<p dir="ltr">Knots that Bind is a journey through my relationship with censorship and self-censorship in a society that restricts expressions of queerness and neurodivergence. The opera is an experiment with queer forms of notation, and includes light, sound, textiles and real-time projections that form environments for improvisation.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>ACT I: SHADOW ARIA</b></p><p dir="ltr">In the dark, an ensemble accompanies an invisible soloist, the ghost of lost work and erased art. Listening to the gaps in our histories, we queer temporalities to conjure the silenced voices of the past.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>ACT II: BLACKOUT DIARY</b></p><p dir="ltr">Internalised censorship is a way of protecting ourselves, but sharing more creates intimacy. The composer shares pages of diaries and personal experiences, but allows herself to cover and uncover parts of the text. If she shares more, tape tracks are revealed to complete the piece. The guitarist performs the composer’s body as an intimate graphic score.</p><p dir="ltr">Censoring is a part of all communication, and navigating this world requires constant self-censoring and masking. This real-time libretto-score embraces the thoughts and impulses that go unsaid.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>ACT III: BIND</b></p><p dir="ltr">Navigating restriction is a queer and disabled skill. While we are constantly impacted by boundaries and constraints, we learn to live within these knots by reclaiming silence and forming new creativities. We end with a speculation: can we queer the knots that bind us and find power within restriction?</p><p dir="ltr">Premiered at the David Li Sound Gallery, Monash University with support from Music Australia and Monash Performing Arts Centres. </p><p dir="ltr">Text co-written with Eloise Grills. Textiles constructed by Alison Pyrke.</p><p dir="ltr">Performed by Tina Stefanou, Darlene Aaron, Elizabeth Jigalin, Jane Aubourg, Niki Johnson and Iran Sanadzadeh.</p>
