Raquel Meseguer

Exciting news! We are creating a radio play of A Crash Course in Cloudspotting in German, commissioned by WDR (West German Broadcasting). We are therefore launching a Call Out to gather new stories of resting in public from those with the lived experience of disability and chronic illness, but this time from German speakers based in Europe! Running until Friday 29th March at 6pm CET Link in bio💥 Musst du dich tagsüber ausruhen? Hast du eine Geschichte über das Ausruhen an öffentlichen Orten zu erzählen? Die in Großbritannien lebende Künstlerin Raquel Meseguer Zafe sucht behinderte und chronisch kranke Menschen, die ihre Geschichten für ein Radio-Auftragswerk des WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) mit ihr teilen. Das Hörstück basiert auf den Geschichten behinderter Menschen, die versuchen, sich in der Öffentlichkeit auszuruhen. Es geht um Alltagsgeschichten und alltägliche Mutproben, ehrlich und offen erzählt. Folgt dem Link in unserer Bio, um mehr zu erfahren und deine Geschichte zu teilen. Link in der bio 💥 Produced by @MAYK Commissioned by @WDR Supported by @mousonturm Image description - At the front of the image is a light blue box with the title "Do you need to rest throughout the day? Do you have a story to share about resting in public?". The title is written in German. Behind the box you can see an image of the ceiling at Coventry Train station, taken whilst I was lying down. The ceiling is made of dark panelled wood. On the right hand side are large windows that you can see white summer clouds against a blue sky. There is text over the ceiling that reads "The world is simply not designed for me". At the bottom in yellow are the words "a crash course in cloudspotting".

Towards a Restful City I am so happy to share the Bristol Restful City map designed by Jazz Thompson @jasmineshaniceart More info about Restful City and to download the map via the link in my biog. #restfulcity @bristolartsandevents @arnolfiniarts @w_shed @bristololdvic1766 #horizontality

I’m excited to be presenting at UCL’s ‘Retreat and the Politics of Escape’ symposium in London this Wednesday 29 April. Unfortunately I have come down with a bad cold/cough and I won’t be there in person. I will facilitate a guided rest and introducing some of the stories from A Crash Course in Cloudspotting, from afar - ever playing with ‘absent presence’.

In solidarity with everyone in bed on this beautiful sunny day due to pain or fatigue ❤️ I’m giving myself permission to rest and to slowly begin to read and orient myself towards Staci K Haines work and the Politics of Trauma. ❤️✨❤️✨❤️✨❤️

I’m thrilled to have received an Unlimited Open Award to make Proper Time! This is huge moment for me, for our team of collaborators, and for our collective creative practice! I’d like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone we worked with, and who supported us our Proper Time R&D and a HUGE thank you to all the brilliant partners who’ve come on board since. Proper Time will be co-produced by Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main and supported by Arnolfini, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Watershed & Pervasive Media Studios, Knowle West Media Centre, The Bridge at University of West England, Bristol Old Vic and Level. A personal and tender thank you to MAYK, who closed in October 2025. They took a chance on me and my work back in 2018 and without them, I wouldn’t be making the work I am making today. This moment has a bittersweet edge. In a world where the organisations and policies that are meant to enable disabled people are being dismantled or are closing due to financial pressures, it is a struggle to continue to make work as disabled artists. I’d like to acknowledge this bigger picture and wish the same support for all the amazing artists looking for funding and to be backed in the work they do. Partners: @mousonturm @arnolfiniarts @theatreroyalbse @w_shed @pervasivemediastudio @knowlewestmedia @bristololdvic1766 @levelcentre Collaborators & R&D team (full credits on my website): @imaginaryastronautstudio @jamiemccarthy @laura_dannequin @_thawney @drew_makes @josephine.gyasi @nanakorn_moving @jasmineshaniceart @hattie_gregs @key.tography @rhi.play

This session will take participants through scores Raquel & Ania are developing during their residency at Fabric. These scores will work with the voice, sound and movement to unlock different ways of moving. The session may also involve some creative writing exercises. All scores are improvisation based. To note: - The session will involve some watching of one another. - We will work gently with ancestry and lineage. We acknowledge this may not not feel simple to most of us. - Beginners are welcome. - This will be a rest friendly dance session. To book a place visit my website, or Fabric.dance and email [email protected] to book a place. If you have any access needs, it would be helpful to know these ahead of the session, if possible. I hope to see you there! Raquel ❤️✨

A Good Thing is Never too Late is a Research & Development project about belonging and a slippery sense of ‘home’. The project explores themes of dual heritage, ancestry, decolonising practices and ghost stories to tend to the longing that comes with being from ‘somewhere else’. This session will make a virtue of dancing in our own homes and is intended for folk who find it difficult to attend in person classes. Drawing on writing by Sophie Strand and Roger Robinson, participants will be guided through movement scores. The session may include some voice work and creative writing.   To note:  - We will work gently with ancestry and lineage. We acknowledge this may not feel simple for everyone, or maybe anyone.  - You are welcome to dance from your sofa or from bed, and to visualise the movement scores. As a fellow Cloudspotter said “we are all masters at moving in stillness.” - Beginners are welcome.  - This session will be held over zoom.  - The session is free to participants as part of Fabric’s Artist in Residence / Participant engagement programme. Visit my website to sign up - link in bio.

I’m thrilled Proper Time has been shortlisted for an Unlimited Open Award! It was a joy to be making with such a dream team of creatives. Here’s hoping we get to spend more time on this soon! A HUGE thank you to the whole team. And a SPECIAL thank you to our remote CRIP CHORUS. Good luck to all the shortlisted artists and projects - so many shows I absolutely want to see get made! Full Research & Development team credits:  Raquel Meseguer Zafe - Lead artist, writer & performer Jamie McCarthy - Collaborator, composer & performer Anna Starkey - Collaborator, writer & performer Laura Dannequin - Dramaturg & outside eye Drew Bachelor - Lead creative technologist Robin Thorn - Creative technologist Finn Macneill - Technical support & studio access support Linzy Na Nakorn - Creative audio description Rhiannon Colvin - MA placement Jazz Thompson - Live scribe Keycreationz - Photography Nikki Harris - BSL interpreter Josephine Gyasi - Producer, MAYK Produced by MAYK Supported by a Level Centre Residency, and rehearsal space in kind from Bristol Old Vic. Supported by Arts Council England Grants for the Arts Awards.

I’m giving a Pervasive Media Studio Lunchtime Talk on my recent R&D project ‘Proper Time’ and on practising ‘Absent presence’. There is so much that needs our attention in the world right now, but if you can make it, I’d love to see you there. Details in the linktree via my bio. #crippractice #absentpresence #criptechnique

I feel very privileged to have been invited to share my practice at Claire Cunningham’s ‘Bodies of Knowledge: Choreographies of Care’ event in Berlin last week. It was a wonderful 3 days full of exquisite work, cheeky and much needed Crip conversations, and a Crip solidarity that filled me with renewed hope. Thank you to all the team for organising such a rich event with so much thought and care. And thank you to all the folk who could be there in person and all those who couldn’t be there. And a huge thank you to @jamiemccarthy @imaginaryastronautstudio @laura_dannequin For exploring this terrain and devising this work with me. #cripknowledge #cripchoreography #criptechnique #absentpresence #invisibledisability

Ground Studies and Crap Ceilings by Claire Cunningham & Raquel Meseguer Zafe @clairecprojects and I first talked about putting our studies of the ground and of ceilings next to one another back in 2019. It was a privilege and a treat to see that desire realised as part of Bodies of Knowledge: Choreographies of Care in Berlin this week as part of a 3 day event on Crip Technique, Knowledge and Expertise. Thank you to Bethany Wells for designing the prints and the layout in the building which were perfect for these studies. And thank you to the team for a wonderful 3 day gathering.

Some photos from our R&D sharing of Proper Time last week! A huge thank you to everyone who came and to everyone who supported the project: Thank you to ACE for funding this R&D, to Level Centre for awarding us a 2023/24 Residency, to Bristol Old Vic for supporting us with rehearsal space and MAYK for producing the project and being fully behind it’s ’stretched time’ residency form. Photos by Keycreationz Full team credits: Jamie McCarthy - composer, performer, collaborator. Anna Starkey - performer, writer, collaborator. Laura Dannequin - dramaturge, outside eye. Drew Bachelor - lead creative technologist. Robin Thorn - creative technologist. Finn Macneill - technical support, studio access support. Linzy Na Nakorn - creative access, audio description. Rhiannon Colvin - MA placement. Jazz Thompson - live scribe. Josephine Gyasi - producer, MAYK. Kate Yedigaroff - artistic director, MAYK.