Para-Phrase is an evening that brings together three diasporic artists – Li Yilei, Luciano Maggiore and Nisha Ramayya – to explore the synergy of sound art, live art and poetry. Blurring the boundaries of disciplines, this evening extends as an invitation to dialogue, introspection, and mutual listening.
Words can transport us, yet languages may divide. “Poetry is what gets lost in translation”, said Robert Frost, underscoring the complexities of cross-cultural expression.
Despite our differences, connection unfolds when we meet in person. How do we transcend words to truly connect? How do we convey our presence, our bodies, our lived experiences?
In a unique convergence, live artist Mengting Zhuo brings together three artists from diasporic origins – Li Yilei, Luciano Maggiore and Nisha Ramayya – for an evening that resonates with sound art, live art and poetry. Blurring the boundaries of disciplines, the evening of Para-Phrase invites us to witness our shared humanness.
photography by Bradford Bailey
Join us for an evening that extends an invitation to dialogue, introspection, and mutual listening. Let's explore the message beyond words, where our narratives flourish.
This event is part of the engagement programme to accompany The Battle Over Mazepa exhibition by Mykola Ridnyi. The programme explores themes of memory, identity and migration.
This event is part of Bloomsbury Festival 2023.
ABOUT THE ARTISTs
Luciano Maggiore is a Palermo-born, London-based musician whose work is characterised by the use of speakers and several analogue/digital devices (samplers, CD players, walkmans, tape recorders). Luciano addresses the performativity and the perception of the musical act, as well as the obscurity that emanates from it. His main interests include mechanisms of sound diffusion, performance, repetition, endurance, non-human animal languages, dance, and folklore. With Louie Rice, he started NO-PA/PA-ON, a project that deals with performing score-based works, both acoustic and amplified.
IG: @lucianomaggioree
Li Yilei is a Chinese artist and composer working and living in London. Li's work often encompasses sound, performance, found materials, text, events, daily objects, sculptures and broken instruments. Li’s body of work sought to investigate alternative modes of listening, reflecting upon the tacitness and transience of existential occurrences. Exploring the muted state, the unheard, disabled, and untrained voices, Li frequently employs tapes, Theremin, Euphone, field recordings, contact microphones, and synthesizers, engaging with materials involving physical interactions such as friction, movement, contact, and magnetic fields.
IG: @li_yi_lei_
Nisha Ramayya grew up in Glasgow and now lives in London. Her poetry collection States of the Body Produced by Love (2019) is published by Ignota Books. Her second collection will be published by Granta in 2024. Tentatively called Now Let’s Take a Listening Walk, it hazards a musical journey through history, myth, and sci fi.
IG: @headslice