iLiana Fokianaki is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

, writer, theorist, educator and former journalist based in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. In May 2022, she was announced as the curator of the 13th edition of the annual festival Survival Kit, organised by the Latvian Center for Contemporary Art, in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

. The festival entitled ‘The Little Bird Must Be Caught’, "is an exhibition with many questions, embracing them in a cascade of visually, sonically and vocally very strong works, each proposing a different mode of resistance to racially, ecologically and extractively oppressive governances

She is the founder and director of contemporary art institution State of Concept in

, where she curated solo exhibitions of artists such as

Laure Prouvost Laure Prouvost (born 1978) is a France, French artist living and working in Antwerp, Belgium. She won the 2013 Turner Prize. In 2019, she French pavilion, represented France at the Venice Biennale with the multi-media work "The Deep Blue Sea Surr ...

, the research agency

Forensic Architecture Forensic Architecture is a multidisciplinary research group based at Goldsmiths, University of London that uses architectural techniques and technologies to investigate cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world. The ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n artist

Sanja Iveković Sanja Iveković (born 1949 in Zagreb) is a Croatian photographer, performer, sculptor and installation artist. Her work is known to tackle such issues as female identity, media, consumerism, and political strife. Considered to be one of the leading ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

collective Metahaven, the film collective Rojava Film Commune. The exhibition of the Rojava Film Commune Fokianaki curated, titled "Forms of Freedom", was featured in

Art Forum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably, ...

magazine in 2020, and has so far travelled to the following institutions: Galerija Nova, in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, the exhibition space of

e-flux publications e-flux publications includes both the ''e-flux journal'' and ''e-flux journal reader series''. The monthly art publication ''e-flux journal'' features essays and contributions by contemporary artists and thinkers. The ''e-flux journal reader serie ...

in New York and Moderna Galerija / Museum of Modern Art of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

. A retrospective of Fokianaki's institution titled ''State (in) Concepts'' was exhibited at

Kadist Kadist is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts organization with an international contemporary art collection. In addition to being a collecting body, Kadist hosts artists residencies and produces exhibitions, publications, and public events. ...

Art Foundation in Paris in 2017. Fokianaki was invited by artist

Kader Attia Kader Attia (born 30 December 1970) is an Algerian-French artist. Early life Attia was born in Dugny, France to Algerian parents and was raised in Paris and Algeria. He studied at the '' l'école Duperré de Paris, l'école des arts appliqués ...

to curate a group exhibition inspired by the program of State of Concept, at La Colonie (Art Space) in May 2018, titled "The Trials of Justice". She has curated the solo exhibition of artist

Kapwani Kiwanga Kapwani Kiwanga (born 1978) is a Canadian artist working in Paris, France. In 2018, she was named the inaugural winner of the Frieze Artist Award. Early life and education Kiwanga was born in 1978 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and grew up there ...

at the

Formerly Known as Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art Kunstinstituut Melly is a contemporary art gallery located in a former school building on Witte de Withstraat, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It was founded in 1990 and originally named after the street it was located on. It presents curated exhib ...

, which coincided with Kiwanga's award for the

Marcel Duchamp Prize The Marcel Duchamp Prize (in French : ''Prix Marcel Duchamp'') is an annual award given to a young artist by the Association pour la Diffusion Internationale de l'Art Français (ADIAF). The winner receives €35,000 personally and up to €30,000 ...

of the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

. Fokianaki's work explores the relation between art, formations of power and how they metamorphose under the influence of geopolitics, national identity and cultural and anthropological histories. Her recent project "The Bureau of Care" received the Solidarity Grant of the

European Cultural Foundation The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) is a Netherlands-based independent cultural foundation. Its mission is to “make a tangible impact on civil society, citizen initiatives, public opinion and policy proposals to combat the fragmenting forces ...

. Together with curator Antonia Alampi, she is the co-founder of ''Future Climates'', a platform that aims to propose viable futures for small-scale organizations of

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

and culture. Future Climates was part of the "Substance 100", a new, annual list, that outlines a diverse array of artists, activists, collectives, movements and organizations making a substantial change in the world, launched by on-line museum and platform "Collecteurs". Fokianaki was part of the artistic team (curator and programmer) at Kunsthal Extra City in Antwerp from 2017–2019, where she curated two large-scale group exhibitions: the exhibitions ''Extra Citizen'' (2017) and ''Extra States: Nations in Liquidation'' (2018). Fokianaki is a lecturer at the Dutch Art Institute (DAI) of the

ArtEZ University of Arts ArtEZ University of Arts ( nl, ArtEZ hogeschool voor de kunsten) is an art academy in Netherlands. ArtEZ combines several art institutes and art disciplines with branches in Arnhem, Enschede, and Zwolle. In its name the A stands for Arnhem, the E f ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and was a guest lecturer at HISK in Ghent, Belgium and a resident curator at the NTU Center for Contemporary Art in Singapore. She writes for various international art journals and publications, discussing issues ranging from art, politics, to ethics such as a joint opinion piece on art, economy and

documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...

's arrival in

, written with former Greek Minister of Finance

Yanis Varoufakis Ioannis "Yanis" Varoufakis ( el, Ιωάννης Γεωργίου "Γιάνης" Βαρουφάκης, Ioánnis Georgíou "Giánis" Varoufákis, ; born 24 March 1961) is a Greek economist and politician. A former academic, he served as the Gree ...

and an opinion piece around the discussion of looted artefacts and specifically the

Parthenon Marbles The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of the architect and s ...

for

frieze (magazine) ''frieze'' is a contemporary art magazine, published eight times a year from London. History ''frieze'' was founded in 1991 by Frieze Art Fair founders Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover with artist Tom Gidley. A Damien Hirst butterfly painting ...

.Frieze magazine, Opinion, “How I lost My Marbles”
/ref>

Education

Fokianaki holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic (United Kingdom), Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and High ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and a M.A. in Arts Criticism and Management from

City University London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

External links

Official website State of ConceptOfficial website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fokianaki, iLiana Living people Greek art curators Greek women curators Greek writers People from Rotterdam Mass media people from Athens Year of birth missing (living people) Greek women writers Dutch art curators Dutch women curators