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karlheinz 2021 vierundzwanzig
© Da
niel M
ennic
ke n f
ür O N
Januar – März 2021
Neue Musik in Köln
NEUE MUSIK NETZWERKE
INTERNATIONAL
LJUBLJANA, SLOWENIEN
MORELIA, MEXIKO
nachzulesen auf karlheinz.blog
impressum editorial
karlheinz erscheint fünfmal jährlich
als gemeinsame Produktion von
ON – Neue Musik Köln e.V. und
Liebe Leser*innen,
Kölner Gesellschaft für Neue Musik e.V.
© Copyright 2020 by ON – Neue Musik Köln e.V.
Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Haftungsausschluss: Noch immer gilt Abstand, Maske, Isolation und das fast überall auf
Für die Richtigkeit und Vollständigkeit der der Welt. Auch die #24 unserer karlheinz bleibt wieder digital auf Di-
Angaben kann keine Gewähr übernommen stanz und der leere Konzertkalender schreit „Bleibt zuhause“. Wie
werden. Namentlich (oder mit Kürzel) gekenn- können wir in dieser Situation weiterhin Verbindungen knüpfen,
zeichnete Artikel geben die Meinung des Autors Nähe schaffen und den Abstand überbrücken? Wir versuchen in die-
wieder, nicht aber unbedingt die der Redaktion ser Ausgabe den Blick zu weiten und haben den Kontakt zu Initiati-
oder der Herausgeber. Kein Teil der Publikation ven neuer Musik an anderen Orten der Welt gesucht.
darf ohne schriftliche Genehmigung des
Herausgebers in irgendeiner Form reproduziert In ausführlichen Interviews geben maßgebliche Akteure Einblick in
oder unter Verwendung elektronischer Systeme ihre Szene der experimentellen Musik: Welche künstlerischen Pers-
verarbeitet, vervielfältigt oder verbreitet werden. pektiven und Fragestellungen bewegen sie zur Zeit? Wie gestaltet
Herausgeber/V.i.S.d.P.: sich die organisatorische Praxis der Freien Szene? Wie fördert ein
ON – Neue Musik Köln e.V. Netzwerk seine Szene vor Ort und welche Möglichkeiten für interna-
Melchiorstraße 3 tionalen Austausch existieren bereits oder können in Zukunft ent-
50670 Köln stehen?
www.on-cologne.de
Redaktion: Aus Morelia in Mexiko berichtet Rodrigo Sigal, der Gründer und Lei-
Sonia Güttler ter des Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras – CM-
Helene Heuser MAS, das in den fünfzehn Jahren seines Bestehens regen internati-
Karl Ludwig onalen Austausch pflegt und über die lebendige Musikszene
Daniel Mennicken Morelias hinaus zu einem Anlaufpunkt für Musiker*innen geworden
Iren Tonoian ist. Und Nataša Serec erzählt von der Besetzung des Metelkova-
Redaktion der „kgnm und Geländes in der Innenstadt von Ljubljana, das heute ein kreatives
Neue Musik Termine“: Zentrum geworden ist und Standort für das KUD Mreža-Netzwerk
Dorrit Bauerecker für experimentelle Musik, das sie 1997 gründete und bis heute leitet.
Timm Roller
www.kgnm.de Wir freuen uns sehr über die entstandenen Verbindungen und wün-
Gestaltung: schen viel Vergnügen bei der Lektüre.
Mella Hövelborn
Ihr karlheinz Team von
ON – Neue Musik Köln +
Kölner Gesellschaft für Neue Musik
ON – Neue Musik Köln und die kgnm
werden gefördert durch die Stadt Köln.
Die Veranstaltungen von ON werden außerdem
gefördert durch das Ministerium für Kultur
und Wissenschaft NRW.
interview
Rodrigo Sigal vom CM
Moreli a ber ich tet
MAS - Centro Mexicano
von der
para la Música y las
lebendigen Musikkul
tur in Mo reli a, den
Artes Sonoras in
internationalen
tausch auch in der geg
enwärtigen
Rodrigo Sigal
Residencies des Zen
trums und wie der Aus
Situatio n auf rec ht erh alten wird.
CMMAS,
Morelia
Rodrigo
Sigal
© J. C o
rnejo
education: providing courses, graduate and as Caribbean electroacoustic music, drum and
postgraduate programmes with the national bass, and beat based music.
university and another private university, our
diploma and our online services at CMMAS.com, CMMAS has created a degree about techno-
where people can also take our courses. We also logies in interpretation and composition in
Morelia
CMMAS‘ site in publish CDs, books and journals, in both digital collaboration with the UNAM (Universidad
© CMMAS and physical formats. Finally we have our own Nacional Autónoma de México) Faculty of Music.
series of concerts every Friday, either virtual or in What was your role in the process?
person, and every September we have the
Visiones Sonotas festival, which has been National University of Mexico UNAM, which is the
running annually for 16 years now. biggest in Latin America as far as I know, decided
to start a music technology programme in
Fifteen years ago you founded CMMAS. What tools and even get grants. We also started our CMMAS has been releasing Ideas Sónicas, a Morelia with us five years ago. Alongside running
were your initial intentions and how have they Acercamientos Sonoros, “sound gatherings”, biannual magazine on electroacoustic music, CMMAS, I am also a full time professor at the
changed over the years? where kids from underserved communities or sound art, and technology with many acclaimed university. I created the content of this under-
schools could learn how technology works and contributors, since 2008. Who do you wish to graduate programme, Music and Artistic Techno-
When I first founded CMMAS in Morelia in 2005, how to use their own mobile tools as an expressi- reach with this publication and how is it distribu- logy, with the help of other professors. Today we
the idea was to create a public institution with ve resource. ted? have students doing their Masters and PhDs
funding from the national government and the based on this joint venture.
state government of Michoacán, which would Eleven people currently work for CMMAS. How is We are currently finishing work on the new issue,
provide other institutions, universities and the organisation structured and what are the which will mark thirteen years of our journal. CMMAS also offers artist residency program-
research centres and artists in general with stu- main areas of work? Each issue is available for free online or can be mes. How many musicians and composers visit
dio spaces and knowledge, with access to tools ordered in print via our online shop. The articles each year and what do you look for in applicants?
and materials, to our library and courses, but At the moment we are eleven, but this has chan- are mainly written in Spanish, English and Por-
would also release CDs and publish journals. ged over the years; there were times when we tuguese and sometimes French. Each issue is We have been offering residencies for years now.
were only five or six, then there was a period put together by a different guest editor. The aim 2020 was of course a very atypical year, but we
We began by providing spaces to other music where we were up to 38 people. The idea of of Ideas Sónicas is to provide artists, universities used to have 20 to 30 residencies every year,
programmes in the city, like the conservatory, CMMAS is very flexible. We continue with our and institutions in Latin America with sources of sometimes up to 50 with collectives or several
the state university and the national university. main programme, but we have to adapt to the research and articles on music technology. We artists working at the same time. We also used to
Over the years it became a studio space and funding and programmes that change every year. have had hundreds of different guest authors have up to seven studios. Now we are down
eventually we had seven studios, where artists Our main area of work is in fostering creativity discussing everything from general issues on to three, due to the pandemic and the lack of
from Mexico and abroad could work, use our with our studio spaces. After that comes computer music and composition, to topics such funding. We have multichannel studios and also
© CMMAS
© CMMAS
weeks, then they also teach, do performances Our position between the institutions and the in-
and community work around the centre. These dependent scene is always tough and we strugg-
interactions help our own students a lot. Artistic le. But we’ve been working hard in trying to get
exchange through residencies creates connec- festivals going and provide local, national, and
tions and we have many success stories of stu- international artists from the independent scene
one studio with video facilities for artists to work in terms of music, maybe after Mexico City — dents meeting composers here and going on to the opportunity to participate in our concerts.
on projects with a visual counterpart. You can which is just three hours away — one of the most do their postgraduate degrees with them in other That also means that they curate their own
find information on all the residencies, where interesting places in the country by far. Not only countries. Others create their own collectives concerts—we just give them the equipment,
they came from and what they worked on at of course for contemporary music, but there are here and present their work in a concert or a CD technical support, and sometimes funding for
CMMAS, in our archive. several universities, the La Rosa conservatory, at the end of their stay. accommodation and travel expenses. We never
which is the oldest music teaching institution in get involved as curators ourselves. Of course,
The call for residencies is always open to everyo- the continent, and at least five or six music festi- There is a big difference between institutional some people, including myself, may not always
ne and can run from three weeks to a full year. vals, including one of the biggest classical music culture (museums, orchestras) and independent like the result, but that doesn’t matter. What we
People can just get in touch with us or apply via festivals in Latin America, the Morelia Miguel culture (independent musicians, composers, get out of it is a community that is interested
our website. Depending on funding, the applica- Bernal Jiménez Music Festival, where I am also etc.) in Germany. Do you also see this distinc- in presenting what they are doing, and getting
tion process might take a little longer at times. part of the programming committee, a guitar fes- tion? How do you experience the relationship involved.
We have collaborations with the Canada Council tival, an organ festival, and of course our Visiones between institutions and the independent
for the Arts, the British Council, the Goethe Sonoras contemporary music and computer scene? You recently launched a new programme called
Institute, the Japan Foundation, and many other music festival. But there is a lot of traditional CMMAS+. Is this programme your approach to
institutions in the US, Argentina, Costa Rica, music, folk, popular music, jazz — so it is a very There is, of course, a difference between insti- continuing your work during the pandemic?
Chile and Ecuador, who send artists to powerful music scene in Morelia. tutional and independent culture, because
CMMAS at least once or twice a year. orchestras or museums belong to the state. We have been running our very successful sum-
Your organization puts a lot of focus on artistic CMMAS is different, because we are a public in- mer diploma for the past seven years. Artists,
Can you tell us a bit about your city and the cul- exchange, on both a continental and an interna- stitution but also receive private funding. In that mainly from Latin America, sometimes from the
tural life of Morelia? What role does CMMAS play tional level. What do you want CMMAS’s role in sense we are a link between public institutions US and Canada, were invited to take part in very
in the local musical landscape? this to be? funded by the government and independent intensive courses for a few weeks between June
artists that don’t have access to technical or and August, concluding with a concert.
A couple of years ago, the city of Morelia became We put a lot of focus on artistic exchange all over other assistance. CMMAS is like a research cen- Of course, during the pandemic people are not
an UNESCO Music City, because of the powerful the world and it is certainly one of the reasons tre that allows artists to make this connection travelling anymore, so we decided to move eve-
musical culture here. It is a very vibrant place and why I started CMMAS 15 years ago. Composers, between both ‘cultures’. rything online. We launched CMMAS+, an online
performers, musicologists, creative people system, where people can present their results,
come to work here for a few months or a few have one-to-one classes with their teachers and
©C
MM
AS
M AS
© CM
professors will teach and present concerts and From your perspective, what might the art and
hopefully everything is going to return to how it culture scene look like in a post-Corona society?
was with grants from other countries and artists. What do you hope it will look like and how do we
But we are not going to go back to the same pro- get there?
cess. We will have to adapt with our hybrid pro-
gramme of people working from home, cutting It’s similar to the previous question but more long
expenses and being much more efficient in the term. I think places like ours have to adapt,
much more. We developed courses especially for Have you had any government aid to offset the use of the little money we can get. It’s going to be because bricks-and-mortar spaces are going to
CMMAS+ in collaboration with professors and restrictions caused by the Corona crisis? If so, a very, very big change, but hopefully also a good be less relevant. If we want to keep CMMAS as a
present a new course every month, with 15 more what kind of assistance have you been given and opportunity for us to update our way of working. public institution, I need to be very efficient in
already lined up. Everything is being translated how well is it working? Our festival in September will be hybrid as well, terms of working remotely and providing artists
into English, alongside Spanish, so that people and our concerts and courses, what our stu- and students as well as the general audience
from all over the world can get a subscription. We No, on the contrary! The Mexican government de- dents, artists and general audience need from with content that is completely unique. In that
will continue to develop CMMAS+ in order to of- cided to cut all the funding for centres like ours. us, is going to move online. In that sense it is also sense, the Corona pandemic is pushing us to-
fer tools to artists who can’t access this informa- Instead of giving us support to be able to keep a good move. wards being more creative with our content:
tion anywhere else. Everything is also a lot working, we’ve lost 100% of our funding for 2020 unique teaching, that is not just normal Youtube
cheaper online, so it will allow us to generate and 2021. They have just told us that the money What formats and potentials have you seen content, unique courses, with our technical staff
some income and to continue accomplishing our for 2020 is cancelled, which is already too late at emerging from the current situation that might providing assistance for artists all over the world,
mission. the end of the year, and that we won’t have any point to how we will work in the future? and unique online concerts that you can listen to
funding for 2021 either. They have decided to put with multichannel systems, maybe even
How else has the pandemic affected your work? all of the money to other things. Culture in Mexico As I was saying, there will be hybrid formats. All 3D virtual reality concerts that actually get the
during the Corona pandemic and in general has of our new books are published for free as audience involved and engaged. The Internet is
The pandemic has affected us in many ways. The been a nightmare and there has been zero sup- E-books and we are moving our journal online as so crowded nowadays, everyone has so many
facilities have been empty for months, we have port as well as a lot of bad decisions. CMMAS is well. But what we get from the artists is also in- options and concerts to choose from, that we
just switched to working from home, and we have actually struggling quite a lot. creasingly digital. We have already had a couple have to provide something completely relevant
had to close a couple of studios. But the biggest of proposals for next year from artists working and unique. Maybe it won’t be that often, not
problem we’ve been struggling with is not recei- Which artistic perspectives and issues do you remotely, who need CMMAS to generate content every week, but a concert every month that is
ving our public funding for 2020. We are adapting think will occupy art and culture professionals with high-quality production and streaming completely unmissable — that is what we are
for 2021 with CMMAS+ and other initiatives with over the coming years? possibilities. So we envision a way to support aiming for and what our work should look like
the university to be able to keep working on a artists on the technical side, through teaching, post-Corona in my perspective.
more project-based system, without people The main point is we will have to adapt. I think the streaming, and monetizing their work on our own
coming to the studios every day. Whenever in- first semester next year is part of a survival platform CMMAS.com. We are working hard, and
person work is possible again, hopefully by process. As soon as we are able to do things in- hopefully that effort is going to pay off in the next
March or April, we will reopen our studios. person again, students will return to our studios, few months.
AS
MM
©C
CMMAS website Ideas Sonicas biannual journal Instagram
15.cmmas.org sonicideas.org @cmmas_org
Finally, I would like to thank you for this
opportunity! I’m very, very happy to be able to Festival Visiones Sonores Twitter
take part in this interview. Promoting what we CMMAS+ online courses visionessonoras.org @cmmasorg
do in a journal like this and reaching multiple cmmas.com
spaces around the world is something that Facebook
could really, really help CMMAS into next year! Publications and CDs @cmmas
cmmas.org/store/
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unabhängiger Musik Akteur*innen
interview
Nataša Serec erzähl
t von den Anfängen des
KUD Mreža, von den
Netzwerks für experim
vielen Projek ten wie
dem FriF orm
demie auf
a-F
entelle Musik
est
das
ival und den
Stadtleben.
Nataša Serec
KUD Mreža
Auswirkungen der Pan
Nataša Serec,
head of KUD Mreža
© László Juhász
ings in 1993
Metelkova build
chive
© KUD Mreža-ar
and young people and so on. Some joined the Ministry Of Culture Of Slovenia bestowed on us
association as local volunteers, some via the more than 20 years ago. This is a big advantage in
European Voluntary Service, and some simply as terms of securing funding from different public
part-time staff. At present, two of our colleagues sources. There are significant opportunities to
are full-time employees. The rest of us are mostly expand international partnerships, and conse-
Dear Nataša, KUD Mreža is active in a wide importance of diversity. We support artists who self-employed producers of culture or artists. quently the possibility of attracting EU funding.
variety of disciplines and fields in the arts. You dare to take an active role in our modern world, All of our diverse projects are coordinated and And last but not least, we have started to see
organise series of improvised and experimental who question the roles of artists and various art brought together under the same roof by a team opportunities to increase our internal finances
music concerts, manage two art galleries, set up systems within our current society, and strive to of three people who provide administrative and by putting more emphasis on marketing.
urban arts projects, offer residencies for foreign find creative answers. As our name suggests — technical assistance, joint PR, and other kinds
artists and also provide cultural education pro- Mreža means “net” or “network” in English — we of support in addition to their own professional The KUD Mreža offices and facilities are located
grammes for children. How do you bring all of also connect, collaborate, network and co- projects. in the Autonomous Cultural Centre Metelkova
these different activities together under one produce with many high-profile public and non- mesto. Can you tell us about its history and how
roof and what is KUD Mreža’s central mission or governmental, local and international, cultural If we took a magnifying glass to all of our KUD Mreža ended up there?
approach? and educational organizations beyond the walls activities, we could make out a great number of
of Metelkova. advantages, mainly reflected in our highly quali- It’s a long story but I will try to keep it short. The
Well, first of all, KUD Mreža’s basic mission is fied and truly committed professionals and story of Metelkova began in the second half of
closely connected to the Autonomous Cultural In our organisation we usually work in smaller volunteers. One of the biggest must be the free the 1980s with an extremely strong national in-
Centre Metelkova mesto in Ljubljana, which is teams of 2 or 3 professional and extremely rental of production facilities and our excellent dependence movement, which actuated a highly
basically an open space for innovation and dedicated colleagues, who have trained within location in the city centre of Ljubljana, which is vibrant social and cultural scene. The initiative to
dialogue on several levels. Our long-term pre- the association and have independently also a very popular destination for tourists. convert the military barracks along Metelkova
sence within such a heterogeneous cultural managed their chosen projects over the years. The visibility of alternative artistic approaches in Street into a multicultural centre sprung up, and
space has given us the tools to think construc- These include curating two of our galleries, general and our great public are also huge advan- over 200 individuals and several NGOs formed an
tively about promoting openness and the organising annual festivals and series of con- tages. The association works in the public association called Mreža Za Metelkovo or in
richness of differences, and to emphasise the certs, running creative workshops for children interest in the cultural realm, a status the English: “Network For Metelkova”. Half a year af-
e days © Sunčan Ston
e
Metelkova buildings thes
ter the Yugoslavian Peoples Army departed, in It terms of its architecture, Metelkova is made up kova as a whole: improving working conditions, Those who joined the independent cultural scene
autumn 1991, the City of Ljubljana and the of two complementary sections. The northern doing renovations, installing electricity, Internet in the 1990s certainly had good role models who
Government of the Republic Of Slovenia officially section is made up of buildings owned by the and water, communicating with the municipality, helped them in their endeavours and encouraged
declared that the barracks were to be run by Net- Municipality Of Ljubljana. It is comprised of six and of course, the most difficult of all, internal critical thinking. In normal times—before the
work For Metelkova. Everything seemed to be separate buildings that retained military names: communication and solving problems between pandemic—so many events take place simulta-
going to plan. Activists had already started to set Infantry (now art studios, concert halls, offices, the various Metelkova “residents”. Prior to that, neously in Ljubljana, a town with less than
up the foundations of an information and docu- recording studios, handicraft studios), Hunters I was involved in creating the Development Plan 300,000 inhabitants, that protagonists in the
mentary centre, they defined their programmes (art studios, GLBTQ+ community spaces), Hangar For Metelkova, under the leadership of the scene are sometimes bitter that they constantly
and promotional goals. We had already started (a music club), Stable (galleries, residency stu- American architect Kevin Kaufman, in 1994. overlap and “steal” the audience from each
the Metelkova fanzine, but the legal procedure dios, art studios, info shop), Garages (art studios) other. But it is also often the case that five
was suspiciously slow. Under pressure from the and Prison (Celica youth hostel). The Ministry Of When we met during the “International Visitor concerts take place at five different locations on
public, the city council promised to answer these Culture has officially given over the southern Programme” you talked about Ljubljana’s the same evening, and they are all extremely well
unsolved legal matters but on 9 September 1993 section for the establishment of a new home for vibrant art scene. What makes the city and the attended.
they undertook an unannounced, illegal and hur- the Ethnographic Museum, the Museum Of scene so special for you?
ried attempt to demolish all of the Metelkova Modern Art (MSUM+), the Rectorate for the Personally, I am happy that the variety and selec-
buildings with bulldozers and wrecking balls. Ha! Protection Of Natural And Cultural Heritage, and The diversity, richness and progressive nature of tion here is so huge, while the quality remains
Exactly the opposite of what they had promised! building Metelkova 6, which still functions as of- Ljubljana’s independent art scene is rooted in the pretty high. Not a day goes by without there
In response to this quite unethical act, a self-or- fices and rehearsal spaces for some of the most early alternative cultural movements that were being an interesting cultural event somewhere in
ganised group of approximately 150 individuals prominent Slovenian cultural NGOs. an important factor in democratisation and civil Ljubljana. I even find it worth paying the more ex-
occupied the northern section of the Metelkova society in Slovenia in the 1980s. At the time, al- pensive living costs in the capital in return for
barracks. Among them was a young student, who KUD Mreža was established in 1997 with the main ternative culture in Slovenia consisted of various this cultural richness. Cultural and social events
hurried on foot across the city with a sleeping goal of improving the infrastructure and pro- punk and post-punk scenes, youth clubs, organi- disappeared from the venues and streets of
bag under her arm to “save" Metelkova. duction conditions at Metelkova. We first started sations, artistic and social movements, and Ljubljana during the pandemic, and suddenly
managing a gallery in the former military kitchen, some youth media outlets like Radio Študent and Ljubljana felt very poor and empty.
At that point, Metelkova looked like a bomb site. established on the initiative of young students weekly magazines such as Mladina. The provo-
It was a mess. A week later the city council dis- from the Academy Of Fine Arts as an exclusively cative and renowned art movement NSK — Neue It is also important to add that the independent
connected the electricity and the water supply artist-run space. I joined the association at the Slowenische Kunst — was also founded during cultural scene can only flourish with the support
followed. The cultural programmes and other ac- beginning, but first became more active two ye- this period, generating the subversive band of the city’s Department Of Culture, which co-
tivities that were organised at Metelkova were ars later. However, I was among the squatters Laibach, among others. It is interesting to note finances NGO programmes and projects with
still extremely rich and inspiring. There were over who occupied the barracks on the crazy night of that all of the organisations I have mentioned still 3 million Euros a year. Until the arrival of our new
200 cultural events and art happenings in the 9 September 1993. Many art associations formed exist and operate with the same intensity and government last March, contemporary art was
first few months, from September to December soon after, and we began to employ staff, but the progressiveness as 40 or even 50 years ago. still well funded by the Ministry Of Culture, but by
1993. main focus of the association was still on Metel-
Jeb Bis
Matth hop,
ias Mu
László che,
J uh á s
Matth z an d
in fron ias Mü
t of Klu ller
b Grom
ka .
© J ož
e Bala
s
There is a big difference between institutional institutions, not only for the reasons mentioned
culture (museums, orchestras) and independent earlier, but also to expand our possible audience.
culture (independent musicians, composers, These bigger public institutions have much larger
etc.) in Germany. Do you also see this distinc- PR services, and can reach a much larger
B e at T
tion? audience than we can.
he O dd
(Elisab s
eth Co
at FriF udou x How do you experience the relationship between You curate and organise two series of concerts
orma a , P as c
t Klub al Nig g
© Iz to e nke m
k Zupa
n
Gromk
a, Mete per, R
icardo
institutions and the independent scene? with László Juhász: FriForma (since 2016) and
lkova Jacinto
a nd Féli FriFormA\V (since 2018). What is you curatorial
cie Ba
zelaire The situation is pretty similar here. The approach and how does FriFormA\V differ from
)
managers at bigger public institutions are less previous series?
enthusiastic about cooperating with smaller
independent cultural organizations. When we The FriForma concert series promotes creative
the end of the year they had made several harm- Gesamtkunstwerk Metelkova has actually been stage music or sound events that are more tech- music, a weird mixture of genres that we usually
ful decisions, which clearly indicate tough times one of the most attractive cultural locations in nically demanding — which can only be hosted in label free improvisation, free jazz or experimen-
ahead for the contemporary art scene in Slove- Ljubljana for many years, and is becoming one of a space with a lot of speakers for example — or tal music. The innovative aspect of the series is in
nia. the most visited tourist destinations in Slovenia. we need a concert piano, everything gets des- combining contemporary academic music and
The British newspaper the Guardian exclaimed perately expensive for us. The next obstacle is entirely self-invented approaches, and basically
What role does KUD Mreža play in the local art “Ljubljana? Metelkova!” in their article “How an booking a desired date for an event, which is everything in between. We try to present a care-
community and what do you wish to provide? abandoned barracks in Ljubljana became pretty hard and often means accepting second fully assembled balance of various concepts and
Do you collaborate with other initiatives and Europe’s most successful urban squat”. best. For example, we tried to organise a concert approaches, which can be contrasting or
organisations? Metelkova has become known as Slovenia’s se- for the Cologne-based quintet Emißatett three completely different from each other, while
cond capital. No joke. Although this description times last year. We wanted to put them on at the combining them into an organic unit that we call
Our trademark is mainly distinguished by the tru- is a bit over the top, I often get the feeling that largest national hall, Cankarjev Dom, but it was FriForma. Our audience appreciates this careful
ly authentic “Metelkova art style”, characterized Metelkova is more appreciated abroad than it is difficult to book the date we wanted as the venue selection.
by recycled art, which cultivates the awareness locally. However, we have a really good relation- gave preference to their own productions. Ulti-
that artistic interventions in space are not ship with the city authorities, and it seems they mately they were all dropped anyway due to the In addition to the common stage performances,
limited to the field of art, but can take the wider are proud of Metelkova. We also cooperate with pandemic. I recently watched an Emißatett we also offer residency stays, video and audio
social environment into account too. By 2020 the University Of Ljubljana – Academy Of Fine livestream and almost cried. The music they documentation, more serious sound recordings,
over 200 individual urban art projects had been Arts, and hope to work with some open-minded played was so beautiful. And we couldn’t make video production, presentations or lectures, and
created in Metelkova, together forming a com- professors from the Academy Of Music soon. It is this happen in Ljubljana! But we haven’t given up even international tours. All of the activities
plex and comprehensive public sculpture. Due to all about mutual support and empowerment. and will try again this year. Another example: we within the series strive to establish fruitful
the clear association with Kurt Schwitters’ Merz- Without cooperation we simply cannot accomp- recently received three very interesting offers cooperation between renowned international
bau, we have called this collection of urban art lish our mission. for international partnerships in 2021 and 2022, artists and talented local musicians. These
projects Gesamtkunstwerk Metelkova. and they all involve experimental, improvised or international collaborations over the last couple
new music. One came from Graz and is called of years gave birth to several music releases on
V:NM Festival, the second is an exciting initiative Edition FriForma, which is a local sub-label of the
from Berlin, and the third one is from Quebec, Ca- international record label Inexhaustible Editions.
nada. The same concern is already emerging: will In terms of FriFormA\V, it is a performance series
we be able to provide suitable venues to host 20 that offers unique artistic creations which invol-
to 30 international musicians in Ljubljana or not? ve video, light and photography in contemporary
We will certainly strive to cooperate with bigger sound environments, either in the fields of soundart and sound installations, or in the fields of im- How many artists visit each year and what do you
provised and composed music. FriFormA\V was look for in applicants?
established in response to the need to artisti-
cally upgrade or add further value to our existing I take care of the residency programme myself. In
concert series. Both series of events aim to ex- a good year, I can set up five or six longer working
plore new and innovative works and artistic visits, each hosted at Studio Asylum in Metel-
potentials of the younger generation of Slovenian kova. This is unpaid work for me and is only driven
musicians and visual artists. It is important to by my enthusiasm to help artists achieve their
add that as we are not tied to a single venue. Our desired plans or results. Our previous residents
events take place at various, sometimes surpri- include Seijiro Murayama, Samuel Dunscombe, Carl Ludwig Hübsch and Phil Minto
n at FriFor ma
sing locations in Ljubljana, from clubs and bars, Irene Kepl, Léo Dupleix and Simon Roy Christian- © Jože Balas
through art galleries and museums, to functio- sen, just to name a few musicians who come to
ning churches or other historical locations. mind immediately...
the one that defends political cooperation based sations participating. The feminist struggles of
With FriForma and your residency programme KUD Mreža, and others, has been organising the on mutual solidarity, not on private interests as the past have proved that attempts to define wo-
Studio Asylum, KUD Mreža has focused on inter- International Feminist and Queer Festival Red determined by the individual’s gender, sex, class men by gender or even by common features of
national collaborations and artistic exchange Dawns, which you also co-founded, for over 20 and age affiliation. We labelled the programme character are misleading: they are concerned
with local artists. What kind of effect does this years. The discourse around women* in art has events that disapprove of the assimilation of gay with the metaphysics of “femininity” and “mas-
exchange have on your organisation and the been changing constantly in that time. How has and lesbian politics and those that discuss sex culinity” instead of dealing with the reality of
local scene? your festival kept up with and maybe even adap- and gender diversity “queer”; so bodies, expres- everyday hatred, disrespect and exploitation of
ted to different discourses? sions and wishes of people for whom, with strict- people of all genders, not just women and men.
“An artist on a work challenge” is a one- to two- ly prescribed manners and appearances for The festival does not advocate a further polari-
month residency stay at our Studio Asylum in Although it was always feminist at its core, what (necessarily feminine) women and (necessarily zation of genders. Instead, the creativity and
Metelkova, which allows artists to get a feeling is now the International Feminist And Queer manly) men, there is no space in society.” the mixing of the participants questions the
for Metelkova, Ljubljana and Slovenia. The Festival Red Dawns started out as a Women’s Heteronormativity, or any kind of normativity, boundaries we take for granted, the isolating
working visit challenge also requires intervention Festival, and was once even called a Women’s needs to be questioned and addressed continu- boundaries that separate people regardless of
from the artist. Not only does the international Pocket Festival. “Feminist” was added to the ously in order to avoid social exclusion. This is gender.
artist get to know the local art scene, the em- name in 2007, and shortly after it became a what the festival events have aspired to do
phasis is also on what happens in the other direc- “Feminist And Queer Festival”. In 2016, the festi- throughout the years, while evolving with the How did the pandemic affect your work? Did you
tion: the introduction and transfer of skills, val team Slovenized the adjective “queer” to flow of changing times, with its many parti- have to deal with restrictions? And what kind of
knowledge, ideas and reflections that the new kvir(ovski), to better suit our needs. The changes cipants attracting a feminist and queer public in changes did you have to implement?
temporary resident brings to Ljubljana. This is in the festival’s name correlate not only with the Ljubljana. Since the very start, the idea of the
not the only priority of our residencies, and often discourse about women in art, but also with the festival was, firstly, to honour the mostly invisib- Our organisation is predominantly involved in vi-
these programmes do not have predefined gui- changes in the members of the voluntary team le creative and organizational work done by sual art and, as I already mentioned, the estab-
delines. We don’t invite artists via annual open that organises the festival, changes in political women at Metelkova, and secondly, to create a lishment of a gallery for contemporary art in a
calls—they can apply any time via a very simple situations, and the growing need to be more in- platform for expression, to redefine public space former military kitchen was our very first act.
application form on our website. We are clearly clusive in the festival’s statement of intent— to make it accessible for creativity and for wo- In 2020, the programme schedule for Alkatraz
aware that it is important for artists to move which is displayed through the events the team men to socialise on their own terms, in an non- Gallery, our semi-street gallery, the Night Display
away from their everyday environment someti- organizes. As Tea Hvala, a former long-time hierarchical, non-exploitational and anti-capita- Gallery Pešak’s programme, and of course the
mes and work somewhere else, so we offer them member of the programming team, put it in an in- listic manner, based on and still using DIY Gesamtkunst Metelkova schedule were all fully
a free stay in a space that allows them to work in terview in 2011: “One of the definitions of queer principles, through collective effort, not only of booked. The galleries started to host exhibitions
peace and quiet, while still being in an inspiring that Red Dawns leaned on was the coalitional— the team, but also the individuals and organi- at the beginning of the year and then the
environment.constantly changing instructions from the What might the art and culture scene look like in
government and the national institutes of health a post-Corona society? What do you hope it will
began. Vernissages and finissages, which are look like and how do we get there?
really popular social events, could no longer be
put on. The only option was to open the gallery
doors and supervise every single individual visit. I am afraid that attendance to concerts and other
So no crowds, no socialising. From June onwards live events will remain limited for quite some
we established an outdoor venue, right in front of time in the near future. For our experimental,
Alkatraz Gallery and Klub Gromka, and organised boutique concerts, a limit of 50 listeners is not a
some open-air events. We just managed to catch major problem. It is a much more painful outlook
the right moment in September, right before for festivals with hundreds or thousands of peo-
venues were completely closed again due to the ple, and it is certainly devastating for the music
second wave of Corona. The penultimate industry. I am also concerned about how inter-
FriForma concert was partly public—with legal national transport and travel possibilities will
permission for only 15 visitors—and partly live- function in the future. I wonder if putting on con-
streamed, followed by 263 people. Our last certs will become more expensive due to security
FriForma concert in December took place com- measures, which will surely last for some time.
pletely online via the Vienna-based streaming Hopefully our audience will not have shrunk
platform Echoreaume, and we had 123 individual by the end of the pandemic, but that more and
viewers. So that’s how we moved slowly from more people will be hungry for real, in-person ex-
closed spaces to open-air and then to virtual periences.
spaces.
What formats and potentials have you seen
Which artistic perspectives and issues do you emerging from the current situation that might
think will occupy art and culture professionals in point to how we will work in the future?
the field of experimental music over the coming
years? A positive experience that I would definitely like
to see continue into the future is the live-
I sincerely hope that governments in the EU will streaming of certain concerts. However, they
take serious action and help musicians make up must be organised by professional teams.
for the creative and financial opportunities they Professional cameras and real-time visualisation
have lost. When people suddenly found themsel- play very important role here, and eventually it
ves locked inside their homes, art helped them to can serve as a documentation in the form of an
overcome their anxiety. Many swore they would attractive video product. Of course, this kind
go crazy without listening to music, watching of “fun” is also expensive. It is really exciting
movies, or reading books. I hope they will remem- when you invite your friends from New Zealand,
ber this and support musicians by attending con- Japan or the States and watch a concert
certs when the situation improves. From conver- together online.
sations with musicians—László also conducted
several interviews last year—we learned that
some took advantage of time without live perfor-
8
mances to reflect on their past works, make Tito at Improcon 201
Nataša Serec and
plans for the future, while other artists compo- We thank László Juhász for his support in proof- © Eva Kosel
sed or edited their sound archives. reading the text, as well as Ana Grobler, artistic website
director of the Alkatraz Gallery and a member of kudmreza.org/home
the Red Dawn Festival team, for answering the
question concerning the Red Dawn Festival.
First and foremost, naturally, we thank Nataša
Serec for this interview.
ninterview
Jeff Henderson
en
einer reichen und eng
tet Jef f Henderson von
Aus Neuseeland berich Rau m für Exp erim ente vom
Audio Foundation
Community, in der die Par tituren bietet
Radio bis zu grafischen
Audio Foundation
The Audio Foundation operates as a sound/sonic Let’s step back a bit. What were your motives for
art gallery during the day and a performance ve- starting the Audio Foundation?
nue at night, presenting anything from 2 to 5
nights of music per week and 12 exhibitions per The Audio Foundation was in fact started by my
year. We also have a free lending library of home- friend and colleague Zoe Drayton, who began by
made electronic instruments, an audio archive, connecting the underground music scenes
research libraries, and we run regular work- throughout New Zealand via a website and chat
shops, artist talks, artist residencies, festivals, room. I believe the motivation to start Audio
tours and more. Foundation stemmed from noticing a lack of re-
cognition, representation and appreciation of
Once a month the Audio Foundation presents a New Zealand’s experimental underground, and
showcase event at the Wine Cellar, our next-door wanting to remedy this. Zoe had the vision and
neighbour and the venue at the heart of the passion to connect people, create a sustai-
Auckland’s independent music scene. These nable infrastructure and invigorate the scene.
nights feature established and emerging artists For over a decade, Zoe grew the Audio Foundati-
in an informal atmosphere and are a popular on into a thriving organisation with a strong com-
feature of our performance programmes. Every munity following and programmes with a natio-
Monday night the Wine Cellar hosts Vitamin S, a nal and international reach. When Zoe started
free improvisation night which has been running the Audio Foundation I was running a venue in
at work © Audio Foundatio
n a weekly session for almost twenty years. Vita- Wellington. Upon moving to Auckland in 2012 I
Jeff, John and Grac e hard
min S is a very important community collective immediately volunteered at the AF and began
which enables musicians, artists, dancers and producing events there. When Zoe left for new
Dear Jeff, two years ago you visited NRW with How big is the experimental music scene in your more to create spontaneous performance in a adventures in 2014, I took over steering the ves-
the International Visitors Program. Were you local area? supportive environment. sel.
able to take away some ideas for your work with
the Audio Foundation and how has your work de- Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland, New Zealand) has a In the same neighbourhood there is also Wham- On your website you describe how your instituti-
veloped since then? healthy and diverse scene of experimental and my Bar, Neck of the Woods, Anthology Lounge, on evolved from a journalistic endeavour into a
adventurous music which, as one would expect, Thirsty Dog, Artspace, Tautai and the Auckland performing and promotional initiative. How did
I had the great pleasure of visiting NRW and had a blends expressions of Maori, Pacific, Asian, Old Folks Association, which feature fantastic this development come about and what need
wonderful time meeting great people, hearing European and North American cultures and electronic music, punk, industrial, jazz etc. etc. were you hoping to satisfy?
incredible music and being introduced to some traditions (collaboration, innovation, change, etc!
inspiring organisations such as ON! I came home adaptation etc.). The Audio Foundation began in Zoe’s bedroom
with many ideas and inspirations and have often Being a tiny, isolated group of islands on the way with a computer and a phone and grew from the-
referred to the experiences I had with the Inter- The scene for live, original music is focused to Antarctica, Aotearoa is in the fortunate positi- re. From online texts, chat rooms, noticeboards,
national Visitors Programme in discussions around Karangahape Road, probably the most on of operating as normal whilst much of the gig guides to small events and concerts, to a ve-
about change and transformation. One of the famous street in Aotearoa, and in particular a world is suffering due to the Covid 19 pandemic. nue, exhibitions, symposiums etc. The river
central observations I made on my visit was that cluster of venues within a short walk of each The 2020 lockdowns and ensuing travel restric- brings and sustains life as it winds to the sea.
at the heart of each organisation is the funda- other. tions have drastically changed the performance
mental respect for artists, and in particular free- landscape. The absence of international touring
lance artists. The championing of freelance artists/acts has resulted in more opportunities
artists through an organised lobby group is inspi- for local artists, and audience growth for local
ring and vital. venues and events.Neil Fe
ather ©
Audio
F o un d
ation
Zombie
Piano w
© Audio Totems,
Foundati Cave Cir
Phil Dadso on cles, Slit
n „Short an opia,
© Audio Fo d Medium
undation Radio Wav
e Piec e“ 19
74
You have a lot of different programmes, from a How do you select artists for your residency pro- You also actively promote young artists. In what How does your organisation manage to
radio station to exhibitions and a yearly festival. gramme and what do you aim to provide for particular areas do young musicians need sup- finance such a large range of programmes? Do
How is the Audio Foundation structured? Do you them? Does the residency also involve networ- port these days? you receive government support?
curate the programme yourself or can one get in- king with the local scene?
volved? Musicians need opportunities to perform in pub- The Audio Foundation is fortunate to be funded
We run quite flexible residency programmes and lic, opportunities to collaborate with established by Creative NZ, which is the government arts
A lot of the programming is done by my amazing have an open submission process. As we only artists, space and time to develop their work and council, the Auckland Council (local body), and
colleague Samuel Longmore, who has been with receive minimal funding for residencies, we have people to listen to and care about their music. community trusts such as Foundation North. We
the Audio Foundation since 2015, and myself. a number of different ways we host artists. This is what the Audio Foundation tries to also rely on box office earnings and donations.
Part of our job is to try and keep up with what is Sometimes we are able to pay artists a stipend provide.
happening throughout the country and to do and provide workspace for two weeks, some Does Audio Foundation collaborate with other
what we can to feature as much as possible in our residencies are performance based and present organisations at a local, regional, national, or
programming. a week of concerts, collaborations and work- even international level?
We also take submissions, invite curators, orga- shops, other residencies are for research.
nisers and collaborators. One can always be- We assist each residency as we are able. Yes, we have many partners throughout the
come involved with Audio Foundation, we have country and many international partners and
many volunteers and helpers, a supportive board friends, including new ones such as LTK4 in
of trustees and many great community partners. Cologne, with whom we are currently engaged in
a collaborative project involving six sound artists
from Germany and New Zealand!on
undati Jeff Henderson
dio Fo
rojec t © Au
serva tory P
The Ob
In Germany there is a big difference bet- The pandemic has not had the same impact in What might the art and culture scene look like in website
ween institutional culture (museums, orchest- New Zealand as it has, for example, in a post-Corona society? What do you hope will audiofoundation.org.nz/
ras) and independent culture (independent mu- Germany. How did it effect your work? Did you change and how do we get there?
sicians, composers, etc.). Do you also make this have to deal with restrictions and was there any
distinction? How do you experience the state aid available? Well, the days of unbridled, cheap international
relationship between institutions and the air travel have ended... I think local scenes will
independent scene? The Audio Foundation received no additional thrive, people will travel less, get tired of the In-
support during the lockdowns. Our main priority ternet, go to a local venue, walk more, invent
Things are similar here I imagine. Aotearoa is still in this time is health and well-being. New Zea- instruments, sing, dance, talk on the phone, talk
suffering from the ravages of colonialism and land has a tragically high suicide rate and the in person, cook at home, share food, and so on.
imperialism, the continuing oppression of indige- music and arts communities are regularly de- At least, that is what I am planning…
nous people, the greed and callousness of vastated by such events. The Audio Foundation is
neo-liberalism, the horrors of fascist ideology, a community hub that offers an open door. What formats and potentials have you seen
the mind-numbing ignorance of Internet conspi- emerging from the current situation that might
racies, climate and environmental disasters, and point to how we will work in the future?
a fucking pandemic… What was the question?
I am waiting. I feel it is still so early. A lot of
Do you see areas in your daily work where you responses were online focused, most I find very
would be interested in new collaborations? boring. Do people need more reasons to sit on
their arses in front of a screen? I am looking for-
Always! ward to things moving away from the Internet.
ninterview et Mehdi Hosseini ein
ambivalentes Bild der
zeitgenös-
Aus Russland zeichn an kün stle risc her Bedeutung
erseits immer mehr
sischen Musik, die ein atten der prestigere
ichen
and ere rse its abe r noch immer im Sch ht.
gewinnt, klassischen Musik ste
Mehdi Hosseini
reMusik.org
g
ik.or
Mus
© re
identities of contemporary composers, where a What were the motives behind establishing re-
cultural discourse for finding common ground is Musik.org?
created.
By 2010, after I had completed my studies in
The Saint Petersburg Contemporary Music Cen- music composition at Saint Petersburg Conser-
ter is about education and the development of vatory, I already had some experience as a com-
Russian contemporary music, and this process poser working with different orchestras, ensem-
M e h di
© reMu
Hossein
i demands mutual involvement, engagement, and bles, and musicians from St. Petersburg. It is
sik.org
interaction within the professional community, well known that St. Petersburg is the home of the
both in this country and abroad. This is especially most prominent representatives of the Russian
What strikes us about your institution is that it is thus contributing to a greater awareness of the true since new music is far from being something school of composition, such as Glinka, Borodin,
particularly international and very high-calibre. human world on a wider scale of culture and static, identifiable by timeless facts and classi- Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov,
How do you see the relationship between this in- identity. As identities are essentially construc- cal principles, but a form of art that can be consi- Prokofiev, Shostakovich. Moreover, ever since
ternational orientation and your national and tible, and such construction occurs in a definite dered a historical and evolutionary phenomenon. the time of its foundation, it has also been an at-
local work? way in each period, global integration has tractive city for foreign musicians, which always
brought the bases of this process together to a Summing up, I would say that due consideration strengthened Russian and European musical ties
Culture is a wide-ranging concept comprising the single point. of transnational and global events allows us to and increased the city’s international prestige.
values and social norms of human society, as satisfy the needs of the younger generation of The city has a huge number of orchestras, con-
well as individual knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Music forms the identity in any country or nation, composers, musicians, artists and those who cert venues, music schools, including regular
customs, skills and habits. as well as contemporary thinking patterns, and concern themselves with new music, and to pave contemporary music festivals such as Sound
as such is one of the most significant elements of the way for the emergence of new perspectives, Ways, St. Petersburg Musical Spring, New Hori-
With the expansion of global and transnational culture. Contemporaneity in music is understood going beyond the country’s borders in a global zons, From Avant-Garde to the Present Day, Time
identities, people tend to become more undiffe- as the philosophical and aesthetic contemplat- context. of Music: Fin de siècle. In addition, the PRO ARTE
rentiated in their tastes, relationships, and per- ion that emanates from changes in musical Foundation presented lots of interesting pro-
ceptions. The process of globalization disrupts language and its evolution over the past one grammes with the participation of eNsemble un-
stability, homogeneity, and integration on the hundred years. Thus, the identity of musical cul- der the direction of composer Boris Filanovsky.
one hand, transforming society into a permeable ture and the process of its globalization are natu- Despite all of this, a number of circumstances
and fragmented space, but on the other, it im- ral, progressive and evolutionary. So in response led me to leave Russia in order to continue my
plies communication, kinship, interdependence to your question, I would say that reMusik.org is work in another country and be, like any interes-
between individuals, groups and communities, actually a platform that represents the musical ted composer of contemporary music would
wish, at the focal point of world events, espe-Sie können auch lesen
