“CONJAH represents this fiercely unique, 21st century Moana Oceania energy that has been cultivated on the edge of the Pacific ocean in Aotearoa. They are channelling these forces, this epic ancestral magic, that can only be expressed in pure movement and body language.”
— The Arts Foundation NZ, Te Tumu Toi
CONJAH THE COLLECTIVE
VISIONS AS MEMORY - PHYSICALITY OF THE BEYOND-PHYSICAL-BODY - TWISTING OF STORY
CONJAH is a creative force of ‘feeling’; bleeding beyond the traditional boundaries of physical performance and creating immersive worlds inhabited by compelling beings. CONJAH is a gathering point of friends, artists, world-builders, theatre-makers, dancers, designers and facilitators who co-create with each other and their communities to build multi-disciplinary theatre experiences. CONJAH’s work is in conversation with non-human phenomena, the body’s memory, cultural-mapping, resistance, reimagined futures and emotional rigour.
CONJAH are one of the most exciting performance collectives emerging from the Oceanic region, known for their formidable performance impact that is balanced by their deep care for others amidst cultural exchange. CONJAH’s theatrical works and facilitated spaces are visceral experiences rooted in ecologies of transformation, imagination and kin-ship. Through performance and practice, CONJAH pushes into the potential of our collective dreams and nightmares, exploring what happens when we face them.
Photo 1: Frances Carter
Photo 2: Gianna Rizzo
“[CONJAH] were engaging in deeply embodied ways with energy that is not human, but was once human…To see them dance with it was terrifying and breath-taking at the same time.” — Dr. Karlo Mila
PERFORMANCE - THEATRE - FACILITATION - PRACTICE
CONJAH are award-winning artists, receiving the Arts Foundation Springboard Award in 2022, including mentor-ship from internationally acclaimed artist, Lisa Reihana MNZM. In 2023, CONJAH presented the short theatre work ‘I Pull Our Body Out of a Dead Animal’ within Kia Mau Festival. In that same year, they premiered ‘TADRA, and other visions’ in collaboration with the Pseudo Studio for Narrm’s FRAME: Biennial, commissioned by Chunky Move’s Activators 10 programme. In January 2024 CONJAH presented ‘Sei Solo - You’re Alone?’, in collaboration with acclaimed Aotearoa violinist Benjamin Baker, to audiences on Lenape territory, New York, U.S.A. ‘Sei Solo - You’re Alone?’ will be presented by Orchestra Wellington in October 2025 in Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington, Aotearoa.
CONJAH have recently premiered their highly-anticipated theatre work ‘DARK!DARK!DARK!’ in Kia Mau Festival 2025 as a part of Kia Mau’s He Toi Puaki commission programme.
As well as working towards re-staging the work, CONJAH and their collaborators are also expanding on the world of ‘DARK!DARK!DARK!’, planning to build more performances, film, installation works and character studies.
RECENT PROJECTS
”I've not seen Pacific dance so raw and so full of promise as this since I saw my first viewing of Lemi Ponifasio's work in Samoa more than twenty years ago.”
— Dan Taulapapa McMullin
Photo 1: Threading Frames
Photo 2: Third Eye Visuals
