S L E E P

Moi Tran

‘THE SLEEPING BODY IS AN ICONIC STATE OF EVERYDAY INTIMACY, VULNERABILITY AND NATURAL POWER’

S L E E P invites transient encounters in the forming of collective experience and thinking in a domain of intimacy.

S L E E P frames the resting and vulnerable body in public space as an event of withdrawal, resistance and refusal.

S L E E P is a recurring piece of participatory real time experience that invites group contemplation of sleep as a conscious reclamation of public space. 

Each public enactment of S L E E P is presented within a theme of thought, that tends towards discourse on immediate events or a theme that is part of the Artist’s ongoing research.

In May 2025 Moi Tran invited participants to stay together overnight at Toynbee Studios in London.

2025 marked 50 years since the end of the brutal war in Vietnam. As a Vietnamese person who is here because of what they did there*, in S L E E P, Moi seeks ways to commemorate the loss and harm caused by war but also celebrate the resilience of the beautiful people of Vietnam who found strength and hope in adversity. This commemoration was also dedicated to all peoples around the world who are resisting oppressors and sacrificing everything they have for a life of peace.

* Borrowed from “We are here because they were there” attributed to Stuart Hall, a prominent British-Jamaican cultural theorist and sociologist.

For S L E E P Moi curated a series of creative sharings and extended an invitation to all sleepers be part of a ritual as part of this commemoration.

The evening unfolded with the screening of The Bolero Effect, a multidisciplinary devised performance work exploring the Vietnamese musical genre Nhạc Vàng (Bolero) as a vehicle of resistance and remembrance, created by Moi Tran in collaboration with community performers in Hanoi, Vietnam. The performance premiered in Vietnam and was documented in film. 

Moi was joined virtually by Bac Loc Vang, a revered Vietnamese singer imprisoned for singing Bolero during wartime, and Đỗ Tường Linh, a curator and researcher with deep ties to the Vietnamese art scene.

The night continued with live poetry and music. Moi performed her new textwork “Care is Magic (An Unfinished, Unending, Unconventional Poem)” an improvised poetic piece——set to a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack by Rosie Turton, a standout voice in London’s contemporary jazz scene. The space was filled with songs, shared silence, and moments of remembrance through poetry readings including works by Trịnh Công Sơn, Refaat Alareer, and Mosab Abu Toha.

As dawn approached, the group was gently guided through a somatic practice facilitated by Jan Ming Lee, reconnecting the body to the changing light and the quiet power of presence.

S L E E P asked us to rethink the sleeping body—not as passive, but as a form of protest, healing, and togetherness. In a time marked by unrest and displacement around the world, Moi’s work served as a tender call to honor those who came before us, and those still resisting today, in pursuit of peace.

Watch this documentary style film about S L E E P by Martina Liberini, commissioned by Artsadmin. This film has subtitles so please select Subtitles/closed captions to enable them.

Photos by Devika Bilimoria