Wen Keng We Meet? – On Connection

OPEN STUDIO – Ein kollaboratives Theaterlabor für Inszenierung mit Klang

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

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.

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Thu 29/01 20:00
Südbühne
Fri 30/01 20:00
Südbühne
Sat 31/01 20:00
Südbühne

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?

Performer, musician, transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary artist Zainab J Lascandri brings the polyphonic archive IMAGINE A BLACK CHILD as source material for the first OPEN STUDIO. It consists of her own text work, recorded sounds and produced sounds, and condenses diasporic experiences in the Swiss context: from childhood in the 1980s and 90s to growing up in the 2000s to motherhood and aging in the present. It consists of her own text work, recorded sounds, and produced sounds, and condenses diasporic experiences in the Swiss context: from childhood in the 1980s and 90s to coming of age in the 2000s to motherhood and aging in the present. Accompanied by Fatima Moumouni, Tracy September, and Brandy Butler, Lascandri edits fragments, scenes, and moods and transforms them into a sonic-scenic form. At the center: invisibility—as a social experience, as an aesthetic strategy, as a frequency of the unsaid. What is the texture of concealment? What future does the echo carry? Between sound studies, speculative fiction, and subversive humor, Lascandri explores how pleasure and joy unfold hope as spaces of resonance.

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In OPEN STUDIO, artists from various disciplines collaborate with sound artist, director and stage designer Dimitri de Perrot to explore productions that use sound as a central creative element. They develop ideas, perspectives and artistic approaches: How can sound be used to think, create and tell stories?

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 collective often uses language, wordplay and dry humour as a starting point for artistic thinking, which is often reflected in the titles of their works.

In their new project, ‘Wen Keng We Meet? – On Connection,’ they ask how we can stay connected despite the return of borders, divisions, and geopolitical tensions. To this end, Shanghai-based performer Keng Chen and Taipei-based artist Wen-Chi Liu set out to get as close to each other as possible. Together with the Zurich members of the collective, they travel to the narrowest point of the strait: Keng to Xiamen, Wen-Chi to Kinmen. Six kilometres lie between them. They stand facing each other – and yet they do not see each other.

As part of OPEN STUDIO, this attempt to create closeness despite separation is transformed into a performative resonance space. Three separate sound spaces reflect the geographical and political realities of the collective – Taiwan, China and Europe as acoustically isolated yet resonating spaces of experience. The result is an audio-visual performance between documentary theatre and fictional search: a poetic snapshot of a fragmented yet inevitably connected world.

It's worth coming back several times:

‘OPEN STUDIO: Imagine A Black Child’ by Zainab J Lascandri supported by Fatima Moumouni, Tracy September & Brandy Butler
16th, 17th, 18th December 2025

‘OPEN STUDIO: Wen Keng We Meet? – On Connection’ by RRRRRR Collective / Keng Chen, Wen-Chi Liu, Eneas Nikolai Prawdzic, Dino Radoncic, Nathalie Stirnimann and Stefan Stojanovic
29, 30, 31 January 2026

‘OPEN STUDIO: unerhört ungestört (AT)’ 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
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
Anna Papst / Vincent Glanzmann
Fazil On Yu
Documentation
Video documentation: Jessie Fischer
Team Studio DdP
Concept, artistic direction, and production: Dimitri de Perrot
Sound engineering: Max Molling
Lighting design: tba / Gruppen
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.
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 and Sinokultur.
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.