Sticky Hands, Stitched Mountains is the inaugural collaborative project by Nanako Matsumoto, a Tokyo-based dance artist and Ciwas Tahos, a Taiwanese visual artist based between Taipei and Melbourne. Matsumoto’s “Yokai Body” methodology, which constructs texts and choreography through meticulous research, merges with Tahos’ queer approach to exploring culture and gender identity, resulting in a transnational mountain within the theatre.
What voices will these women employ to convey their stories?
"Through [performance art], I discovered a way to use my body to express all kinds of frustrations – things I couldn't put into words." - Ciwas Tahos
What can audiences expect from your performance?
Nanako: There will be two different stories of women in the mountains, Temahahoi and Yamanba, each told by different bodies and actions on stage.
These stories and bodies appear as a form of resistance against all kinds of “othering”. What do these stories bring to space? How are these stories stitched together? When these stories are stitched together, what kind of voices resonate there in this common mountain or “共有山”?
Ciwas: Audiences will see a visual art–like installation on stage, within the space, they will witness two different stories of women in the mountains, Temahahoi and Yamanba, each embodied through distinct body presence and languages. They emerge as a form of resistance against all kinds of “othering.” These stories and bodies gradually become stitched together over time.
Audiences will also experience the spoken textures of the Atayal and Japanese languages. Languages that live closest to our hearts.
We stitch this invisible mountain and resonate with the space through our voices, our movements, and these autonomous objects on the stage.
What is the role of performance in your life?
Nanako: Through my dance practice, I engage with my body as a vessel for multilayered and critical exploration of the world I live. Yet dance is not only a critical practice—it also celebrates the joy of movement.
Ciwas: It was performance art that first opened the door for me at the beginning of my artistic journey. Through it, I discovered a way to use my body to express all kinds of frustrations—things I couldn’t put into words.
What are you most looking forward to at Liveworks?
As the Sydney iteration unfolds, we welcome deeper conversations with and around the camphor tree.
Nanako Matsumoto and Ciwas Tahos, Sticky Hands, Stitched Mountains, Liveworks 2025, Carriageworks. Photography by Lucy Parakhina
