Unsilent Mode
When silence is currency, how do quiet voices resist?
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The first volume of Unsilent Mode brought together collaborators from Japan, Malaysia, and the UK, which were also the sequential locations where the performances took place. Three iterations, reflecting on the tensions between individual and collective identities, took on new dramaturgies in response to shifts in bodies, spaces, technologies, social contexts, and topical media. The volume explored an intermedial vocabulary through a glocal lens; developed a visual–sonic language responsive to fluid socio-technical infrastructures; re-examined liveness and co-presence across physical–digital fronts; and consolidated a subversive playfulness that emerged during the creative process. Immersive methodologies also surfaced, prompting further development in the next volume.
Unsilent Mode Vol. I was presented by the University of Exeter and supported by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (SWWDTP), Murasaki Penguin, Murasaki Penguin Project Totsuka, Sunway College, Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur, and sans collective. Poster design by Jazzie Lee Jin Jye.
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Unsilent Mode Vol. I (Japan), July 26 - 28, 2024. Photos by Anna Kuroda.
Unsilent Mode Vol. I (Japan), July 26 - 28, 2024. Photos by Anna Kuroda.
Team Japan
Unsilent Mode Vol. I (Japan), July 26 - 28, 2024. Photos by Anna Kuroda.
Unsilent Mode Vol. I (Malaysia), August 23 - 25, 2024. Photos by Sugein Revindran.
Unsilent Mode Vol. I (Malaysia), August 23 - 25, 2024. Photos by Sugein Revindran.
Team Malaysia
Unsilent Mode Vol. I (Malaysia), August 23 - 25, 2024. Photos by Sugein Revindran.
Unsilent Mode Vol. I (The UK), September 26 - 28, 2024. Photos by Chun Shan.
Unsilent Mode Vol. I (The UK), September 26 - 28, 2024. Photos by Chun Shan.
Team UK
Unsilent Mode Vol. I (The UK), September 26 - 28, 2024. Photos by Chun Shan.
THE TEAM
MILLIE SALE (Collaborator, United Kingdom) (b. 2002) is theatre practitioner and drama facilitator. She was born in Bristol and is currently living in Exeter. She graduated from the University of Exeter with a BA in Drama and has recently completed her Master’s degree in Theatre Practice (Training and Performance), also at the University. She has worked as a facilitator with Anthos Arts, a non-profit arts organisation that provides drama classes for participants from the ages of 7 - 18, for over a year. She has toured small-scale educational projects to a variety of primary schools in Devon.
NEON SUGIMOTO (Collaborator, Japan) (b. 1996) is a contemporary dancer and choreographer, and a graduate of the Department of Body Expression and Cinematic Arts at Rikkyo University in Saitama. She began training in rhythmic gymnastics and classical ballet at the age of four, and discovered contemporary dance when she was fifteen. Her practice now extends across disciplines, incorporating music, photography, textiles, video, and food. Neon is committed to moving and thinking through the body, continually searching for what dance can mean in the contemporary world. View Neon’s portfolio here.
SAMUEL TIN (Collaborator, Malaysia) (b. 1998) is a performer and multimedia artist. He is an alumnus of Sunway University (Malaysia) and a BA graduate of Performance and Media from the University of South Wales (UK). He made his stage debut with Japanese Cucumber at The Human Exhibit (2018), alongside Theyvapaalan S Jayaratnam. With Theyvapaalan, Syamsul Azhar, Fahmi Sani, and Denise Lai, Sam worked on தண்ணர் THANNIR, a collaborative video sculpture addressing the custodial death of A. Ganapathy, presented at the 2022 Ilham Art Show. He was last seen in KAKUREGA (2023), directed by Haru from Howl’s Collective and presented by Theatresauce. Samuel’s works are experimental, often influenced by the imagery of swimming pools.
YOSHIFUMI HAGIYA (Project Translator, Japan) is a playwright, director, and drama educator living in Tokyo. He has worked on diverse theatre projects for nine years with his theatre company, mooncuproof; a community theatre performance in Inagi City; Fight! with Itabashi Small Theatre; and different non-profit organizations. Yoshifumi was a recipient of the Excellence Award at the Suginami Theatre Festival, and an Encouragement Award at the Kanazawa Drama Awards. His works made the final selections at the Kanagawa Short Drama Award and Hokkaido Drama Award. In April 2024, Yoshifumi resumed his studies in French Literature at the University of Tokyo.
THANK YOUS
JAPAN
Kangeki Zanmai, Shimokitazawa
David Kirkpatrick (Mentor - Murasaki Penguin)
Aran Hinokage (Movement track)
Anna Kuroda (Mentor - Murasaki Penguin)
The Yokohama Performing Arts Market (YPAM)
MALAYSIA
Sam Azhar (sans collective)
Andy Gomes (Sunway University)
Kyoko Kugai (Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur)
Liishvaar Kumar (Assistant Stage & Tech Manager)
Lee Si Jin (Assistant Stage & Tech Manager)
Adam Mansor (Photographer)
Sugein Revindran (Photographer)
Mayco Santaella (Sunway University)
THE UK
Eleanor Chapman (AHRC SWWDTP)
Jonathan Chew (Guest Collaborator)
Chun Shan (Photographer)
Paul Clarke (PhD Supervisor - Bristol)
Chris Mearing (Tech Services Manager - Exeter)
Jon Primrose (Tech Services Partner - Exeter)
Heike Roms (PhD Supervisor - Exeter)
Cathy Turner (PhD Supervisor - Exeter)
Lucas Wu (Photographer)
And to each audience member who joined us
in the three locations and provided feedback!