Weizen Ho

WeiZen draws inspiration from the premise that human living is performed and performative; to activate this process through the vocal-body and its memory, contextualised within its geocultural history. As an open-disciplinary performance deviser and vocalist since 1999, she has expanded into the discipline of spatial-body relationship through choreography, via BodyWeather and Pancha Tanmantra 5 Element principles. In 2010, WeiZen began formalising a spirit-corporeal vocabulary generated through contemplation on mortality. Building a line of inquiry through research residencies and witnessing of rituals, while devising for locations across Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and Thailand, she secured a research grant which led her to female shamanry communities in Sabah (Malaysia) and Hanoi (Vietnam). This culminated in a 2018 participatory performance-installation, The Subtle Beings. Increasingly, she includes participatory and/or material installation to capture the traces, the aftermath of a performance.

Following a 2-year intimate engagement with local residents exploring attitudes to death and dying, WeiZen presents a shopfront dialogue. Examining the interplay between the inaudible with the public, and the visible with the private, participants are invited to sit inside with her in a one-on-one conversation. Outside, in a familiar ritual of waiting in line, the interaction is witnessed but not heard by the audience and passers-by. Participants are asked to offer a written question or contemplation on death and dying. The accumulated texts will then be displayed as an installation within the shop. This project has been supported by Create NSW – Small Project Grants (Quick Response).