productions, cultural programming, and brand development. We serve clients across private, corporate, and cultural institutions and offer bespoke art and antique advisory services upon request.

Select Clients & Collaborators:

Matter & Shape 2025, Dan Thawley – Paris (Introduction to Saridis of Athens), Ace Hotel (Research and Narrative Building), Contributions Fair, Anna Caradeuc – Paris (Introduction to designer Salem Charabi), Toni Lakis (Brand Strategy & Creative Direction), Shasha Movies (Collaboration with Syros International Film Festival), The Alekos Fassianos Estate (Programming/Press), Salma Tuqan (Curatorial Research), Katharina Maria Raab (Curatorial Research), Unsung Weavers (Photography Curation & Production), Autre Magazine (Editorial Assistant), Maimoun New York (Event Production, Neutra’s Lovell House).

ATHENS DESIGN FORUM

Founded by Katerina Papanikolopoulos in 2021, the non-profit Athens Design Forum (ADF) advocates for overlooked and generative design histories interwoven with global labor and migration patterns. Papanikolopoulos’ curatorial programming prioritizes photography and film as integral, critical methodologies to decipher design’s social role.

  • CONCEPT IDEATION

  • FUNDRAISING

  • COLLABORATORS (Museo Casa Mollino, Rooms Studio, Kostas Lambridis, Zöe Paul, Dima Srouji, Yannis Drakoulidis, Theodore Psychoyos)

  • EDITORIAL PRODUCTION

  • PRODUCTION LOGISTICS & SERVICES

  • PHOTOGRAPHY

  • PRESS TRIP PLANNING

  • ARCHIVAL AND MARKET RESEARCH

  • PRESS WRITING AND PLACEMENTS

  • NON-PROFIT MANAGEMENT

  • ARTIST MANAGEMENT

  • LOCATION SCOUTING

VISIT

Image courtesy The Vithoulkas Archive / Athens Design Forum

MILAN DESIGN WEEK

ROUTE-IN by Tbilisi-based Rooms Studio curated and commissioned by Katerina Papanikolopoulos for Athens Design Forum and Milan Design Week | 5VIE District

As featured in Ark Journal

ALEKOS FASSIANOS ESTATE

Amongst the first independent consultants to revive the legacy of the estate specific to design and architecture, the activities of Athens Design Forum and MÁTI GREY provided new in-kind brand narratives, event ideation, photographic direction, press consultations with international outlets, and acted as an ambassador to incite new global collaborations.

Working closely with the family, we were in charge of the two formal openings of the estates – The Papagos Residence (2021) and The Kea Atelier (2022), with the latter continuing to be open every summer with formal educational programs.

As featured in MILK Decoration, Architectural Digest, Wallpaper*, Elle Decor Italy

<> In 2024, Curator Anlam Arslanoglu shared gratitude for our efforts as mediators between the estate, in the creation of the Alekos Fassianos: Sailing to Byzantium exhibit in Istanbul within the 500-year-old Zeyrek Çinili Hamam.

ACE HOTEL

(ATHENS – GLYFADA)

Approached to lead as a consultant for the brand narrative/research phase of development, I created the initial brief for all press and external communications of the brand emboldening the philosophy of Ace Hotel to invest in the community of the Greek Riviera.

Image: Architect Dimitris Pikionis’ “Aixoni”, an artist-centric site of a real estate cooperative never formally realized in present-day Glyfada (1950-57), presents an anachronism to what now may be imagined with Ace Hotel & Swim Club’s new location – centering hospitality as an axis of international cultural movements.

Drawings courtesy of the Archives of Modern Greek Architecture, Benaki Museum.

ARCHIVAL & VISUAL RESEARCH

  • CRAFT/ARCHITECTURE

  • TEXTILES

  • ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

  • MIGRATION

  • DESIGN/OBJECTS

  • DANCE/PERFORMANCE

  • PHOTOGRAPHY

CLIENTS:
SALMA TUQAN / KATHARINA MARIA RAAB

 
Thedore Psychoyos Butterfly Library

EXHIBITIONS

Units of Infrastructure curated by Katerina Papanikolopoulos for Athens Design Forum

Sourcing discarded Pentelic marbles, Papanikolopoulos presented and developed alongside artist Theodore Psychoyos the “Butterfly Library” and marble constructions later acquired by Carwan Gallery for his first formal showcase of collectible design, titled “Raw Objects”

FILM CURATION

Since 2023, Athens Design Forum has introduced programming for Milan Design Week and special features with the following directors and collectives:

  • Menelaos Karamaghiolis (Greece) – Gloria Olivae (1987)

  • Shasha Movies (Global)

  • Yugantar Collective (India) – Tobacco Embers (1982), Sudesha (1983)

  • Mohamed Khan (Egypt) – El Batikha (The Watermelon, 1996)

  • Marta Rodríguez (Colombia) – Chircales (The Brickmakers, 1972)

  • Hicham Gardaf (Morocco) – In Praise of Slowness (2023)

  • Izza Génini (Morocco) – Aïta (1988)

  • Juan Pablo González (Mexico) – Caballerango (2018), The Solitude of Memory (2014)

  • Xhanfise Keko – Tomka and His Friends (1977)

< View full titles >

Syros International Film Festival

SHASHA MOVIES

Consulted Shasha Movies head of programming, Bella Barkett, to collaborate with Syros International Film Festival - Topos 2022 in Greece

Shasha Movies is the independent streaming service for South-West Asian and North African cinema

Presenting:

Talking about Trees
Suhaib Gasmelbari, Sudan, 2019, 93′

Image courtesy Syros International Film Festival.

BRAND STRATEGY & CREATIVE DIRECTION

Approached in 2024 to lead the conception of a new artisanal lifestyle brand, MÁTI GREY worked closely with the founder Toni Lakis (Former Tiffany & Co. Creative Director) to develop all content for the brand's first corporate deck, including: brand naming, brand mission, brand values, market overview, competitor differentiation, investment/collaboration opportunities, and launch strategy. Our agency was also in charge of all designer/craftsman relationships, building a database and dedicated itinerary for the founder across Greece.

 
New Images of Man - Blum & Poe

PUBLICATIONS

Contributed to New Images of Man catalogue through writing thirty-five artist biographies, including Ibrahim El Salahi, Agustín Càrdenas, and Miriam Cahn.

This catalogue was published alongside the exhibition New Images of Man curated by Alison M. Gingeras, on view at Blum & Poe, Los Angeles February-March 2020.

Self cover, 68 pages
Los Angeles: Blum & Poe, 2020
11 x 14 inches
Weight: 1.2 lbs

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UNSUNG WEAVERS

  • PHOTOGRAPHER PLACEMENT: ANDRÉS ALTAMIRANO

  • CONCEPT IDEATION

  • COLLABORATION

  • PRODUCTION & LOGISTICS

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SERA STUDIO

  • PHOTOGRAPHER PLACEMENT: ANDRÉS ALTAMIRANO

ROSIE ASSOULIN

  • PHOTOGRAPHER PLACEMENT OF PARIS-BASED NEIGE THEBAULT FOR DAYTONA WILLIAM’S GARDEN SOIREE ORGANIZED FOR ROSIE ASSOULIN