Eva Mela
Eva Mela was born in Athens in 1956. She graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts, where she studied Printmaking, Typography, and the Art of the Book. She continued her painting studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris on a scholarship awarded through a competition by EOMMEX. In 1985, she received a postgraduate scholarship in Printmaking from the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY). She studied Printmaking for many years under the guidance of the painter-printmaker Giorgis (George) Varlamos. She has held 27 solo exhibitions of painting and printmaking in Greece, as well as 4 solo exhibitions abroad. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Greece and internationally. Notably, she took part in the “People – Color + Iron” exhibitions (from 2006 to 2017) at the Perama Ship Repair Zone, co-organized by the artist movement Perasma and local labor unions. She has also exhibited in shows organized by the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece, the A. Tassos Visual Arts Society, the Greek Committee for International Detente and Peace (EEDYE), the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), the KNE–Odigitis Festival, and in exhibitions of Greek children’s book illustrators with the artistic society Aesop, among many others. She has illustrated 26 children's books and has designed numerous book covers. In 2000, she received the State Illustration Award from the Ministry of Culture. In 1989, she won an award for the artistic design of the publication Hymn to Liberty in a Ministry of Culture competition. In 1984, she was awarded in a national competition by the Hellenic Post (ELTA) for the design of a stamp commemorating the 150th anniversary of Athens as the capital of Greece. She designed sets and costumes for two theatrical performances by Kerasia Samara, in 2023 and 2025. Her works are held in the National Gallery of Greece, the Ministry of Culture, and numerous private collections. For over 20 years (from 1996 to July 2022), she served multiple terms as President of the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece. From 2007 to 2009, she served as a Member of Parliament for the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). She is currently responsible, on behalf of the KKE's Department of Culture, for the Cultural Space – Giorgis Varlamos Workshop.