Rajni Shah

Researcher, ATD Lectorate
Head Heart of THIRD programme

Rajni Shah (they, them) has been making performance since 1999. They are queer, quiet, trans non-binary, and a feminist killjoy. They care about listening and gathering as creative and political acts, and their current research has a strong focus on embodied practices of grief.

In 2021, they published their first monograph, Experiments in Listening, as a book and series of accompanying zines, as part of the Performance Philosophy series with Rowman & Littlefield. This book led them into a working relationship with lector Laura Cull, and they later jointly led on the projects how to thinkand Radio Silence, both remote projects with what was then called DAS Research.

In 2022 Rajni moved to Amsterdam in order to work at the AHK. They are currently employed as a Researcher with the ATD Lectorate (0.2), and Head-Heart of the THIRD programme (0.25). They conduct research related to listening, grief, anti-racism, and decoloniality, including the project Building the Impossible Bridge- a monthly gathering for anyone with lived experience of racialisation (BIMPOC/Global Majority) who works with or for an institution.

Rajni loves to learn about unlearning, write songs, and practise collective healing.