esea contemporary is pleased to welcome theatre-maker Trà Nguyễn for a residency as part of 'Connecting Postcolonial Diasporas via Asian Aunties.' The project supports research with Asian diasporic aunties towards a new performance on intergenerational care, developed by Nguyễn in collaboration with writer afshan d’souza-lodhi. Bringing together two female artists from Southeast Asia and South Asia, the project explores Asian-ness, womanhood, and shamanic and ritual practices shared across diasporas.

For this phase of the project, Nguyễn will host conversations and workshops in Manchester to exchange tools, stories, and modes of making. The residency will culminate in a sharing, informed by a mutual interest in embodied memory and postcolonial diasporas, speaking to the multiplicity of being Asian and dismantling the reductive label of ‘Asian art.’

Nguyễn also invites Manchester locals to join a playful workshop centred on the figure of the auntie. Open to aunties themselves, or to anyone who has an auntie in their lives, the session explores how kinship and storytelling meet on stage. Participants will first exchange ‘horror stories’ — uncanny or unsettling tales involving female figures — and reflect on what these narratives reveal. From there, the group will take part in a guided writing exercise, drawing prompts from the shared stories. No theatre experience is required — only curiosity, imagination, and a story to tell.

'Connecting Postcolonial Diasporas via Asian Aunties' is presented in partnership with The Run and British Council Vietnam, with support from Arts Council England and esea contemporary.