Who Moves?!

Still. Multiple tracks with moved voices. A polyphony.

Boats, trains, fences, camps, the open sea, crowds of people in transit – these are some of the common visualizations of migration that dominate the media. But who is actually creating these pictures and how do they portray womxn? What alternative narratives can pictures tell us if we disassemble and reassemble them together, when points of view and perspectives become audible?

Swoosh Lieu invited ten women to join them in the recording studio to review some images. Together, they took a feminist look at a pictorial atlas on the subject of “migration” on the montage table of motives. In a collective search for positions, the voices turn the images into an open-ended, acoustic narrative. What sets womxn over generations and in various political contexts voluntarily or involuntarily in motion? Why do they cross borders? What are they fighting for? What power do images have? Who is given a voice? Who speaks about whom? Who takes privileges into consideration? And who listens?

Call it polyphonic if you want. Or call it: following multiple tracks.
One thing is clear: politics always determine who is listening and who is speaking.

The radio play “Who Moves?!” is a montage of motives. A performative attempt to describe the comfort zone. An assembly of languages in motion. An acoustic essay about leaving things open.

• Radio Play for International Women’s Day 2019
• Nominated for Radio Play of the Month March 2019