LANGUID HANDS
Languid Hands is London-based artistic and curatorial collaboration between filmmaker and DJ Rabz Lansiquot and artist and writer Imani Mason Jordan. The duo explore collaboration, curation, black study and experimentation across exhibitions, moving image, text, performance, publications and public programming. They are Lead Curators of the Artistic Programme at 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning in Herne Hill.
In 2023 Languid Hands curated Ebun Sodipo’s Nasty Girl (The Sharpest Girl In Town) at V.O. Curations, London. No Real Closure, their programme as Curatorial Fellows at Cubitt, London (2020-2) featured the work of numerous artists, including R.I.P Germain, Ajamu X, Camara Taylor and Shenece Oretha. In 2021, Languid Hands curated the LIVE programme for Frieze London, commissioning new performances from Rebecca Bellantoni, Ebun Sodipo & Ashley Holmes.
Languid Hands began collaborating in 2015, through their work with the collective sorryyoufeeluncomfortable (SYFU). SYFU projects included public programming in a variety of institutions and community spaces in the UK and Europe, as well as co-curating the BBZBLKBK Alternative Graduate Show 2018 at Copeland Gallery, London and (BUT) WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT WHITE SUPREMACY? at Many Studios as part of Glasgow International Festival 2018.
In 2019, Languid Hands curated the group exhibition away, completely: denigrate, at narrative projects, London. That same year, they made their first collaborative film work, Towards A Black Testimony: Prayer/Protest/Peace, commissioned by Jerwood Arts for the group exhibition Jerwood Collaborate! And also as a solo exhibition & extended public programme at Stroom Den Haag, NL. Towards A Black Testimony is an ongoing artistic and curatorial project that has been exhibited and explored in various iterations internationally, most recently as part of the group exhibition Codes of Silence at Slash, San Francisco, 2022, curated by Leila Weefur.
Rabz Lansiquot is a filmmaker, programmer, curator, and DJ. In 2023, they curated Across-Over-Beyond, a group exhibition showcasing the work of 20 trans* artists at SS65, London, as part of the extended programme for Fringe Queer Film & Arts Festival. Rabz is convener of the BA module Diversity in British Film & Media with the University of Pittsburgh at Birkbeck (2023/4) and has previously lectured on Black Liberatory Cinema for the MFA at Goldsmiths UoL (2022/3). They are the author of “Circumventing the Spectacle of Black Trauma In Practice” published in Black Film British Cinema II (Goldsmiths Press, 2021).
Rabz was a programmer for Sheffield Doc Fest 2021 and on the selection committee for the same festival in 2020. They have also curated film programmes at the ICA, SQIFF, Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival and others. In 2019, they were a programme advisor for London Film Festival’s Experimenta strand, as well as Curator-In-Residence at LUX Moving Image, developing a public and educational programme around Black liberatory cinema. Their film 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.
Rabz is also co-founder of South London dyke night WET, and has had a monthly show on Balamii Radio since 2017.
Imani Mason Jordan is an interdisciplinary writer, artist, editor and curator interested in poetics and performance. Recent projects include EARTHLY ACCOMPLICE, a collaborative performance with Felix Taylor (MACBA, 2023; Crossness Pumping Station, 2023), their solo performance TREAD/MILL: WIP (Somerset House Studios 2021, and Aspen Art Museum, 2022); ATLANTIC RAILTON: LIVE with Ain Bailey (Serpentine Pavilion, 2021) & WELCOME NOTE IN A WELCOME SPEECH with Libita Sibungu (Gasworks, 2019; Spike Island, 2020; Sensing the Planet / Serpentine, 2021).
Imani is the author of the pamphlet OBJECTS WHO TESTIFY (PSS, 2019) as well as numerous articles, reviews, essays, poems, plays and love letters, some of which they have published. For over 10 years, Imani has been a student and facilitator of political education delivering talks and workshops on abolition and carcerality, black liberation and community organising, and drug policy and harm reduction, and has served on the board of trustees for Release, the UK’s centre of expertise on drugs and drug policy since 2023.
They are currently touring as a performer in Eve Stainton’s IMPACT DRIVER, and directing Ebun Sodipo’s theatrical debut, VITORIA : BURACO, which will premiere at LIVE COLLISION (2024). Under the moniker “PAPERFLESH”, Imani and Samra Mayanja facilitate the international/local gathering of rigorous black writers who want to read each other’s work and publish things.
Since 2018, Languid Hands have worked closely with Joseph Bond Studio on exhibition design, fabrication, install tech and events production across multiple projects. Joseph Bond Studio specialises in sound design, spatial design and the construction of immersive installations and physical environments. An adept sculptural understanding and spatial awareness permeates its international work with artists, brands and institutions including Tate, ICA, Serpentine Gallery, Nike, Carhartt, A Cold Wall, Telfar and Google. Recent collaborative work has been supported at Futura (CZE), Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (US) and Kunstnernes Hus (NO). Each commissioned project is used as an opportunity to provide young, recently-graduated BIPOC with access to tools, skill-sharing workshops and industry experience, whilst ensuring a fair wage and long term mentorship. Current associates include Jade Adeyemi, Veronica Amon and Shekinah Dogbatse.
For further information, projects and commissions, please get in touch: joseph@josephbond.co.uk @josephbondstudio
Contact us on languidhands@gmail.com