Expanding the possibilities
of performance


SummerWorks Performance Festival
August 1-11, 2024

Six squares alternating black and white and pink and purple. First square has a marigold, second square has a brown woman sitting on a lounger holding her hair, third square has an incense holder, four square has a brown women with a braid looking contemplative, fifth square has two braids criss-crossed and sixth square has brown woman holding her head with one hand Photo by: Ciaran Breen

Higher Hair

Interdisciplinary / Participatory


Hima Batavia


Venue
401 Richmond - A Space Gallery


AUGUST 8, 6:00 PM

AUGUST 8, 6:25 PM

AUGUST 8, 6:50 PM

AUGUST 8, 7:15 PM

AUGUST 8, 8:10 PM

AUGUST 8, 8:35 PM

AUGUST 8, 9:00 PM

AUGUST 8, 9:25 PM

AUGUST 9, 6:00 PM

AUGUST 9, 6:25 PM

AUGUST 9, 6:50 PM

AUGUST 9, 7:15 PM

AUGUST 9, 8:10 PM

AUGUST 9, 8:35 PM

AUGUST 9, 9:00 PM

AUGUST 9, 9:25 PM

AUGUST 10, 12:00 PM

AUGUST 10, 12:25 PM

AUGUST 10, 12:50 PM

AUGUST 10, 1:15 PM

AUGUST 10, 2:10 PM

AUGUST 10, 2:35 PM

AUGUST 10, 3:00 PM

AUGUST 10, 3:25 PM


20 Minutes


Ticket Price
$15, $25, $35

Get Tickets
Six squares alternating black and white and pink and purple. First square has a marigold, second square has a brown woman sitting on a lounger holding her hair, third square has an incense holder, four square has a brown women with a braid looking contemplative, fifth square has two braids criss-crossed and sixth square has brown woman holding her head with one hand Photo by: Ciaran Breen

An intimate and immersive experience that invites you to contemplate and connect with the ancestral stories held in your hair.

Enter a super-natural spa that practices time as non-linear, wellness as care, community and reciprocity, beauty as becoming, hairstylists as healers, and hair as sacred technology of archival and antennae. While listening to a narrative audio journey, community cosmetic healers and performers Hima Batavia and Nikola Steer (Coco Framboise) invite you into an encounter of somatic activation using consensual hair play and tender presence, to hold space for a process of self-inquiry and multi-dimensional exploration.

“A profoundly mystical experience. I feel so braided to the past, present and future.”
“A much-needed resetting of the soul after several months away from home, community, and passions.”
– Audience Participants, Geary Art Crawl, 2021

*This experience is open to people with all hair stories, whether your hair is visible or not and is accessible to those with mobility devices and auditory impairment. Consensual touch is part of this experience.*

When choosing your time slot, please select your preferred community cosmetic healer based on who you sense you might feel more comfort and resonance with. This person will be offering consensual hair touch and play during the experience.

Hima is a Gujarati-South Asian cis-woman who identifies as able-bodied and neurodivergent and lives as a settler on the traditional territories of T’karonto. ’I am honoured to be invited into your hair. To me, it is a door to your spirit and soul, and through this exchange of mutual care and tenderness, it allows me to go deeper into my own.

Nikola (Coco-Framboise) is a Black, able-bodied cis-woman of Jamaican descent, created in Thorncliffe Park. ’I believe that touch and hair are sacred. To be invited to touch another person’s hair is an honour I hold with deep reverence, focus and care. Where we meet and exchange is how we create magic and healing.

Hima Batavia: Creator, Producer, Performer; Nikola Steer (Coco Framboise): Performer; Jeremy Glenn: Audio Creator; Mimosa Haque (StrangeLoveFlowers): Installation Creator; Wilson Lin: Production Manager; Ciaran Breen: Video Producer


The artists wish to thank the Geary Art Crawl, All Ours Studios and Ciaran Breen for supporting the previous iteration of this work and to Macy Siu, Robert Bolton and From Later for inspiring this performance through the Memory Work research.


Proof of Vaccination and face masks will be required as this is an indoor venue.


Warnings

Consensual hair touching and incense, emotional subject matter.


Part of the SummerWorks Presentations programming – a vital collection of theatre, dance, music, and live artworks from across the country offering you a snapshot of contemporary performance.


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