We Speak Softly in the Between (Qinhuangdo, China)
by Basil Kräher + Huaijin Li

Basil Kräher and Huaijin Li have designed the We Speak Softly in the Between installation.

Designed by Basil Kräher and Huaijin Li, We Speak Softly in the Between is a kinetic installation created for the Aranya Theater Festival 2025 in Qinhuangdao.

Rooted in the duo’s long-distance relationship between New York and Tokyo, the work translates emotional distance into spatial language: two curved steel structures clad with 7,000 suspended aluminium panels – neither parallel nor mirrored – converging without ever meeting around a peeled tree at the centre.

Activated by sea wind, the tiles shimmer, collide and generate an ever-changing soundscape – transforming absence, longing and the rarity of human encounter into an immersive atmospheric experience.