FYTA
FYTA (Greek: ΦΥΤΑ, meaning plants) are an Athens-based conceptual art and performance art duo. Their work problematises Greek identity and nationalism. FYTA's work combines different media and disciplines mostly operating within the wider framework of overidentification, queer politics and anti-humanist art, while they aim at a performative destabilisation of concepts of truth and nature / the natural. Background. "Fyta are far from a fringe group in the Greek art world" and curate regular shows working with the Athens queer community as well as producing artefacts of their own. In an article about Greek queer politics and aesthetics , the Journal of Greek Media and Culture described the work of FYTA as “highly iconoclastic” and “new directors who seem to follow their own path”. Dazed has named their curatorial work as “avant-garde”, while they are also seen as having “an important characteristic often missing by many fine artists: irony and a sense of humour”. Work. Their artistic work has been shown at The Scala London, NGBK Berlin, Berlin Porn Film Festival, Cuntemporary London, Bâtiment d'art contemporain, Gdańska Galeria Miejska, the Onassis Cultural Centre and the Zoumboulakis Gallery. In 2013, they participated at the 4th Athens Biennale, AGORA. Publications . The Black Book of FYTA (2017) contains descriptions and photos of FYTA’s work with analyses on arts and politics by academics. It received a distinction at the "Artist Catalogue design" category at the EBGE_Greek Design and illustration awards 2018. In 2021 they published an article in Studies in Theatre and Performance on their curation of The Garden of Dystopian Pleasures reflecting on the role of critical artistic practice in responding to contemporary right-wing radicalisation. Academic presentations. They have given academic presentations at the London College of Communication, Royal Holloway University, Athens School of Fine Arts, Buckinghamshire New University , and the Athens Museum of Queer Arts. In 2020, they co-curated the conference "Psychoanalysis and Post-Truth" at the Freud Museum in London, in partnership with Waiting Times - a multi-stranded research project on the temporalities of healthcare funded by The Wellcome Trust. The conference presented the work of contemporary thinkers including Yannis Stavrakakis, Renata Salecl, Richard Seymour, Disnovation and ContraPoints. Opera. In 2020, they were commissioned by the Greek National Opera to direct a version of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, but the premiere did not happen because of lockdown measures for the COVID-19 epidemic. In 2021 the opera was  shot as a film titled ORFEAS2021 and will be premiered at the 62nd Thessaloniki Festival. The opera is about the struggles of Orfeas, the first gay prime minister of Greece, against a history of oppression in the “land of heroes.” It is dedicated to the memory of activist Zackie Oh! Vice said of it "the first queer opera in Greece speaks about the dark side of our society" and Anouchka Grose said it is "both an emotional slap and a powerful piece of political polemic".