đđđ©đđ, đđđđđ€đŁ, đđȘđđ§đ©đ is an original artistic creation commissioned by three festivalsâElevate, Insomnia, and Le Guess Who?âas part of TIMES (The Independent Movement for Electronic Scenes).
Kelman Duran, AGF, Kiani del Valle, Theresa Baumgartner
Sound and voice travel, as humans have for thousands of years.
The stage piece unfolds from the music of Dominican producer and musician Kelman Duran, East-German born and Finland-based musician, artistic researcher and composer AGF, the Puerto Rican movement artist Kiani del Valle and a special light design by the visual artist Theresa Baumgartner.
As an ever-migrating species, human languages are living, dynamic entities, shaped by landscapes and cultural shifts, connecting diasporas across the globe. The act will experiment with a multiplicity of voices, pitches, vocal expressions, languages, samplings and rhythms, weaving them into creative fabric on stage. The multi-voiced sounds come together like life itself: random, wild, and deeply rooted in an understanding of connection.
Addressing migration journeys as unwritten and uneasyâat times untranslatableâthe piece unfolds through enigmatic, unorthodox sounds, sometimes dissonant and offbeat. On stage, the exploration of these idiosyncratic life experiences take shape through punk poetry and free jazz sounds.
To expand their work on lyrical layers, rhythm, and resonance, the artists have recorded voice samples with musicians and vocalists Aleksandra Popovska, Dylan Hunter, Chee Greene, Loveth Besamoh, Razeen Khattab, Safiya Juliana, and Tehani Amarasuriya, working across multiple languages including Arabic, Papiamento, Pidgin English, Tamil, Macedonian, and English.
Through this exploration of sound and movement, the artists invite you to question how your conditioning towards different voices and languages influence your perception of the world.
Artists
Theresa Baumgartner
Theresa Baumgartner is a Berlin-based visual artist and award winning lighting designer whose work transcends traditional boundaries, merging audiovisual performance, installation art, and experimental film.
Drawing from influences as diverse as experimental noise, punk, painting, and sculpture, her artistic practice is characterized by a visceral blend of disorder and experimentation, underpinned by painterly and sculptural sensibilities.
After the establishment of his label Haunter Records in 2013, he became part of the curatorial team of Milanâs legendary space Macao.
Kelman Duran
Kelman Duran is best known for his production and songwriting contributions to opening track âIâm That Girlâ and âHeatedâ from BeyoncĂ©âs 2022 album Renaissance, as well as his scoring work on 2022 film Rodeo.
In terms of music, Duran released 1804 Kids in 2017 through Hundebiss Records in Milan. His 1st long form album was released in December of 2018 through Apocalipsis Records in New York, which was #28 on FACT magazineâs best albums of 2018 and #9 on Boomkatâs Top Releases of 2018. Ghost Ryder will debut in June of 2025. Duran produced âBacardi Papiâ for VV Pete which won FBi Radioâs SMAC Award for Next Big Thing in 2025 in Australia.
Kiani del Valle
KianĂ del Valle is a Berlin-Los Angeles-based dancer, choreographer, director, and performance curator originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Driven by anthropological, biological, and sociological concepts, KianĂâs work blurs the lines between contemporary dance and performance art, integrating film, photography, architecture, pop culture, technology, and sound. She has developed interdisciplinary solo works and is the founder and choreographer of the KDV Performance Group.
AGF
Antye Greie-Ripatti is an artist, audio sculptress, composer, sound artist & curator/facilitator of sound art, poemproducer & intersectional feminist networker.
Her work emphasises language, sound, listening, voice and politics and summarised as âFeminist Sonic Technologiesâ expressed in mixed media, audiovisual live performances, digital communication, sound installations, commissions for radio, movies, dance, theatre, audio journalism online.
Commissioned by
Elevate AT
Elevate is an annual interdisciplinary festival held in various venues in Graz, Austria, with a strong focus on cultural and socio-political topics. For more than 20 years, the Elevate festival has been transforming the city of Graz into a hotspot for contemporary festival culture.
In addition to performances, concerts, installations and DJ sets, the interdisciplinary programme offers for 5 days workshops, film screenings, lectures and discussions.
Insomnia NO
Supported by a dedicated and passionate team since 2002, Insomnia remains a festival fueled by love that has forged friendships worldwide. The festival is community run and strives to reflect the ambition and dedication of our local experimental music scene.
Insomnia Festival is located in TromsĂž, in northern Norway. Its location far above the arctic circle, in the outskirts of Scandinavia, provides a brilliant vantage point for artistic curiosity. While TromsĂž only houses some 80.000 inhabitants, youâd have to drive more than 9 hours to get to a bigger city. As such, much of the northâs culture converges hereâ a micro metropolis of sorts.
Le Guess Who? NL
With the motto of Listening is the Way Forward, Le Guess Who? is widely considered to be one of the most forward-thinking festivals around. Le Guess Who? exists to promote sounds that are often overlooked, and to platform fresh perspectives on what is possible in music. Artists from all over the world push the boundaries of expectations and offer an insight into the unprecedented diversity of human creativity.
Over the years, Le Guess Who? has grown into a leading international festival, known for the inspiring way in which groundbreaking music is presented. In 2023, visitors from 60 different countries traveled to Utrecht in November to attend the festival.
A playground for discovery and exploration, Le Guess Who? changes minds through music and connects communities worldwide through the power of sound.
Nuits sonores FR
Nuits sonores festival is a Lyon-based cultural, artistic and urban laboratory founded in 2003, by the association loi 1901 Arty Farty. Itâs a cross-generational, unifying and accessible project.
For 23 years now, the festival has been taking place all over the city, transforming Lyon into an ephemeral space for celebration and conviviality. As Franceâs leading electronic and independent music festival, Nuits sonores offers a cutting-edge, eclectic and inclusive programme, attracting audiences from all over France, Europe and the rest of the world.