Nando Messias: decadence, performance and the archive (Staging Decadence residency - Goldsmiths)

In July 2023, Staging Decadence welcomed Nando Messias to Goldsmiths, University of London, along with their costume archive. The archive spans the breadth of their career as a performance maker and travelled to Goldsmiths en-route to The Museum of Transology at Bishopsgate, London.

This short film gives an insight into the performance and wider creative project surrounding the residency - TransMission: Sissy TV - and contextualises Nando's practice as well as their thinking around decadence.

Nando Messias’ work combines beautiful images with a fierce critique of gender, visibility and violence. They have performed at the Royal Court, The Gate, Hayward Gallery, V&A, Tate Britain, Roundhouse, Royal Vauxhall Tavern and the ICA, among other spaces across the UK and internationally. As well as a practitioner, Nando is movement director for Theo Adams Company and a researcher of queer theory and performance.

For more on the Staging Decadence project: https://www.stagingdecadence.com/

This film was shot and edited by Sam Williams: https://sam-w.com/

Nando's residency was made possible thanks to the generous support of Goldsmiths, University of London, and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where they work as a Lecturer in Theatre and Performance.