LANGUID HANDS

Languid Hands is a London-based artistic and curatorial collaboration between DJ, filmmaker and curator Rabz Lansiquot and writer, facilitator and live art practitioner Imani Robinson. Our work is informed by ongoing explorations in Black and queer studies, Black creative practice, Black liberatory praxis and queer methodologies. We began collaborating in 2015, through our work with the collective sorryyoufeeluncomfortable (SYFU). Our SYFU projects included a British Council funded research trip to Kenya to begin building relationships with queer Kenyan artists to develop an exchange residency; co-curating the BBZBLKBK Alternative Graduate Show 2018 aimed at promoting work by artists who identify as queer womxn, trans and non-binary people of Black Ancestry at Copeland Gallery, London; and curating (BUT) WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT WHITE SUPREMACY?, a group exhibition at Many Studios as part of Glasgow International Festival 2018. Languid Hands are currently in residence at Raven Row, London, U.K. and are curating two projects this season: Towards a Black Testimony: Prayer, Protest, Peace at Stroom, Den Haag, NL, and away, completely, a group show at Narrative Projects, London, U.K.

MEMBERS

Rabz Lansiquot is a filmmaker, writer, curator, and DJ. They were a leading member of sorryyoufeeluncomfortable (SYFU) collective from its inception in 2014. With SYFU they have produced public programming in a number of institutional and independent contexts in the U.K. and Europe including curated screenings, collective readings, performances, workshops and discussions, and co-curated exhibitions. Rabz is currently Curator In Residence at LUX Moving Image, developing a public and educational programme around Black liberatory cinema. Their first solo exhibition where did we land, an experimental visual essay exploring the use of images of anti-black violence in film and media, was on view at LUX in Summer 2019, presented alongside a programme of screenings and a study day. Besides Languid Hands they are a programme advisor for London Film Festival’s Experimenta strand and a board member at City Projects. They are also training to deliver workshops in working with Super 8 cameras and film at not.nowhere.

Imani Robinson is a London-based writer, live art practitioner, plant lover and prison abolitionist. They completed their MA in Forensic Architecture at the Centre for Research Architecture in 2019 and will begin a Study Residency at LADA in 2020, made possible by the ACE Developing Your Creative Practice fund which Imani was recently awarded. Besides Languid Hands, recent projects include: Ditto & Ditto Take a Trip to Port Authority, a moving image work made with Halima Haruna; WELCOME NOTE IN A WELCOME SPEECH, a collaborative performance with artist Libita Clayton; and The Black Drift, an ongoing series of workshops and performances exploring Black geographies and the psychic afterlives of transatlantic slavery. Imani’s writing has been published widely, including by Wasafiri magazine, Mousse Publishing, PSS, 1_1 and Arcadia Missa. They are also the editor of Talking Drugs, an online platform dedicated to providing unique news and analysis on drug policy, harm reduction and related issues around the world.