Founder and Director State of Concept Athens (2013-today), founder The Bureau of Care, (co-founder Future Climates (2016-2019), curator Kunsthal Extra City (2016-2019), lecturer Dutch Art Institute (2017-ongoing)
Programma basis voor actuele kunst bak basis voor actuele kunst bak Unpacking Aesthetics and the ... more Programma basis voor actuele kunst bak basis voor actuele kunst bak Unpacking Aesthetics and the Far Right 17.03.2018 PERFORMATIEVE CONFERENTIE
How many trials for justice to be indeed just? What remnants of justice can one unsheathe from th... more How many trials for justice to be indeed just? What remnants of justice can one unsheathe from the bureaucratic, rigid and often impenetrable formats of white, western judicial systems perpetuated and replicated the world over? How to look into the historical injustice of modernity against the Other? Or the environmental injustices of neoliberal state governance committed under the name of progress?
By iLiana Fokianaki This is the second of a two-part essay in which the philosophical dimension o... more By iLiana Fokianaki This is the second of a two-part essay in which the philosophical dimension of care is fleshed out in relation to its politics and ethics. This is done vis-à-vis the idea of collectivity, to see how they can inform cultural practice during a period in which the COVID-19 pandemic has placed care at the forefront of conversations internationally. The first part can be read here.
By iLiana Fokianaki The COVID-19 pandemic has placed care at the forefront of conversations inter... more By iLiana Fokianaki The COVID-19 pandemic has placed care at the forefront of conversations internationally. Nonetheless, we have failed to adequately highlight how specific dimensions of care have been sidelined, especially those that operate through the collective realm. How do the histories, politics and ethics of care, as well
How many trials for justice to be indeed just? What remnants of justice can one unsheathe from th... more How many trials for justice to be indeed just? What remnants of justice can one unsheathe from the bureaucratic, rigid and often impenetrable formats of white, western judicial systems perpetuated and replicated the world over? How to look into the historical injustice of modernity against the Other? Or the environmental injustices of neoliberal state governance committed under the name of progress? This exhibition aims to look into an archetypal state and supra-state procedure, that of the trial, using it as a paradigm for an enquiry into the notion of the judicial and other relative and adjacent forms of the administration of justice. Aiming to depart from the self-aggrandising position of art as an agent that can fix, reinstate or correct injustices and resisting to claim that the ethics of art surpass the law, this exhibition wants to look at the form of the trial as one that can be appropriated, re-purposed, re-scripted through artistic practices to bring attention to the strenuous judicial realities put to the test and disintegrated by bureaucracy, exclusionary policies and antiquated judiciary notions.
This article follows on the research on the ethics and politics of care and how they have been co... more This article follows on the research on the ethics and politics of care and how they have been corroded by neoliberalism, and its individualist idea on care, while looking into the contrasting legacies of indigenous, first nations, feminist, activist trajectories and the way they understand the politics and ethics of care through an interdependent spectrum. by looking into this binary and its ripple effect on cultural production and work, the essay attempts to speculate on the future of institution building and artistic practice.
In previous texts, I have described a new form of power that I named “narcissistic authoritarian ... more In previous texts, I have described a new form of power that I named “narcissistic authoritarian statism.” This power is visible globally through statesmen, national leaders, and their policies, and manifests under the guise of democracy. In a two-part essay for e-flux journal, I first defined narcissistic authoritarian statism (NAS) as a neoliberal power structure that merges old components of the nation-state with contemporary forms of corporate transnationalism defined by narcissism.1 I discussed its mechanisms of slow and fast violence, normalized through policy and legislation, and examined how art institutions can be both complicit and critical. In the past year, a prominent characteristic of this type of power and its forms of violence was made brutally visible through the emergence of Covid-19, and the diminishing of care at all levels of services in many countries. To continue an analysis of NAS in light of these developments, I want to ask what this year’s events mean in relation to the politics of care and their legacies, and how the art institution is implicated.
A short essay to accompany the co-authored exhibition "Obscure Union" of Laure Prouvost and Jonas... more A short essay to accompany the co-authored exhibition "Obscure Union" of Laure Prouvost and Jonas Staal, at Mercer Union, Toronto, Canada, 7 December 2019 - 22 February 2020
This two-part essay discusses new formations of authoritarianism emerging globally and how they a... more This two-part essay discusses new formations of authoritarianism emerging globally and how they are uniting older blocs of power into a new form which i name narcissistic authoritarian statism. For this second part, I am focusing on the manifestations of violence that are apparent in a slow and fast axis, and juxtaposing artistic practices that are counter-acting this violence.
This essay discusses new formations of authoritarianism emerging globally and how they are unitin... more This essay discusses new formations of authoritarianism emerging globally and how they are uniting older blocs of power into a new form which i name narcissistic authoritarian statism. I am interested in this as a hegemonic bloc vis-a-vis the role of contemporary visual arts, in mimicking them, but most importantly creating counter-hegemonic power blocs that propose a redistribution of power. It is a note on the current rise of alt-right and Neo-fascists schemes of power that are to be seen not only in regimes but also liberal democracies. The first part of the essay is exploring an axis of ego and eco state narcissistic authoritarian statism.
The unconditional return of artefacts such as the Parthenon Marbles is a must – but can it redres... more The unconditional return of artefacts such as the Parthenon Marbles is a must – but can it redress the shocking arrogance of former colonizers? What are the implications of contemporary art in the question of repatriation and return?
A lecture on a curatorial proposition that assembles different artistic practices, which propose ... more A lecture on a curatorial proposition that assembles different artistic practices, which propose different forms of citizenship in the current issue of The Drouth magazine. (initial draft of the essay presented also in Creative Time's conference in May 2017)
A proposition to rethink the Western Canon, whiteness, national identity and cultural appropriati... more A proposition to rethink the Western Canon, whiteness, national identity and cultural appropriation vis-a-vis modernity via the geopolitical history and present of Greece
From its first steps, State of Concept wanted to address
primarily its location and do that thro... more From its first steps, State of Concept wanted to address
primarily its location and do that through socio-political
and economical questions, via cultural practices that look
at the world through the spectrum of an activated,
politicised position. Therefore, the name of the institution
has directed the content of what the institution chose to
showcase. Greece was in a state of concept, re-conceptualizing
what is contemporary Greece, after re-evaluating
its position, heritage and legacy within the European
Union, whilst the country was dragged in the gutter
through offensive front-pages of populist newspapers,
labelling the Greeks as fraudulent, lazy, dishonest and
forever asking money from the European North, without
fulfilling the required prerequisites for the loan agreements
they signed with the Troika and the IMF. There was of
course little talk of why Greece with a debt not as big
as other EU members, was in such a state. The constant
look towards the North, and the desire to belong to the
so-called “civilised” European axon and the general
Westphalian profile, was now for the first time since
the entry of Greece in the Union, being questioned by its
citizens, and the links with non-western East geographies,
re-evaluated.
This essay is included in the exhibition catalogue of the exhibition "State (in) Concepts" performing the art institution as a State, that marked the four years of State of Concept exhibitional activity, presented in KADIST Foundation Paris, between 21st of October - 21st of December 2017.
An overview of documenta14's presence in Athens for the last two years, up to the month prior to ... more An overview of documenta14's presence in Athens for the last two years, up to the month prior to the exhibition in Athens in April, published in April's issue of Metropolis M
Programma basis voor actuele kunst bak basis voor actuele kunst bak Unpacking Aesthetics and the ... more Programma basis voor actuele kunst bak basis voor actuele kunst bak Unpacking Aesthetics and the Far Right 17.03.2018 PERFORMATIEVE CONFERENTIE
How many trials for justice to be indeed just? What remnants of justice can one unsheathe from th... more How many trials for justice to be indeed just? What remnants of justice can one unsheathe from the bureaucratic, rigid and often impenetrable formats of white, western judicial systems perpetuated and replicated the world over? How to look into the historical injustice of modernity against the Other? Or the environmental injustices of neoliberal state governance committed under the name of progress?
By iLiana Fokianaki This is the second of a two-part essay in which the philosophical dimension o... more By iLiana Fokianaki This is the second of a two-part essay in which the philosophical dimension of care is fleshed out in relation to its politics and ethics. This is done vis-à-vis the idea of collectivity, to see how they can inform cultural practice during a period in which the COVID-19 pandemic has placed care at the forefront of conversations internationally. The first part can be read here.
By iLiana Fokianaki The COVID-19 pandemic has placed care at the forefront of conversations inter... more By iLiana Fokianaki The COVID-19 pandemic has placed care at the forefront of conversations internationally. Nonetheless, we have failed to adequately highlight how specific dimensions of care have been sidelined, especially those that operate through the collective realm. How do the histories, politics and ethics of care, as well
How many trials for justice to be indeed just? What remnants of justice can one unsheathe from th... more How many trials for justice to be indeed just? What remnants of justice can one unsheathe from the bureaucratic, rigid and often impenetrable formats of white, western judicial systems perpetuated and replicated the world over? How to look into the historical injustice of modernity against the Other? Or the environmental injustices of neoliberal state governance committed under the name of progress? This exhibition aims to look into an archetypal state and supra-state procedure, that of the trial, using it as a paradigm for an enquiry into the notion of the judicial and other relative and adjacent forms of the administration of justice. Aiming to depart from the self-aggrandising position of art as an agent that can fix, reinstate or correct injustices and resisting to claim that the ethics of art surpass the law, this exhibition wants to look at the form of the trial as one that can be appropriated, re-purposed, re-scripted through artistic practices to bring attention to the strenuous judicial realities put to the test and disintegrated by bureaucracy, exclusionary policies and antiquated judiciary notions.
This article follows on the research on the ethics and politics of care and how they have been co... more This article follows on the research on the ethics and politics of care and how they have been corroded by neoliberalism, and its individualist idea on care, while looking into the contrasting legacies of indigenous, first nations, feminist, activist trajectories and the way they understand the politics and ethics of care through an interdependent spectrum. by looking into this binary and its ripple effect on cultural production and work, the essay attempts to speculate on the future of institution building and artistic practice.
In previous texts, I have described a new form of power that I named “narcissistic authoritarian ... more In previous texts, I have described a new form of power that I named “narcissistic authoritarian statism.” This power is visible globally through statesmen, national leaders, and their policies, and manifests under the guise of democracy. In a two-part essay for e-flux journal, I first defined narcissistic authoritarian statism (NAS) as a neoliberal power structure that merges old components of the nation-state with contemporary forms of corporate transnationalism defined by narcissism.1 I discussed its mechanisms of slow and fast violence, normalized through policy and legislation, and examined how art institutions can be both complicit and critical. In the past year, a prominent characteristic of this type of power and its forms of violence was made brutally visible through the emergence of Covid-19, and the diminishing of care at all levels of services in many countries. To continue an analysis of NAS in light of these developments, I want to ask what this year’s events mean in relation to the politics of care and their legacies, and how the art institution is implicated.
A short essay to accompany the co-authored exhibition "Obscure Union" of Laure Prouvost and Jonas... more A short essay to accompany the co-authored exhibition "Obscure Union" of Laure Prouvost and Jonas Staal, at Mercer Union, Toronto, Canada, 7 December 2019 - 22 February 2020
This two-part essay discusses new formations of authoritarianism emerging globally and how they a... more This two-part essay discusses new formations of authoritarianism emerging globally and how they are uniting older blocs of power into a new form which i name narcissistic authoritarian statism. For this second part, I am focusing on the manifestations of violence that are apparent in a slow and fast axis, and juxtaposing artistic practices that are counter-acting this violence.
This essay discusses new formations of authoritarianism emerging globally and how they are unitin... more This essay discusses new formations of authoritarianism emerging globally and how they are uniting older blocs of power into a new form which i name narcissistic authoritarian statism. I am interested in this as a hegemonic bloc vis-a-vis the role of contemporary visual arts, in mimicking them, but most importantly creating counter-hegemonic power blocs that propose a redistribution of power. It is a note on the current rise of alt-right and Neo-fascists schemes of power that are to be seen not only in regimes but also liberal democracies. The first part of the essay is exploring an axis of ego and eco state narcissistic authoritarian statism.
The unconditional return of artefacts such as the Parthenon Marbles is a must – but can it redres... more The unconditional return of artefacts such as the Parthenon Marbles is a must – but can it redress the shocking arrogance of former colonizers? What are the implications of contemporary art in the question of repatriation and return?
A lecture on a curatorial proposition that assembles different artistic practices, which propose ... more A lecture on a curatorial proposition that assembles different artistic practices, which propose different forms of citizenship in the current issue of The Drouth magazine. (initial draft of the essay presented also in Creative Time's conference in May 2017)
A proposition to rethink the Western Canon, whiteness, national identity and cultural appropriati... more A proposition to rethink the Western Canon, whiteness, national identity and cultural appropriation vis-a-vis modernity via the geopolitical history and present of Greece
From its first steps, State of Concept wanted to address
primarily its location and do that thro... more From its first steps, State of Concept wanted to address
primarily its location and do that through socio-political
and economical questions, via cultural practices that look
at the world through the spectrum of an activated,
politicised position. Therefore, the name of the institution
has directed the content of what the institution chose to
showcase. Greece was in a state of concept, re-conceptualizing
what is contemporary Greece, after re-evaluating
its position, heritage and legacy within the European
Union, whilst the country was dragged in the gutter
through offensive front-pages of populist newspapers,
labelling the Greeks as fraudulent, lazy, dishonest and
forever asking money from the European North, without
fulfilling the required prerequisites for the loan agreements
they signed with the Troika and the IMF. There was of
course little talk of why Greece with a debt not as big
as other EU members, was in such a state. The constant
look towards the North, and the desire to belong to the
so-called “civilised” European axon and the general
Westphalian profile, was now for the first time since
the entry of Greece in the Union, being questioned by its
citizens, and the links with non-western East geographies,
re-evaluated.
This essay is included in the exhibition catalogue of the exhibition "State (in) Concepts" performing the art institution as a State, that marked the four years of State of Concept exhibitional activity, presented in KADIST Foundation Paris, between 21st of October - 21st of December 2017.
An overview of documenta14's presence in Athens for the last two years, up to the month prior to ... more An overview of documenta14's presence in Athens for the last two years, up to the month prior to the exhibition in Athens in April, published in April's issue of Metropolis M
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primarily its location and do that through socio-political
and economical questions, via cultural practices that look
at the world through the spectrum of an activated,
politicised position. Therefore, the name of the institution
has directed the content of what the institution chose to
showcase. Greece was in a state of concept, re-conceptualizing
what is contemporary Greece, after re-evaluating
its position, heritage and legacy within the European
Union, whilst the country was dragged in the gutter
through offensive front-pages of populist newspapers,
labelling the Greeks as fraudulent, lazy, dishonest and
forever asking money from the European North, without
fulfilling the required prerequisites for the loan agreements
they signed with the Troika and the IMF. There was of
course little talk of why Greece with a debt not as big
as other EU members, was in such a state. The constant
look towards the North, and the desire to belong to the
so-called “civilised” European axon and the general
Westphalian profile, was now for the first time since
the entry of Greece in the Union, being questioned by its
citizens, and the links with non-western East geographies,
re-evaluated.
This essay is included in the exhibition catalogue of the exhibition "State (in) Concepts" performing the art institution as a State, that marked the four years of State of Concept exhibitional activity, presented in KADIST Foundation Paris, between 21st of October - 21st of December 2017.
primarily its location and do that through socio-political
and economical questions, via cultural practices that look
at the world through the spectrum of an activated,
politicised position. Therefore, the name of the institution
has directed the content of what the institution chose to
showcase. Greece was in a state of concept, re-conceptualizing
what is contemporary Greece, after re-evaluating
its position, heritage and legacy within the European
Union, whilst the country was dragged in the gutter
through offensive front-pages of populist newspapers,
labelling the Greeks as fraudulent, lazy, dishonest and
forever asking money from the European North, without
fulfilling the required prerequisites for the loan agreements
they signed with the Troika and the IMF. There was of
course little talk of why Greece with a debt not as big
as other EU members, was in such a state. The constant
look towards the North, and the desire to belong to the
so-called “civilised” European axon and the general
Westphalian profile, was now for the first time since
the entry of Greece in the Union, being questioned by its
citizens, and the links with non-western East geographies,
re-evaluated.
This essay is included in the exhibition catalogue of the exhibition "State (in) Concepts" performing the art institution as a State, that marked the four years of State of Concept exhibitional activity, presented in KADIST Foundation Paris, between 21st of October - 21st of December 2017.