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Goran of Belgradeyard Sound System |
Transmediale Festival 2003 Lifts Off
[2002-01-23]
Starting January 31 and running for nine days, Berlin will be hosting its annual Transmediale Festival. So point your Vespa Berlin-wards as the performers unfold their laptops for some of the best electronic music as well as experimental art and media the world (Europe) has to offer. This year?s theme, "Play Global!", holds the creative magnifying glass over the effects globalization has had on European arts and culture, lighting the proverbial fire into which artists and art enthusiasts alike can fly. Among those scheduled to perform their tricks of the trade are Miss Kitten, Ultra Red, and People Like Us.
This year, the main festival also features a festival (of sorts) within itself, entitled "Go East". This program aims to highlight the achievements of emerging performers from Eastern and Central European countries who have previously gone often unrecognized in the West. In a motion of goodwill and friendship, as well as to encourage the development of a dialogue between artists from different countries, the events of "Go East" are interspersed within the greater context of the festival. As for specifics, the performers who just may be caught gazing intently into the depths of their computer screens include Retro Sex Galaxy, Kotra, Klutch, Belgradeyard Sound System, Gameboyzz Orchestra Project, and Membrana.
In conjunction with the "Go East" program, Austrian journalist, Susanna Niedermayer, will present, then lead a talk on her new book, In the East: New Music Territories in Europe, which she co-authored with journalist Christian Scheib. Through extensive research and interviews with the artists themselves, the book explores the recent history of experimental music in Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and Croatia. The essays also delve into how each country?s contemporary music scene relates to its respective political and social history.
Taking the lead from it?s club culture inspiration, the Transmediale Festival has [self-consciously] chosen the wandering life, constructing a new venue for itself every year. This year you will find the festival has put down its landing gear at Maria am ufer, an der Schillingbruke/Stralauer Platz, 10234 Berlin. For more information about tickets, prices, schedules, what have you, visit the festival web site at www.transmediale.de
Nell Boeschenstein
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