premiere

newpolyphonies rewired, an installation by Myriam Van Imschoot, HYOID voices & Walpurgis

In newpolyphonies rewired the presence of sound is contagious, stirring the air and wobbling wave-patterns to the point of sweet vertigo. Among 20 little loudspeakers the listener surrenders to an ever-changing journey, where elastic landscapes arise before they sink back under the skin. Check out the installation during Almost Summer festival at Kunstencentrum BUDA from 05 > 20.06.

As always in the work of Myriam Van Imschoot all the sounds in newpolyphonies rewired are made by the bare human body and voice without technical added effect, as surprising as it might be. This time the singers attune their polyphony to the traffic of airplanes and the drum of insects beyond points of recognition of what is individual and what is collective, human or machine.

The sound installation of Myriam Van Imschoot and HYOID voices, developed with WALPURGIS, is based on the recordings of the concert newpolyphonies where 4 singers of HYOID were joined by 17 local performers in a performance at Muziekcentrum De Bijloke. Rewiring this event transforms it to a new level of immersion.

Two commissioned audio pieces by Yasmina Reggad

Tune in at Right on Time Radio for Ritournelle of Yasmina Reggad, a site-specific sound artwork commissioned by Sheffield Docfest. Daily broadcast from 05 > 12.06.

Yasmina also created the podcast Home Away Kit, commissioned by AIN and Locus Athens for their podcast series Correspondence #6 which is part of the collective cinema project Unfortunately, it was paradise.

ROT Garden by Sara Manente & guests

A landscape of sounds, smells, texts, textures and dances, the installation ROT GARDEN by Sara and guests, is presented during Almost Summer at BUDA from 10 > 13.06 with daily lectures, conversations, sounds, a pickle bar and a performance by Paz Rojo on 12.06.

Together with Marcos Simões, Gitte Hendrikx, Christophe Albertijn, Sara presents a series of performative gestures entitled MOLDING during Live Arts Week X by Xing in Bologna on 25 & 26.06.

Sara is also co-curating the a.pass Block 2021 II in May, June & July.

Christophe Meierhans' public installation The Good Life - not Frequently enough Asked Questions

The Good Life by Christophe Meierhans proposes a starting point to engage with the complexity of our contemporary situations and is presented at Luzerner Theater from 04 > 14.06.

Hinging on the breaking down of our planet's ecological systems, our times are marked by an "everything crisis" which leaves no aspect of life untouched. It is an attempt to map out the not frequently enough asked questions urgently requiring responses to understand better where we stand and how to act. It is meant to become a tool helping navigate our collective issues, establish new links and awarenesses, beyond limits of disciplines. The Good Life is also a call for responses. An invitation for anyone to tackle these questions with the means at disposal and in the manner that feels most appropriate. Starting as a simple list of questions, it intends to help weave collective narratives and imaginaries to give form to a Good Life which would still be useful to long for today. This public installation is made in collaboration with Jens Burde, Daniella Weinmann and Eva Brunschwiler.

Cassiel Gaube's Soirée d'études on Podium19

Watch the new creation of Cassiel Gaube from 24.04 on Podium19 during this year's edition of Dag van de Dans. The video stays online on VRT NU for a month (only in Belgium).

On tour

Letters from Attica of Begüm Erciyas at the Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati, auawirleben & Wiener Festwochen

In conditions of solitude – as for travelers or prisoners – people have often resorted to writing letters as a means of communication with their closests, revealing the very sensation of being in isolation. Sam Melville has done so from the Attica prison, where he was held on charges of sabotaging public property in protest of the Vietnam war, and where he would die during the Attica prison riots in 1971. Letters from Attica is presented at Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnat i, auawirleben and Wiener Festwochen.

His and others' voices in similar conditions connect the sensations of loneliness and the one of determination. In her artistic works Begüm Erciyas often uses sound and instruction to accompany the spectator in an experience that is deeply solitary and yet collective. For Letters from Attica she imagines for the first time a project for the public space. Multiple voices give a personal form to sound waves. They inscribe words in public space and generate unforeseen sentences. As a first encounter with the city, Letters from Attica is a search for means to let a voice travel from one to the many.

review

Karel Burssens' Untitled (Currents) at deSingel

After the presentation of the installation Untitled (Currents) at deSingel on 18 > 20.03.2021, Pieter T'Jonck wrote a review on pzazz. This new version builds on the performance Currents by Karel Burssens, a duet between man and machine, which premiered at Vooruit in 2019.

A light sculpture moves in the dark. Gradual variations in the light and the sculpture's behaviour create ever-changing perceptions of the space. This spatial experience is accompanied by the orchestrated rhythm of the machine and a custom-made soundtrack. The dynamic composition of light and sound immerses the viewer in a spherical and disorienting bath of light.

The installation at large unfolds like a hypnotic pendulum, where the spectator inevitably becomes part of the work, simply by being present. Due to this, the tension between the rotating machine and the space, between object and spectator, is made tangible.

Through the relationship between man and machine, the installation wants to reveal our contemporary position as entities that are forced to constantly adapt. How do we continuously find a new balance in an environment that is always subject to shifts, on both a technological and socio-political level?

Postponed

Premiere of Soirée d'études by Cassiel Gaube

In Soirée d'études, Cassiel Gaube expands the research set out in his solo Farmer Train Swirl - Étude and creates a trio exploring the rich vocabulary of House Dance in a series of études.

An étude, in the musical sense of the word, is a composition designed as an occasion to explore the possibilities of a particular technique and to experiment with these, which is similar to the way House Dance is practiced. Drawing from commonly known moves, the dancer looks for variations of these steps and for inventive ways of articulating them together. This common knowledge allows people to read each other's dancing. Together with two dancers experienced in Street dance, Cassiel seeks to reveal the literacy that this practice requires and produces.

Get familiar with the work by reading this interview (in French) with Cassiel.

Let us keep on responding, reflecting and rebuilding in solidarity

En tant qu'organisation soutenant le développement des trajectoires artistiques, Hiros travaille en étroite collaboration avec les artistes individuels et leurs équipes, créant ainsi un environnement durable et à long terme pour la création et la recherche artistiques.

La crise provoquée par la pandémie de COVID-19 expose douloureusement la vulnérabilité du secteur artistique et augmente les inégalités déjà existante. Hiros assiste en particulier à l'aggravation de la situation déjà précaire de l'artiste et du travailleur culturel.

Vu la permanente gravité du moment, nous appelons les gouvernements fédéraux flamand, bruxellois et belge à formuler une politique de crise transversale et à long terme pour la culture. Nous appelons également le secteur artistique lui-même à continuer à réagir, réfléchir et reconstruire en solidarité.

Nous demandons en outre d'engager un vaste débat sur la nature actuelle du statut de l'artiste, en vue d'assurer la durabilité des carrières et des pratiques des artistes, ainsi que leur liberté d'expression, leur reconnaissance sociale et financière et leur bien-être individuel.