F n’ F (Face and Fingers) by Moe Satt

20:00 – Doors open
20:30 – Performance begins
21:00 – Post-performance talk with artist Moe Satt and curator Rose Akras
21:30 – Film screening of Hands Around in Yangon & Lahpeth Thoke tea leaf salad finger food tasting

F n’ F (Face and Fingers) is a choreographed exploration of the formal and symbolic relationship between the face and the hands. Rooted in a childhood memory of his mother describing his “artist’s hands,” the work transforms personal anatomy into a universal gestural language.

Developed in collaboration with performer Liah Frank, the piece presents 108 combinations of movement, a number deeply embedded in Asian cosmology. It refers to the 108 Ayurvedic pressure points and the 108 questions posed to Gautama Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, 108 also signifies infinity and the totality of existence. Moving from “blossoming” gestures to the layered meanings of a pointed finger, the performance culminates in a fifteen-year chronological study of the expressive dialogue between hand and face.

Performers Moe Satt & Liah Frank
Production Studio Moe Satt
Photo Renz Posedio

Hands Around in Yangon
Moe Satt, 2012, Myanmar, color, sound, HD video, 7:14 min

Hands Around in Yangon is a conceptual video art piece by artist Moe Satt that explores identity and culture through close-up, repetitive hand gestures. The film focuses on the gestures of daily life and labor—such as counting money or peeling vegetables—highlighting the "quasi-ritualistic" nature of mundane tasks.

Moe Satt (b. Yangon, Myanmar) is a visual and performance artist currently based in Amsterdam. His practice uses the body as a primary site to explore identity, perception, and political resistance. Satt is best known for developing a distinct vocabulary of hand gestures and minimal actions that reflect complex socio-political tensions.

A former resident at the Rijksakademie (2022–2024) and a finalist for the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award in 2015, his work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Bangkok Art Biennale (2024), Biennale Jogja XV (2019), and the Busan Biennale (2012). In 2024, he debuted F n’ F (Face and Fingers) at The Tanks, Tate Modern. His work is held in major public and private collections, including Tate Modern, the Singapore Art Museum, the Kadist, and TBA21.

Liah Frank, born in June 1998 in Israel, graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree from the Modern Theatre Dance department at the Amsterdam Academy of Theatre and Dance (Amsterdam University of the Arts). Since graduating, she has been based in Amsterdam, working with choreographers such as Nicole Beutler, Jordy Dik, Heather Ware, Keren Levi, Chokri Ben Chikha, Maguy Marin and Moe Satt. She has also participated in various productions with the Dutch National Opera, collaborating with Steef de Jong, Ivo van Hove and others.

She is currently completing her master’s degree in Dance Movement Therapy at Codarts in Rotterdam. Liah and Moe have collaborated since 2023, performing their duo at Rijksakademie Open Studios, Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Belgium, and Plastique Danse Flore in France.

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