Kélenya Athens

Kélenya is an intercultural collective of artists and researchers founded in 2024 by social anthropologist Vasiliki Mavridi and musician Toumany Diawara. Its name means equality in the Bamanakan language (spoken in Mali) and expresses a commitment to cooperative relations, reciprocity and resistance to all forms of oppression. Since its establishment, it has implemented actions and collaborations with communities of the African diaspora, co-organizing festivals such as African Voices at Panteion University and Djoko Urban Sounds of Africa. At the same time, it organizes annual cultural exchange trips to Mali and participates in the management of the SAYON Mali Cultural Centre, a music school for children from vulnerable social groups. It acts with political consciousness and a radical critique of cultural appropriation, neocolonialism and hierarchical power relations.