BEING MOVED (2026)
performance (49:00)
Whitney Biennial 2026
Commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art
Presented as part of the 2026 Whitney Biennial, this performance explores the theatricality and choreography of a museum visit in the galleries of the Whitney Museum's permanent collection exhibition, “Untitled” (America). Centering the visitor’s experience, BEING MOVED locates its subject not in the artworks themselves, but in the social rules, scripts, and patterns that condition our encounters with art. Tracing the gap between the fantasy of a profound encounter and the ambivalent realities of contemporary spectatorship, the work plays with the ordinary and minor dramas of a museum visit.
This performance was choreographed by Lena Engelstein and created in collaboration with the performers.
Press
→ "Maia Chao Performs the Museum" Hyperallergic
→ "Maia Chao, Art World Anthropologist Making Whitney Biennial Debut" Art in America
→ "Artists Maia Chao’s Anthropological Performances" The Amp
→ "For the Whitney Biennial, Maia Chao Turns the Museum Visit into the Subject" Cultbytes
→ "Maia Chao: How We Move" United States Artists
Concept & Direction: Maia Chao
Choreography & Assistant Direction: Lena Engelstein
Performed by & Devised with: James Barrett, Kristine Bendul, Deja Rion, David Guzman, Anna Kohler, Ellen Maddow, Cory Seals, Nancy Slusser, Jo Warren, Paul Zimet
Appearances by: Hannah Mitchell and Parker Sera
Sound Design and Composition: Ryan Gamblin
Synth Music & Sound Collage: Nina Ryser
Lyrics & Vocal Composition: Maia Chao
Costume Design: Lily O’Neill
Producer & Stage Manager: Aoife Delaney
Creative Consulting Producer: Emma Orme
Developed with: Miguel Alejandro Castillo Le Maitre, Marin Day, Ben Hard, Ampersand Paris, Chloe Engel, Nate Repasz, Spencer Claus, Isa Spector, Neva Guido, Miles Toth, Nora Raine Thompson
Special Thanks: Ethan Philbrick, Emma Bergman, Blanche Brown, Maggie Millner, Joanna Zhang, Parker Sera, Julian Chehirian, Lane Speidel, Sunita Mani, Kim Altomare, Zoë Chao
Funding: Commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of the 2026 Whitney Biennial.
