THEYFxRST

THEYFxRST is a multidisciplinary collective and transmedia conversation between SA Smythe and Autumn Knight. Knight, an artist with a theatre and visual arts background, explores themes of group dynamics, interiority, and humour. Smythe, a poet, sound artist and critical theorist, weaves soundscape and poetics into the fabric of their performances. Together, they create immersive experiences that blur the lines between artist and audience, and within the self. Their practice anchors an experiment in collaboration as a catalyst for social change and personal growth, pushing the boundaries of performance, sound, and the poetics of Black belonging.

The collaboration began in Italy when they were respective 2021-22 winners of the Nancy B. Negley Rome Prize in Visual Art and the Rome Prize in Modern Italian Studies. They connected over the importance of improvisation, imagination, and other shared Black diasporic vernacular central to both of their practices. THEYFxRST have presented their work across Italy at Villa Lena (Tuscany), the American Academy in Rome, CANGO/Palazzino indiano arte (Florence), Mattatoio Museum (Rome); at the FADO Performance Art Centre, Toronto; and at The Church artist-in-residence in New York. 

Performances and Collaborative Residencies