sweat variant: Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born
Free for all audiences
Engage in a multisensory environment of embodied memory.
Galleries
The exhibition by sweat variant (the collective practice of artists Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born) extends their celebrated multidisciplinary performance practice into the gallery space. This new installation work is inspired by the physical research developed for adaku, part 2, which makes its world premiere at the Wex in October 2026. For their presentation in the galleries, Okpokwasili—a performer, choreographer, and writer—and Born—a designer, writer, and composer—create an immersive space that allows visitors to wander through a landscape of embodied memory. In this, the performers’ bodies transmit emotion and experience through movement.
Project credits
Directors: Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born
Performers: Bria Bacon, Kris Lee, Okwui Okpokwasili, Ny Opong, AJ Wilmore
Video Producer: Kearra Gopee
Cinematography: Oresti Tsonopoulos and Alex Munro
Gaffer: Maria Cabra
sweat variant team
Company Producer: Annabel Heacock
Studio and Initiatives Manager: Kearra Gopee
Development and Touring Producer: Linsey Bostwick
Administrative Assistant: Sarah Lou Haddad
Studio Apprentice: Sonia Xiang
"In addition to all of her other skills, the MacArthur-winning Okpokwasili is a formidable analyst of the human condition."
Elizabeth Zimmer, Village Voice
In the press
- “Interview: Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born,” by Amit Noy, BOMB Magazine
- “Sweat Variant to Unveil ‘my tongue is a blade,’ An Immersive Performance Exploring Connection and Endurance,” by Martha Lucas, Martin Cid Magazine
- “Review: ‘adaku, part 1: the road opens’ Brings Africa to the Stage at BAM’s Next Wave Festival,” by Elizabeth Zimmer, Village Voice
- “‘I Do Believe in a Speaking Brown Body’: Okwui Okpokwasili’s Dance Becomes a Documentary,” by Rennie McDougall, Hyperallergic