Iria Vrettou (she/they) is an artist, born in 1995 and based in Athens. They hold a Diploma in Animation from the University of the Arts, London, and an M.A. in Contemporary Art Practice - Moving Image from the Royal College of Art, London. Their work is primarily focused on concepts and modes of hybridity as methods of research and practice, whilst addressing aspects of hand-drawn animation, performance and installation in relation to their conceptual, ecoqueer functions. Their practice critically examines the function of the ‘screen’ in the context of cultural production and political processes, and explores the creation of art works that can work as disquieting, complete spatiotemporal experiences. Within this framework, in the last couple of years they have developed a keen interest in the real and symbolic life of volcanoes. They have participated in various art projects in Athens, London, Seoul, and others. They have been awarded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS (2021). They were a resident of International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York City (2022).

During their Fulbright Program and in affiliation with Columbia University, they plan to expand their project Volcanic Identity. Through art practice in cross-section with academic, archival and scientific research and field work in aspects of various socio-ecological formation and queer theory, they will attempt to question common or exhausted understandings of identity thinking though the point of view of a natural phenomenon.

Marita Pappa (b.1988) is a Greek artist currently based in London. Working in a variety of media, her ephemeral installations and public interventions explore the connection between the body, time and public space as well as reflect on conditions of rupture and survival. After a decade of photographic career, she decided to expand her visual vocabulary and pursued a Fine Art Degree at Glasgow School of Art in 2020 where she was awarded a Schillizzi Foundation Scholarship. She obtained her Masters in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art (RCA), London, UK in 2022 where she was the recipient of the Leverhulme Trust Arts Scholarship for full tuition for her studies and the NEON Foundation scholarship for two consecutive years. Her RCA graduation show Nacre was shortlisted for the Harlow Sculpture Town Artist in Residence 2022/2023 award. Her work has been exhibited across the UK, Greece, and Italy, most notably in Gallery 46, Whitechapel London, Standpoint Gallery, London (2022), Bitume Photo Festival Puglia, Italy (2015) where she was an artist in residence, Brighton Photo Biennial (2014), Mediterranean Photography Festival, Crete (2016) and Young Photographers Athens Photofestival (2012). She has delivered artist talks, workshops, and tutorials at the BA Sculpture University of Camberwell, BA Fine Art Creative Arts Farnham, UK, South Thames College, and in the Preparatory and Vocational School of Fine Arts of Panormos, Tinos, Greece. In Summer 2024, Marita Pappa will be an artist in residence at Standpoint Gallery London to further develop her recent work Recipes for Temporary Revolutions, a series of culinary “poem recipes” exploring domesticity, labour and the maternal experience.

Marita Pappa has been awarded the Fulbright Artist Grant for 2024/2025 to attend The New School/Parsons School of Design, The School of Art, Media, and Technology, New York, NY. During this period, she will be working closely with their Fine Art department and the New School of Social Research to research and develop an experimental interdisciplinary project; a handmade artist book that brings together her long-standing interest in public space and its revolutionary potential, and her artistic fascination with New York using food politics as a vehicle for storytelling.