Katia Arfara – författare

2026 Association for Theatre in Higher Education Outstanding Book Award FinalistSince the 2008 financial crisis and Occupy movements around the globe, artists have increasingly turned to socially engaged public art to create new models of artistic production and community engagement. Curating the Commons examines this turn through an in-depth study of performance-centered public art presented in Athens and Piraeus, Greece, during the austerity years. Extending from Henri Lefebvre’s theory of social space, Arfara examines art and social engagement in relation to the commons and self-organized solidarity initiatives, including performance, photography, film, and sculptures that appeared in unexpected urban spaces to complicate notions of memory, mobility, and belonging. These works all ask the question: Who has the right to the city? Combining her scholarly and curatorial work, Arfara advocates for performance-centered public art that resists processes of exclusion and segregation, reclaiming public space as a commons. By sharing critical insights, Arfara immerses the reader in the working processes of artists and collectives, showing how public art can address ecosocial concerns in aesthetic forms. Curating the Commons offers a grounded perspective on the making of cutting-edge, socially engaged public artworks and contributes to the larger effort to craft more-than-human narratives in response to global events.

2026 Association for Theatre in Higher Education Outstanding Book Award FinalistSince the 2008 financial crisis and Occupy movements around the globe, artists have increasingly turned to socially engaged public art to create new models of artistic production and community engagement. Curating the Commons examines this turn through an in-depth study of performance-centered public art presented in Athens and Piraeus, Greece, during the austerity years. Extending from Henri Lefebvre’s theory of social space, Arfara examines art and social engagement in relation to the commons and self-organized solidarity initiatives, including performance, photography, film, and sculptures that appeared in unexpected urban spaces to complicate notions of memory, mobility, and belonging. These works all ask the question: Who has the right to the city? Combining her scholarly and curatorial work, Arfara advocates for performance-centered public art that resists processes of exclusion and segregation, reclaiming public space as a commons. By sharing critical insights, Arfara immerses the reader in the working processes of artists and collectives, showing how public art can address ecosocial concerns in aesthetic forms. Curating the Commons offers a grounded perspective on the making of cutting-edge, socially engaged public artworks and contributes to the larger effort to craft more-than-human narratives in response to global events.

This volume is a collection of scholarly articles and interviews with intermedial artists working with the concepts of public sphere at the intersection of aesthetics and politics. It explores the response of socially-engaged artistic practices to the current crisis in politics and media. It also critically examines urgent issues such as rampant nationalism and populism, expanding neoliberalism, the refugee crisis, growing inosculations of corporate and cyber culture, and the ongoing geopolitical changes in the Middle East. Can intermedial performances reflect the present artistic and political dilemmas in Europe and beyond?The collection provides theoretical frameworks that interrogate the role that spectators as citizens can play in our mediatized world while focusing on the functions of immersion, participation, and civic engagement in contemporary performance and society. The collection provides analyses by international scholars from Europe, Asia, and the USA, covering global performance created in the twenty-first century. It also introduces interviews with internationally acclaimed intermedial artists and companies such as BERLIN, Rimini Protokoll, Dries Verhoeven, Akira Takayama, and Kris Verdonck.

This volume is a collection of scholarly articles and interviews with intermedial artists working with the concepts of public sphere at the intersection of aesthetics and politics. It explores the response of socially-engaged artistic practices to the current crisis in politics and media. It also critically examines urgent issues such as rampant nationalism and populism, expanding neoliberalism, the refugee crisis, growing inosculations of corporate and cyber culture, and the ongoing geopolitical changes in the Middle East. Can intermedial performances reflect the present artistic and political dilemmas in Europe and beyond?The collection provides theoretical frameworks that interrogate the role that spectators as citizens can play in our mediatized world while focusing on the functions of immersion, participation, and civic engagement in contemporary performance and society. The collection provides analyses by international scholars from Europe, Asia, and the USA, covering global performance created in the twenty-first century. It also introduces interviews with internationally acclaimed intermedial artists and companies such as BERLIN, Rimini Protokoll, Dries Verhoeven, Akira Takayama, and Kris Verdonck.

This volume is a collection of scholarly articles and interviews with intermedial artists working with the concepts of public sphere at the intersection of aesthetics and politics. It explores the response of socially-engaged artistic practices to the current crisis in politics and media. It also critically examines urgent issues such as rampant nationalism and populism, expanding neoliberalism, the refugee crisis, growing inosculations of corporate and cyber culture, and the ongoing geopolitical changes in the Middle East. Can intermedial performances reflect the present artistic and political dilemmas in Europe and beyond?The collection provides theoretical frameworks that interrogate the role that spectators as citizens can play in our mediatized world while focusing on the functions of immersion, participation, and civic engagement in contemporary performance and society. The collection provides analyses by international scholars from Europe, Asia, and the USA, covering global performance created in the twenty-first century. It also introduces interviews with internationally acclaimed intermedial artists and companies such as BERLIN, Rimini Protokoll, Dries Verhoeven, Akira Takayama, and Kris Verdonck.