RITUALS FOR NEW FUTURES
exhibition by Maria Nikiforaki
curated by Living Room
Opening on Saturday, November 28 at 7pm
Rituals for New Futures is an artistic investigation into the transformative power of ritual as a
means of reimagining political, ecological and feminist futures.
Bringing together performance, mythology and speculative fiction, the project draws inspiration
from feminist science fiction to imagine worlds in which marginalised perspectives become central
agents of change. Through a constellation of performative acts, it reclaims ritual as a tool of
empowerment, responding to ecological urgencies while activating feminist resistance across time
and space.
At its heart is a fictional, science-fiction-inspired heroine whose journey unfolds across three
interconnected chapters, each shaped by a natural element: air, fire and water. More than symbolic
references, these elements act as forces of transformation, guiding the protagonist through
successive stages of becoming. Her journey of creation, death and afterlife echoes the cycles of
nature and wider ecological processes of renewal, collapse and adaptation.
Maria Nikiforaki is a visual artist whose practice operates at the intersection of performance art,
cinema and choreography. Her work explores questions of gender, ecology and technology through
interdisciplinary and collaborative processes, bringing together the body, moving image, sound and
installation. Her research often focuses on the relationship between the body, water and nature, as
well as on the potential to imaginatively construct new, posthuman forms of existence. From 2024
to 2026, she has been developing Rituals for New Futures, an artistic research project that
approaches ritual as a collective and political tool for imagining sustainable, feminist and ecological
futures, drawing inspiration from feminist science fiction.
She graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts (2012) and holds an MFA in Fine Art from
Goldsmiths, University of London (2015). She has received the Spyridon Vikatos Foundation
Scholarship (2012), participated in the ARTWORKS programme of the Stavros Niarchos
Foundation (2019), and was awarded the Trinity Laban Dance Award by Trinity Laban
Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2019).
She has presented solo exhibitions and performances in Greece and internationally, and has
exhibited her work at venues and events including Ján Koniarek Gallery, Trnava (2027); the
International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Slovenia (2025); the Museum of Contemporary Art
of Crete, as part of Pro Femina (2025); MeetFactory, Prague (2025); Matadero CRA, Madrid
(2024); ATOPOS cvc, Athens (2023); Mystery 19 – Eleusis European Capital of Culture (2023);
and Unhappy Monuments (OPANDA & ARTWORKS, 2020).
marianikiforaki.com
@marianikiforaki2020
RITUALS FOR NEW FUTURES
της Μαρίας Νικηφοράκη
Εγκαίνια Σάββατο 28 Νοεμβρίου στις 7μ.μ.Το Rituals for New Futures αποτελεί μια καλλιτεχνική έρευνα γύρω από τη
μετασχηματιστική δύναμη της τελετουργίας ως μέσου επαναφαντασίωσης πολιτικών,
οικολογικών και φεμινιστικών μελλοντικών κόσμων.
Συνδυάζοντας την performance, τη μυθολογία και την επιστημονική φαντασία, το έργο
αντλεί έμπνευση από τον φεμινισμό της επιστημονικής φαντασίας, για να φανταστεί
κόσμους όπου οι περιθωριοποιημένες αναγνωρίζονται και αναδεικνύονται σε κεντρικούς
φορείς αλλαγής. Μέσα από ένα σύνολο επιτελεστικών δράσεων, επαναδιεκδικεί την
τελετουργία ως εργαλείο ενδυνάμωσης, που ανταποκρίνεται στις επείγουσες οικολογικές
προκλήσεις και ενεργοποιεί μορφές φεμινιστικής αντίστασης στον χρόνο και τον χώρο.
Στο επίκεντρο του έργου βρίσκεται μια φανταστική ηρωίδα, εμπνευσμένη από την
επιστημονική φαντασία, της οποίας η διαδρομή ξεδιπλώνεται μέσα από τρία αλληλένδετα
κεφάλαια, καθένα από τα οποία διαμορφώνεται γύρω από ένα φυσικό στοιχείο: τον αέρα,
τη φωτιά και το νερό. Τα στοιχεία αυτά δεν λειτουργούν απλώς συμβολικά, αλλά ως
δυνάμεις μετασχηματισμού που καθοδηγούν την ηρωίδα μέσα από διαδοχικά στάδια
εξέλιξης και μεταμόρφωσης. Η πορεία της —από τη δημιουργία στον θάνατο και τη
μεταθανάτια ύπαρξη— αντανακλά τους κύκλους της φύσης και τις ευρύτερες οικολογικές
διεργασίες της ανανέωσης, της κατάρρευσης και της προσαρμογής.
Η Μαρία Νικηφοράκη είναι εικαστικός καλλιτέχνις με πρακτική που αναπτύσσεται στη
διασταύρωση της performance art, του κινηματογράφου και της χορογραφίας. Το έργο της
διερευνά ζητήματα φύλου, οικολογίας και τεχνολογίας μέσα από διεπιστημονικές και
συνεργατικές διαδικασίες, συνδυάζοντας το σώμα, την κινούμενη εικόνα, τον ήχο και την
εγκατάσταση. Η έρευνά της συχνά εστιάζει στη σχέση σώματος με το νερό και τη φύση και
στη δυνατότητα φαντασιακής διαμόρφωσης νέων, μετα-ανθρώπινων μορφών ύπαρξης.
Από το 2024 έως το 2026 αναπτύσσει το Rituals for New Futures, μια καλλιτεχνική έρευνα
που προσεγγίζει την τελετουργία ως συλλογικό και πολιτικό εργαλείο για τη φαντασίωση
βιώσιμων, φεμινιστικών και οικολογικών μελλοντικών κόσμων, με αναφορές στον
φεμινισμό της επιστημονικής φαντασίας.
Είναι απόφοιτη της Ανώτατης Σχολής Καλών Τεχνών (2012) και κάτοχος MFA Fine Art από
το Goldsmiths, University of London (2015). Έχει λάβει την Υποτροφία του Ιδρύματος
Σπυρίδωνος Βικάτου (2012), συμμετείχε στο πρόγραμμα ARTWORKS του Ιδρύματος
Σταύρος Νιάρχος (2019) και τιμήθηκε με το Trinity Laban Dance Award (2019).
Έχει παρουσιάσει ατομικές εκθέσεις και performances στην Ελλάδα και το εξωτερικό, ενώ
έργα της έχουν παρουσιαστεί, μεταξύ άλλων, στην Ján Koniarek Gallery, Trnava (2027), στο
International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Σλοβενία (2025), στο Μουσείο Σύγχρονης
Τέχνης Κρήτης στο πλαίσιο του Pro Femina (2025), στο MeetFactory, Πράγα (2025), στο
Matadero CRA, Μαδρίτη (2024), στο ATOPOS cvc, Αθήνα (2023), στο Μυστήριο 19 –
Ελευσίνα Πολιτιστική Πρωτεύουσα της Ευρώπης (2023) και στο Unhappy Monuments
(ΟΠΑΝΔΑ & ARTWORKS, 2020).
marianikiforaki.com
@marianikiforaki2020
Previous exhibitions
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Winter Nights brings together Norwegian, Greek and Icelandic artists in an exploration of seasonal rituals, animist worldviews and ecological memory. Curated by Eleni Riga, the international exhibition considers the meeting point between Nordic and Southern animisms, reflecting on climate change and ecological grief.
The exhibition was first presented at BO (The Association of Visual Artists Oslo) and at Femidomen in September–October 2025 with the support of Arts and Culture Norway and the Norwegian Embassy. It takes its title from Vetrnætr, the pre-Christian Nordic ritual marking the transition into winter. Traditionally held after the harvest, the gathering offered a final moment of communal exchange before the darkness and cold winter. It served both practical and spiritual purposes: strengthening social bonds and solidarity, while acknowledging relationships with the land, ancestors and other-than-human forces.
The exhibition was first presented at BO (The Association of Visual Artists Oslo) and at Femidomen in September–October 2025 with the support of Arts and Culture Norway and the Norwegian Embassy. It takes its title from Vetrnætr, the pre-Christian Nordic ritual marking the transition into winter. Traditionally held after the harvest, the gathering offered a final moment of communal exchange before the darkness and cold winter. It served both practical and spiritual purposes: strengthening social bonds and solidarity, while acknowledging relationships with the land, ancestors and other-than-human forces.
See more ︎︎︎
Childhood often carries an illusion of invulnerability. Surrounded by caregivers, protected by the limited knowledge of what loss, pain, and mortality is, one experiences the world through a sense of relative permanence. Yet, adulthood announces itself through moments of rupture. The illness of a parent for example provokes the realization of bodily fragility and creates a sudden reversal of roles within a family: the receiver of care becomes the giver. And suddenly, the child of the family finds themselves caring for those who once cared for them.
At the same time, the numerous world crises they may experience from a young age condemn them to an early and hasty maturity, leaving them with the numb feeling of too many responsibilities too soon, and with childhood and adolescence years not lived as they were meant.
At the same time, the numerous world crises they may experience from a young age condemn them to an early and hasty maturity, leaving them with the numb feeling of too many responsibilities too soon, and with childhood and adolescence years not lived as they were meant.
See more ︎︎︎
The Minimal Effort project began to take shape, both conceptually and aesthetically, in the summer of 2024, initiated by curator Elli Leventaki and visual artist Dimitris Kontodimos, with the aim of organizing a group exhibition centered on artworks-gestures as alternative methods of artistic production and expression. Starting from Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, but also taking into account more recent examples, such as Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, the exhibition draws on the logic of ready-mades and conceptual interventions, not as artworks that are “easy” to create, conceive, or select, but rather as pieces that can convey a wide range of meanings in a concise manner.
This endeavor aims to take a critical stance toward practices such as intensification, flexibilization, and overwork, which are often promoted as healthy in contemporary Western societies. By contrast, concepts such as “pause” or “standstill” tend to carry negative connotations or are even perceived as a kind of luxury today. This social condition significantly influences artistic production at all levels, because there is no art without so-called “laziness”, as creative people always need time to reflect, experiment, fail, and start over from the beginning…
This endeavor aims to take a critical stance toward practices such as intensification, flexibilization, and overwork, which are often promoted as healthy in contemporary Western societies. By contrast, concepts such as “pause” or “standstill” tend to carry negative connotations or are even perceived as a kind of luxury today. This social condition significantly influences artistic production at all levels, because there is no art without so-called “laziness”, as creative people always need time to reflect, experiment, fail, and start over from the beginning…