OPENLESS, the one-off project from Berlin Atonal, took place from 23 to 25 August, with co-curations from Sónar, Terraforma and Unsound.
We witnessed an adventurous programme of music, sound design, research, art, site-specific performances and more, including the world premiere of the first TIMES performance “The Crossing“.
Co-curated with Sónar:
Laurel HaloCo-curated with Terraforma:
Lamin Fofana presents ALL TENETS INTERACTED AND KINETICS REMAINED OCEANIC
Sara Persico and Mika Oki present SPHAÎRACo-curated with Unsound
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Nkisi presents MYTHE OU RÉALITÉ (CHEIKH ANTA DIOP)
The Crossing Chapter 1: ‘Białowieża’
This new sound installation 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 are presented in total darkness in multichannel audio.
The Crossing Chapter 2: ‘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.
The Crossing is a collaborative curatorial project, commissioned by Berlin Atonal, Semibreve, Sónar and Unsound, and supported by TIMES.
Lamin Fofana: ALL TENETS INTERACTED & KINECTICS REMAINED OCEANIC
Sierra Leonean artist and producer Lamin Fofana delves into deep, enthralling sonics with the unveiling of his new work ALL TENETS INTERACTED & KINECTICS REMAINED OCEANIC.
Fofana’s new work aims to heighten and deepen contrasting notions of time and movement while simultaneously emphasising interconnectedness and porosity.
Co-curated with Terraforma.
Nkisi: MYTHE OU RÉALITÉ (CHEIKH ANTA DIOP)
Nkisi delves into her personal connection with Cheikh Anta Diop’s proto-Afrofuturist legacy through the lens of Doudou N’Diaye Rose’s 1992 composition named after the Pan-African scientist.
Nkisi’s new work recodes and decodes rhythmic strategies of storytelling as a ritual act of remembrance and reconnection. Songlines and rhythms are used to activate specific memories, intuitively guided by the pre-rhythmic abstractions of entrainment using proto-techno(logical) sonic phrases inspired by Diop’s demands for rehabilitation of history and Rose’s rhythmic cosmology building.
Co-curated with Unsound.
Sara Perisco and Mika Oki present SPHAÎRA
Sara Persico and Mika Oki present an adventurous audiovisual collaboration inspired by the former’s recent album, featuring field recordings from the experimental concrete theatre by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in Tripoli, Lebanon.
This impressive dome structure, envisioned for social integration, was abandoned during Lebanon’s civil war and later scarred by military use. Their project, Sphaîra, aims to transpose the unique spatial, sonic and lighting effects of the dome to create an atmosphere suitable for deep contemplation.
Co-curated with Terraforma.
