5 p.m.
Maria Nikiforaki: Rituals for New Futures, screening and presentation
Rituals for New Futures is an art project exploring the transformative power of ritual in shaping political and ecological realities. Through performative practices, it addresses urgent environmental concerns and draws on sci-fi feminism to imagine futures where marginalised voices are empowered. Featuring a fictional, sci-fi-inspired heroine, the project centres on the elements – air, fire and water – as active forces in envisioning sustainable futures.
In Madrid, the heroine is born of air as a spirit, blending visual storytelling with supernatural themes. In Prague, she journeys through fire during Pálení čarodějnic (Burning of the Witches Day), transforming a live performance into a feminist ritual that channels the voices of silenced women. The next chapter unfolds in Ljubljana, where the heroine descends into the underworld through subterranean waters, undergoing a final transformation as she becomes a portal between worlds.
Maria Nikiforaki is a visual artist working at the intersection of performance art, film and dance. She uses choreography and film strategies to introduce social connotation to the movement and body, searching for performative practices that can introduce emotional worlds as a political stance.
The exhibition is organised as part of the Sustainability is in the AiR (SAiR) project, which connects residential centres in Ljubljana (MGLC Švicarija), Prague (MeetFactory), Madrid (Matadero) and Athens (Snehta). The project fosters sustainable artistic practices alongside residential exchanges.
