The Braga-based festival was back from October 24 to 27.
Between talks, workshops, audiovisual installations, immersive concerts and intimate club nights, the 2024 edition Semibreve hosted a co-curation with Berlin Atonal as well as The Crossing, TIMES original creation, commissioned by Semibreve, Sónar, Berlin Atonal, and Unsound.
Iconic Moritz von Oswald, co-curated with Berlin Atonal, presented his new masterpiece Silencio.
The Crossing:
Białowieża
This new sonic experience is a work by the legendary field recordist Chris Watson, who is working with Izabela Dłużyk, a blind Polish sound recordist celebrated for her profound connection to nature’s acoustics and recognized as one of the BBC’s 100 Most Influential Women in 2023 for her expertise in bird sound recording.
Together, they went to Białowieża Forest, which stretches across Poland and Belarus. It is the last mainland part of the primeval forest that once stretched across Europe and is still largely untouched by humans. For more than two years, migrants from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia have attempted to cross through this forest into Poland and the EU – and have been pushed back by Polish guards. This has resulted in migrants being trapped and dying. A metal wall has been constructed, dividing the forest, which has become a symbol of wider geopolitical tensions.
Their field recordings were presented in Theatro Circo, in total darkness in multichannel audio, immersing the crowd into the depths of the forest.
The Crossing:
A Forbidden Distance
Saint Abdullah, Eomac, and Rebecca Salvadori
A Forbidden Distance is a new work that is jointly produced by Iranian-Canadian brothers Mohammad and Mehdi (Saint Abdullah), Irish sound-designer and musician Ian McDonnell (Eomac), and London-based Italo-Australian video artist and filmmaker Rebecca Salvadori. The project is an exploration of the sense of self in relation to processes of displacement. Their collaborative audio-visual work reflects on the nature of stories and fragmented experiences, both collectively and individually.
A Forbidden Distance was presented in Theatro Circo.
The Crossing is a collaborative curatorial project, commissioned by Berlin Atonal, Semibreve, Sónar and Unsound, and supported by TIMES.
Co-curated with Berlin Atonal:
Moritz von Oswald
Moritz von Oswald epitomises the enduring sway and innovative spirit of electronic music. Moving beyond his roots as co-founder of Basic Channel, von Oswald established Borderland, a recurring collaboration with Juan Atkins signed with Tresor Records. His Moritz von Oswald Trio is a polymorphic ensemble that featured Tony Allen, Vladislav Delay, and Max Loderbauer. Their recordings reveal the scope of von Oswald’s sparse production beyond his dub techno origins, weaving in improvised jazz and experimental electronics.
Moritz Von Oswald presented his new work Silencio in the Basílica dos Congregados, composed on classic synthesizers and where he works with a Braga’s 16-voice choir to explore the differences between human and artificial sound.
