We are happy to present two performances by Sunga Konji & Roja.
Ingoma - Sunga Konji invites us to an intimate moment of sensual rope and play with a Southern African flavour, paired with the drums and strings of traditional Iranian music modulated by experimental electronics by Roja.
Kereshmeh - Roja and JJ aim to enhance the emotional resonance and sensuality of a rope session by further developing the sonic ambiance and deepening the integration of music within the scene. Roja performs improvised Iranian traditional and experimental electronic music while simultaneously tying JJ, exploring the aesthetics of organic/process music constrained by the rope session, as well as the aesthetics of a rope session restricted by live minimal music.
The performances will be followed by a short Q&A/discussion. There will then be free space for play/tying.
About the Performers
Roja is a transgender composer, and multi-instrumentalist who performs traditional Iranian improvised music with Setar (stringed instrument) & Daf (percussion), modulated with live electronics to create ambient atmosphere & noise textures.
Sunga Konji is a pleasure advocate and educator who uses rope and body to facilitate conversations around intimacy and sensual expression. With over 12 years of experience, his photography, workshops, performance work and rope sessions with private clients are centered around but not limited to the Black experience and the empowerment of Afro-descendants across the globe. His work began as a photo series on Instagram and has evolved into a healing practice around collective trauma within intimacy and sexuality on the continent.
He uses rope as an extension of an internal process that seeks to foster joy and pleasure in others, working with people to uncouple physical intimacy from sex, rope from power, nudity from sexualisation (and the intersections herein) and ultimately encourage people to opt into this narratives and practices that are often presented as the default option that one opts out of. With this in mind, rope is simply a tool of expression and your rope practice if unintentional will simply reflect your internal being. It is not an end goal but rather a tool to access possibilities.
Arrival
Important: the doors will be open from 7pm - 7.15pm—please arrive promptly, as no admission will be possible after this timeframe until the interval between the two performances.
Future Events
We are excited to announce that Roja & Gestalta are planning to curate regular experimental performance evenings, with rope accompanied by live music and other performative art forms. We encourage all interested participants to join us!
If you are a musician or a rope performer and would like to be part of our future events, please contact us.
We are particularly interested in hearing from members of our community who are new to rope performance, or have never performed before, and are interested in the possibility of participating in a collaborative group/workshop setting to develop your performance skills.