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OPEN STUDIO – Ein kollaboratives Theaterlabor für Inszenierung mit Klang

«Wen Keng We Meet? – On Connection»
RRRRRR Collective

PerformanceMusic

An invitation to listen – four groups of artists explore how sound can be staged in Dimitri de Perrot's OPEN STUDIO and share their search for new forms of theatre in public performances.

  • Thu 29/01 20:00

    Premiere followed by a snack and drink reception

    Südbühne

    Few remaining tickets at the box office

  • Fri 30/01 18:00

    Südbühne

  • Fri 30/01 20:00

    Followed by a sharing

    Südbühne

    Few remaining tickets at the box office

  • Sat 31/01 18:00

    Südbühne

    Few remaining tickets at the box office

  • Sat 31/01 20:00

    Südbühne

    Few remaining tickets at the box office

In ‘Wen Keng We Meet? – On Connection’, the Euro-Asian RRRRRR Collective asks how we can remain connected despite cultural differences, physical distance, and conflicts. Copyright: RRRRRR Collectiv

In OPEN STUDIO, artists from various disciplines are collaborating with the sound artist, director and stage designer Dimitri de Perrot to explore productions that use sound as a central creative medium. They are developing ideas, perspectives, and artistic approaches: How can sound be used to think, design, narrate?

In ‘Wen Keng We Meet? – On Connection’, the Euro-Asian RRRRRR Collective – comprising Keng Chen, Wen-Chi Liu, Dino Radoncic, Eneas Prawdzic, Nathalie Stirnimann, and Stefan Stojanovic – asks how we can remain connected despite cultural differences, physical distance and conflicts.

Following the desire to see each other again, the Taiwan-based artist Wen-Chi and her mainland Chinese colleague Keng, together with their European collaborators of the RRRRRR Collective, travel to the border that separates them. At its narrowest point, between Xiamen and the island of Kinmen, the distance is just six kilometers. They have three days for this undertaking. Then they must leave again. Will they succeed in meeting one another?

The result is an audio-visual performance situated between documentary theatre and a fictional search into the human need for encounter: a poetic snapshot of a fragmented yet inescapably connected world.

Following the performance on Friday, 30 January at 8 p.m., there will be a sharing.

Information on accessibility and language

  • Stepless access

  • In spoken English

  • Audience situation: There are cushions on the floor for seating; however, chairs and beanbags (which must be reserved) are available for accessibility requirements.

  • Sensory stimuli: Partially high volume and deep bass, relatively dark room, and sudden changes in sound. There are balloons on stage, but they should not burst.

For over ten years, sound artist Dimitri de Perrot has been exploring the intersection of sound, space and staging with his creations. OPEN STUDIO is a project that represents the logical progression of this practice – and an artistic act of sharing. Here, de Perrot invites other artists to explore the possibilities of sound-based narrative forms in their own language and aesthetic.

The topics range from transnational distance (RRRRRR Collective) to patriarchal attributions (Papst/Glanzmann) to the experiences of Black people in Europe (Fazil On Yu) and the invisibility of marginalised identities (Zainab J Lascandri). All projects are based on biographical fragments, interviews or personal archives and transform them into poetically condensed sound spaces.

It's worth coming back several times:

‘OPEN STUDIO: Toi (fel), Toi (fel), Toi (fel)’ by Vincent Glanzmann & Anna Papst
26, 27, 28 February 2026

‘OPEN STUDIO: Until They Hear Black Voices’ by Fazil On Yu
26, 27, 28 March 2026

  • Artists from various fields work together in OPEN STUDIO.

    Dimitri de Perrot is leading the project.

    The focus is on sound.

    In the second edition, the RRRRRR collective is creating a piece.

    The group consists of Keng Chen, Wen-Chi Liu, Dino Radoncic,

    Eneas Prawdzic, Nathalie Stirnimann and Stefan Stojanovic.

    Some of the members come from Asia.

    Some come from Europe.

    The group asks: How do we stay connected?

    There are borders, conflicts and problems between countries.

    The artists travel to the place where Taiwan and China meet.

    The performance shows a world that is both divided and connected.

  • Artists

    Zainab J Lascandri, supported by Fatima Moumouni, Tracy September & Brandy Butler

    RRRRRR Collective: Keng Chen, Wen-Chi Liu, Eneas Nikolai Prawdzic, Dino Radoncic, Nathalie Stirnimann, Stefan Stojanovic
    Special thanks to Jinn Cheung und Zou Siyan

    Anna Papst / Vincent Glanzmann

    Fazil On Yu

    Documentation

    Text documentation: Smilla Diener, Salomé Voegelin

    Video documentation: Jessie Fischer

    Team Studio DdP

    Concept, artistic direction, and production: Dimitri de Perrot

    Sound engineering: Max Molling

    Lighting design: Karl Egli / Groups

    Set construction: Leo Hoffmann

    Stage: Lea Meierhofer

    Technical direction: Raphaël Vuilleumier

    Communication and think tank: Christoph Meier

    Production

    Verein Studio DdP

    Co-Production

    Gessnerallee

  • The transdisciplinary RRRRRR Collective was founded in Hong Kong in 2018 by Keng Chen, Wen-Chi Liu, Dino Radoncic, Eneas Prawdzic, Nathalie Stirnimann and Stefan Stojanovic. The name ‘RRRRRR’ plays on a linguistic pun. The letter ‘R’ is difficult to pronounce in many languages. It symbolises the willingness to bridge cultural and linguistic divides, even if mutual understanding remains incomplete, simply by pronouncing something differently.

    Keng Chen lives and works in Hangzhou and Shanghai. She is a performance artist and artist whose practice combines live art, performance, and theater, exploring themes of identity, everyday life, and intercultural collaboration.

    Wen-Chi Liu lives and works in Taoyuan and Taipei. She is an artist and art writer exploring emotional projections across the boundaries between the artificial and the natural. Through performance, installation, and text, she creates spaces where fiction and reality intertwine.

    Eneas Prawdzic lives and works in Zurich. He is a theater maker and co-director of Proberaum Zukunft, a theater group dedicated to rehearsing  possible futures. From 2019 to 2025, he served as a dramaturg at Theater Neumarkt.

    Dino Radoncic lives and works in St. Gallen and Zurich. He is an artist whose work translates everyday routines into performances, videos, and objects that reveal hidden cultural and historical layers.

    Nathalie Stirnimann and Stefan Stojanovic live and work as the artist duo Stirnimann-Stojanovic in Zurich. Their practice combines performance, installation, and social participation, reflecting on structural inequalities within the art system.

    Dimitri de Perrot lives and works in Zurich. He began his artistic career in the 1990s as a DJ and turntablist and developed into a sound artist, director and stage designer, as well as a lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). His work focuses on storytelling with sound and space at the intersection of theatre, music and visual arts.

  • City of Zurich Culture, Canton of Zurich Culture Office, Landis & Gyr Foundation, Hans F. Tellenbach Foundation.

    The project ‘Wen Keng We Meet? – On Connection’ by the RRRRRR Collective is also supported by Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council, the Ernst Göhner Foundation, the Ernst and Olga Gubler-Hablützel Foundation, Sinokultur and the Albert Huber Foundation.

    Dimitri de Perrot / Studio DdP is supported by the City and Canton of Zurich with a concept grant / multi-year group grant for 2024-2027. He is ‘Artist in Residence’ at Le Centquatre – Paris.

    OPEN STUDIO uses elements from the stage play NIEMANDSLAND by Dimitri de Perrot; the corresponding credits can be found on his website.

Copyright: RRRRRR Collective

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