11/09/2026
With profound sadness, we share the passing of Persis Jadzé Maravala, our Artistic Director, co-founder and friend. Jadzé died in Rio de Janeiro following a catastrophic brain haemorrhage caused by a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.
Jadzé was an artist of extraordinary imagination, courage and generosity whose work transformed the possibilities of participatory and immersive performance. For more than two decades, she created encounters that brought strangers closer — inviting us to meet, listen, play, care for one another and sometimes simply be together.
Her work was never concerned with immersion for its own sake. At its centre was a persistent question about human connection. She believed in performance as an encounter and placed the ethics of caring for audiences alongside artistic experimentation. For her, empathy was radical — not just nice or kind, but difficult: uncomfortable, challenging and ultimately transformational.
Before co-founding ZU-UK, Jadzé co-led Para Active with artist and long-term collaborator Jonathan Grieve, developing the collaborative and participatory approaches that remained central to her artistic practice.
Jadzé leaves behind her husband and long-term artistic collaborator Jorge Lopes Ramos, with whom she co-founded ZU-UK, and their daughter, as well as an extraordinary extended family of friends, artists, collaborators and communities across the world. We ask that their privacy be respected at this time.
Her work brought people closer.
That work continues through all of us who experienced it, made it with her and were changed by it. We will share information about a public celebration of Jadzé's life and work in due course.
In loving memory of Jadzé. 🤍
