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STATEMENT:
Originally conceived as live performance pieces within the Neo-Futurist aesthetic principles of “We are who we are,” “We are where we are,” “We are doing what we are doing,” and “The time is now,” our installation transposes performed narrative into multi-disciplinary installation exploring themes of naming, sensation, and cost, across our own experiences of diaspora. The audience is invited in to take the role of performer as they explore three intersecting narratives; To carve our their own story within the landscape of “here” and “there.” How do we name ourselves? At what cost? What do we choose to include, to exclude, and to embed in secret? And what are the sensations that ground us in the memory of how these choices have shaped, and continue to shape, our lives?
BIO:
ANOOJ BHANDARI, CHAN LIN, and VAL RAMIREZ are ensemble members of the New York Neo-Futurists, a dynamic ensemble of multidisciplinary artists who write and perform original work rooted in the truth of their own lived experiences. They fuse elements of poetry, game, and performance art to create ever-changing theatre and other artistic experiments to respond to the world around them.
As artistic collaborators on this project, Anooj, Chan, and Val come from lived experiences across the tensions and powers of diaspora. As a trio of community organizers, facilitators and educators, niche hobby enthusiasts, and friends, their work invites the audience to step into their narratives as performer; To carve out their own story within the landscape of “here” and “there.”
Anooj Bhandari is a community organizer and experimental performance maker/ multi-disciplinary artist. Currently coordinating community-based training cohorts and youth organizing/programming at New York City’s Restorative Justice Initiative, Anooj is also a company member of the New York Neo-Futurists, Fresh Lime Soda Productions, and Agile Rascal Bicycle Touring Theater ensembles, a devised theater instructor at the School of the New York Times and storytelling educator with the Moth, and a current artist-in-residence with the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporic Arts and The Asian American Arts Alliance. He believes in the synonymy of being spirit, artist, abolitionist, and friend. Anooj is a graduate of Tisch’s Arts Politics MA program (’17). He really wants a dog.
Val Ramirez is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist, performer, writer, and arts educator. Val is an ensemble member with the New York Neo-Futurists — a high-output, cross-disciplinary performance art collective. She has also served as a lead teaching artist with Ping Chong + Company, The School of the New York Times, Partnership With Children, Seattle Children’s Theatre, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and many others. As a performer, Val is a member of Actors’ Equity, and has performed across the US in various regional and touring productions. She was a member of American Theatre Magazine’s 2021 Rising Leaders of Color NYC Cohort. Val is an Arizona transplant and Arizona State University alum.
Chan Lin (she/her) is a Fujianese-American multimedia artist living in Queens, NY. As a queer first generation immigrant from China who spent much of her childhood in rural Florida, Chan believes in advocating for and sharing the narratives of underrepresented voices. Since graduating from NYU Gallatin in 2013, Chan has worked in film and television as a graphic designer and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. She is also a ceramic artist, a matchmaker for the queer community, and a cyclist. Whether she is working in design, photography, theater, or clay, she creates with a keen awareness of race, place, history, and language.