for things not here not now

^{image description: Raffia sits with two Dutch Sign Language (NGT) interpreters, introducing a Chinese Sign Language(CSL) poem by Yanfei Li, which is presented in a big screen tiled backwards on the ground. Interpreter Zhangdan sits next to the screen, translates Raffia’s description from English to NGT, while interpreter Lela sits across Zhangdan to show her what exact movement Raffia is doing. Raffia wears a hat, with left hand gesturing the sign of mountain in CSL, and right hand up the mountain, about to fall upon the mountian like water, forming the sign of waterfall.}

for things not here not now

Raffia Li
performance, 60min
with Yunfan Tian, Yanfei Li, and Ekrem Koç
The Ground Up And The Washed Down,
A Tale of A Tub, Rotterdam , 2023

A touchable performance is a space providing time
a timespace that is trusting/trusted
a moving ritual
an invocation
a critic

Desiring
Waiting
Calling
together
for things not here not now
bring them to
here and now
within a breathing in
a breathing out

a practice of a repetitive daily encounter/transformation
a body ready to expand beyond a self
a reset of subject/object

melting snow
now

imaging with the eyes ears noses mouths fingertips, together, altogether
anti-romanticisation
always interrupted
a unique sensing point
almost falling
in love
the beginning between the beginnings
a long preparation and a restart
depending on others and always should
unstoppable questioning
a power structure analysis
fumbling
together

an on-going rehearsal about the need to touch or to be touched
with Ekrem
with Yanfei
with Yunfan

^{image description: Raffia wears a ladder, and sits on the ladder from its inside, using the legs of the ladder as support to stand. An audience is reading Raffia’s text from their laptop, which is shown on the big screen tiled on the ground. Two Dutch Sign Language interpreters wears black T shirts, works together to interprete Raffia’s movement with the text. On screen, the letters are big and black, on white background: When we walk together, sometimes I become part of Suzie in relation to the surroundings, moving with our body as a whole, and sometimes I become part of the surroundings in relation to Suzie, bridging a cat, or a flower . This is the language I wish to be fluent in. Thes words “or a flower” and “fluent in” are hidden behind by Interpreter Zhangdan who now sits in the center of the room).}

Curator: Yin Yin Wong
Languages:
spoken and written English, Mandarin and Dutch Sign Language (NGT)
Audio description : Yunfan Tian, Raffia Li and on site audience
Sign language poetry: Yanfei Li and Raffia Li
Dutch sign language (NGT) interpreters: Zheng Dan Xia, Lela Fontijn
NGT poetry translation: Eva Prevaes

Made possible with a financial contribution from CBK Rotterdam.

Part of Raffia Li’s on-going research Tilting towards the sensing feeling body, in which performance is a way of researching, experiencing and sharing sensuous knowledge. With this they aim to find new performance languages responding to the particularity of different bodies, different existences, and sensing preferences beyond the audio and visual realms.

Raffia Li 融

Raffia
Li 融