“Elisabeth Gunawan captivates… Her ability to shepherd the audience is matched only in the delicious way she leaves them stranded…”

-Angelo Irving, The Stage

b. 1993 Jakarta, Indonesia
Education
New York University. BA Postcolonial Discourse. 2011-14.
Google Singapore. 2014-2019.
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. MA Theatre Lab. 2019-20.
& The International School of the Hard Knocks™

Hush.

Elisabeth Gunawan 吳金栵 is a Chinese-Indonesian artist who works in the mode of stories, poetry and performance. A critically-acclaimed and award-winning theatremaker and actor, her work uses stories, human bodies and images to simultaneously capture the audience in the moment of presence and into their imaginations.

Gunawan is the founder of the artistic collective Saksi Bisou, a migrant-led company that seeks to express the often inexpressible psychological landscapes of exile and migration. With Saksi Bisou, she recently presented a new headphone piece Promised Land (Bloomsbury Festival 2022), and is currently developing a new piece Prayers for a Hungry Ghost as part of Barbican Center’s Open Lab Programme.

With Created a Monster, she wrote and performed Unforgettable Girl, which won the OFFFest award at VOILA! Festival, Best Performer in a Play in The Stage Debut Awards 2022 and is a finalist for the Les Enfants Terribles Award 2023. She has worked as an actor, performer and deviser with Ad Infinitum, Flabbergast Theatre, and the David Glass Ensemble. She has collaborated with with Jasmine Chiu x Ellandar Productions on the piece At Broken Bridge and on multiple films with the artist Eelyn Lee.

In 2021, she was a recipient of Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice fund to begin her ‘Myths, Stories and Worlds’ research (née ‘Mythical Storytelling’), which continues to be the backbone of her practice today. For the period of 2021-2022, she is a resident artist at the Grotowski Institute, where she continued this exploration.

As a creative producer, she is passionate about the cultivation of historically marginalized genres and artists, collaborating with the traditional Indonesian dance company Lila Bhawa, and the music platform eavesdropping.

Represented by Sally Hope Associates
Mark Norfolk
mark@sallyhope.biz
108 Leonard Street, London EC2A4XS

Press Contact Chloe Nelkin Consulting
info@chloenelkinconsulting.com

All paintings by Caroline Wong. Clockwise from left:
BETTY (2022), MARIGOLD ORANGE (BETTY) (2022), BETTY (2021)
http://www.carolinewongart.com
Photo by Chris Mann

'Does it hurt?' 'Have you come for me? I always said I’d feel sorry for the demon they send to collect me.' #ThrowbackThursday Unforgettable Girl circa 2019 - I realized today that it is coming up to 4 years that I have worked on this piece and this idea. The other day, someone told me about the concept of orchids and dandelions - dandelions grow everywhere and are eternally resillient, while orchids take nurturing and only blossom once every year. Every piece is different but rhis piece is definitely my darling dandelion - which has weathered the storm of my time at drama/trauma school, the pandemic, and even a light falling on stage (in a theatre that shall remain unnamed). We've got exciting plans cooking for this project, so watch this space. 💫🌶️ @createdamonstertheatre ✨Where to? With whom? For what?✨ Winter photo dump 💫 big smiles, blue skies, friends from mouseholes all over the world 💌 ‘Mother, I can’t keep any more promises. I want to cut away and fall long and deep into that familiar kiss, the night. There were hands here once, and kisses and bruises too, not just the shallow breaths echoing through the walls! Did I tell you my cheeks were stiff and swollen from chattering prayers all through the night? I did something very bad, please forgive me!’ Day 1 in the theatre. I think I have a lot of expectations that time spent making a piece should be easy and in flow. But the fact is, my experience now and in the past is that making work is really hard. I think this piece particularly has been like a gangrenous limb that has grown out of a wound (you're welcome for that image), so there's the pain of the scar tissue, the insecurity of being an artist (is this the work I want to make? Is it a bit trash? Is it really trash? But is making trash kind of my thing? Does it make sense? Does it make too much sense?). Last night, I watched the last run we did before getting into The Pit this morning and my heart was glad, because I think we're making a performance with some real balls. That and I've been dreaming about a dead child all week. I looked up what it means on Dreamsopedia.com and it says: As part of our R&D of ‘Prayers for a Hungry Ghost’, @saksibisou will be hosting several events for anyone who is interested in exploring their creativity in different ways. We will reprise our life drawing class (facilitated by Yi Wei again! But this time indoors…) as well as an online meditative exploration hosted by Anna Lau. Each will respond to the provocations of the piece, while giving the participants new experiences and new tools in their work. All events are free entry with a suggested donation. Links for more info in bio ✨ Friends and kindred souls, I invite you to our first sharing of my new piece ‘Prayers for a Hungry Ghost’ ✨ we will be performing excerpts and explorations from our residency as part of @barbicancentre Open Lab. The piece is still in its very fragile, early stages, but is hungry to meet its audience so we can continue to shape and sharpen it! There will be comedy, drama, lots of wigs, food and Singapore airlines stewardess uniforms!