Conjugations – Radio Play: This Breath is a Lifeworld with Raziyah Heath, Qiaochu Guo, Sophia Mitiku, and Gery Mendes – Metro54
On September 7, as part of Conjugations, the public program of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, which aims to bring together institutions from around the world to conjoin, explore, and collectively celebrate humanity, Metro54 will participate. The event features Raziyah Heath, Qiaochu Guo, Sophia Mitiku, and Gery Mendes, and will take place from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm at Praça das Bandeiras, the outdoor area of the Pavilion.
Radio Play: This Breath is a Lifeworld is a public gathering that brings together poetry, performances, music, and conversations to reflect on the inequalities of breathing in societies marked by racism, violence, and political and ecological crises. Drawing from stories, sounds, and artistic practices, the project seeks to explore the politics of breathing and imagination, highlighting how marginalized populations struggle to assert their vitality and create spaces of memory, dreaming, and resistance.
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Raziyah Heath is an independent curator (among others, at Metro54), programmer, curious person, critic, organizer, killjoy, lover, DJ, and artist. At present, they focus mainly on exploring sonic realms and dimensions and DJ under the name Chinnamasta as a medium for research and discovery.
Qiaochu Guo (born in Jingmen, lives and works in Amsterdam) is interested in how established social structures influence bodily experiences: alienation, abandonment, exhaustion, and illness, which lead their work to explore the autonomous and transformative potential of the body through strategies of hacking, defeating, disrupting, and restoring. Their work is not limited to a specific medium and seeks to be conveyed in a sticky, dense, blurry, and permeating way. They are a member of the Metro54 team.
Sophia Mitiku (1995, California) is a Korean-Ethiopian singer, songwriter, and sound artist based in Helsinki. Her work delves into a wide range of post-genre explorations, resulting in contemporary productions of RnB, pop, trip hop, and electronic music. Through experimentation with voice, performance, and installation, Mitiku creates immersive sonic worlds through both digital and physical media.
Gery Mendes is a storyteller and multi-instrumentalist with roots in hip hop. He uses the music embedded in his DNA: Cape Verdean music such as morna, funaná, batuku, the vibrant festive music of West Africa, and hip hop. With the Orkater collective Sir Duke, he created the performances The Blackout van ’77, Hatta & De Kom, and Guilty until Proven, and was also responsible for the music of Woiski vs. Woiski and De Gliphoeve, in which he also performed as actor and musician.
Metro54 is a space in Amsterdam dedicated to global sonic, cultural, and artistic practices, gatherings, (un)learning, histories, grassroots community work, spatial politics, and transformative justice. Together with artists, thinkers, activists, neighbors, writers, and entrepreneurs, Metro54 organizes pluriversal programs, exhibition projects, collaborations, listening sessions, weekend events, research projects, talks, and acquisitions.
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Conjugations – Radio Play: This Breath is a Lifeworld with Raziyah Heath, Qiaochu Guo, Sophia Mitiku, and Gery Mendes – Metro54
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice
September 7, 2025
Sunday, 12:30 pm
Praça das Bandeiras
Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion
Ibirapuera Park, Gate 3
Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, s/n
São Paulo, SP
free admission
