(photo Herre Vermeer)
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Two winning projects have been selected from an open call for the CTM 2019 Radio Lab. The organisers would like to thank everyone who took the time to submit their proposals, which totalled 175 entries from 43 countries, and collectively addressed the call’s themes and challenges from a wide and interesting array of perspectives.
Awarded by Deutschlandfunk Kultur – Radio Art/Klangkunst and CTM Festival, in collaboration with ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst festival, Ö1 Kunstradio, and The Wire magazine, the CTM 2019 Radio Lab open call sought unusual explorations of the artistic possibilities of radio and live performance or installation mediums, while also addressing the CTM 2019 – Persistence festival theme.
With (Non) Humanism and Animism, Aurélie Nyirabikali Lierman researches (modern) forms of animism, and how animistic worldviews have managed to survive in spite of severe oppression through heavy colonization. Herself born in Rwanda but raised in Belgium, Lierman takes direct inspiration from a series of life-changing encounters with her 108-year-old grandfather, one of the last living Rwandan traditional hunters and doctors that has seen the pre-colonial country of his childhood pass through two colonization events (German and Belgian), the 1950s revolution for independence, the genocide and post-war massacres of the 90s, and the country’s present-day turmoil. Lierman’s family visits have resulted in an ongoing investigation into the soundscape of contemporary urban and rural East African, and of her native region of Virunga in particular. The Wire‘s Phil England comments: “(Non) Humanism & Animism will give festival attendees and radio listeners a unique perspective into a contrasting cultural perspective, one that we hope will transport listeners into another reality while providing an insight into a colonial past that needs confronting as well as a powerful, living example of persistence.”
“Persistence in Mexico, as in other parts of the world, or rather, throughout the world, today, is not a choice or a possibility: it is a condition to be able to survive, to be able to imagine a different future … contributing substantially to critical thinking and resistance throughout the world” writes Mexican sound artist Israel MartÃnez. With Love and Rage, the artist proposes a tribute to the persistence of resistance via a series of powerful, intimate performances that give “a very strong sonic statement on political activism in Mexico, resonating with many forms of persistence around the world.” Marcus Gammel (Deutschlandfunk Kultur).
The winning works will be premiered at CTM 2019 Festival in Berlin (25.01. – 03.02.2019), with radio versions to be broadcast via Deutschlandfunk Kultur (spring 2019). The works will also be presented by the Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF Austrian Broadcasting Service) via one of their platforms: the ORF Zeit-Ton or Ö1 Kunstradio shows, or the ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst festival in Graz in autumn 2019.
The jury consisted of:
Cedrik Fermont (independent artist and researcher)
Elisabeth Zimmerman (Producer, ORF Kunstradio)
Jan Rohlf (Artistic & Managing Director, CTM Festival)
Marcus Gammel (Curator, Deutschlandfunk Kultur Radio Art / Klangkunst)
Philip England (The Wire)
Kunstenfestival Watou 2020 will kick off early July displaying its corona proof open air exhibition of contemporary art combined with poetry, located in the marvelous landscape of Heuvelland, a region in West-Vlaanderen.