Photography: Jocelyn Janon

“Embracing the falling of flesh and the rising of the beyond-body.
Whose memory is this?”

Drawing from the memories/visions of their collective genealogies of terror and transformation, Tagata Moana artists Jahra Wasasala and ooshcon come together as CONJAH to begin to build the full-length work,
‘I PULL OUR BODY OUT OF A DEAD ANIMAL’.

In the first development phase for this work, Jahra Wasasala and ooshcon collaborated with Light Design artist Elekis Poblete Teirney, and Sound Artist Oliva ‘Spewer’ Luki and presented their exploration as a development showing in Kia Mau Festival 2023, held in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington), Aotearoa (New Zealand). Working with the mediums of Street Dance, monologue, vocal soundscape, light, sound and entity-building, this development showing drove into the realms of horror tropes, Oceanic Terror-Fi, future-mythos, Mana Moana animal knowledge and limit-breaking physicality.

’I PULL OUR BODY OUT OF A DEAD ANIMAL’ is an exciting new chapter in the choreographic work of CONJAH as they reach into their beyond-body’s archive, blur the boundaries of their human and non-human visions whilst pulling out a pantheon of possibilities that are asking to be (de)formed.

Keep connected to follow the journey of this work as it unfolds.