iLianaFokianaki is a curator, theorist, andeducator based in Athens, Greece, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Her research focuses on formations ofpower and how they manifest under the influence of geopolitics, nationalidentity, and cultural and anthropological histories. In 2013, she foundedState of Concept Athens, the first nonprofit institution of its kind in Greec,ewhich she continues to direct. State of Concept has worked with artists such asForensic Architecture, Kader Attia, Sanja Iveković, Laure Prouvost, JonasStaal, and Hito Steyerl, among others, while collaborating with local andinternational curators such as What, How & for Whom/WHW and Nick Aikens.Fokianaki has curated exhibitions for Kunstinstituut Melly (formerly known asWitte de With), Rotterdam; Kadist Foundation, Paris; La Colonie, Paris; e-flux,New York; MG+MSUM – Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana; and GalerijaNova, Zagreb, among others. Her most recent project, The Bureau of Care (2020–22),received the European Cultural Foundation’s Solidarity grant. Fokianaki iscurrently working on the exhibition Machinations, opening in 2023 at MuseoNacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (co-co-curator), and a groupexhibition at Framer Framed, Amsterdam. She has developed lecture series forseveral institutions, such as “GOSSIPS” (2019) for Het Nieuwe Instituut,Rotterdam. Fokianaki is a lecturer at the Dutch Art Institute, Arnhem, and haslectured in academies, independent spaces, museums, and foundations around theworld. She publishes regularly in journals such as e-flux and Friezeand has contributed essays to several publications. Her book Gossips: WomXnGather was published in 2021.
iLianaFokianaki is participating in the fourth edition of WHW Akademija within the public program Evenings with WHW Akademija.