Rafael/a Luna-Pizano

soundbodysovereignstories

practices

bodywork
facilitation
sound
performance
writing

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creative-practice researcher, reluctant scholar, sound-obsessed, mover

Growing along the shores of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, under the gaze of Mt. Tahoma, near the banks of the Duwamish River, and in valleys between Chumash and Tongva mountains, Rafael/a Luna-Pizano (he/him/siya) is a bakla/trans descendant of Ilocano, Visaya, Xicana, and Chiricahua-Apache peoples. Creating and flowing between healing practices that center TBIPOC (trans, black-indigenous, people of color) liberation, Rafael/a has offered bodywork and reproductive care to his communities for over a decade, while cultivating a creative research practice that draws on his experience of Indigenous Knowledge and ceremony. After recently completing his PhD at the University of Waikato (Aotearoa-NZ) that focused on embodied Indigenous strategies for trans liberation, he is now working on a multimedia iteration of his thesis harvest for TBIPOC communities.

rafael/a luna-pizano, bahay kubo, 2021

yamyam-ulan: a pairing of Bisayan words that refer to incantation or the muttering of prayers (”yamyam”) and the rain (”ulan”); together these words remind us of the blessings and messages sent through elemental relatives to nourish and cleanse, or thwart and destroy. My practice is a collection of water that carries the invocation of my ancestors.