Sound meets sculpture: The Egyptian Museum and DUAT Records support the initiative “United We Stream” as part of the United We Stream Festival with a concert and DJ session at the Neues Museum. With regular broadcasts of music and DJ performances, the international live streaming offer “United We Stream”, initiated by various artists, aims to provide lasting support for the club and concert scene particularly affected by the Corona pandemic with extraordinary formats. For this reason, the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection of the National Museums in Berlin and the Berlin label DUAT Records have invited the musicians* and DJs Amin Fallaha, Minco, Lisa Morgenstern, Acid Pauli, Lyra von Rose and VALENTIN to perform at the Neues Museum. The stream will be available free of charge on 26 July 2020 from 2 pm to 7 pm via stream at the following link: unitedwestream.berlin/.
“The cooperation with United We Stream and the young ambitious musicians is a very special experience,” says Friederike Seyfried, Director of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection. “We hope for a fruitful continuation of this cooperation, which will bring ancient Egyptian culture to the Neues Museum in a new, surprising and fascinating perspective”. Ruede Hagelstein, co-founder of DUAT Records, adds: “Our label was largely inspired by ancient Egyptian mythology. It is therefore a special honour for us to combine the cultural treasures of the Egyptian Museum with exciting musical acts”.
Founded in Berlin in 2017, the label DUAT Records, whose name refers to the ancient Egyptian underworld, combines contemporary electronic music with a long gone culture of which there are no sound traditions at all today. Out of the interest of a preferably precise historical observation and the use of terms, the label has been in contact with the museum for quite some time. The streaming project now offers the opportunity to intensify this approach. The focus of the cooperation is not only on musical performances in selected rooms of the Neues Museum; between the individual acts, special objects from the collection are brought into focus in a virtual tour of the museum. In this way, a wonderful symbiosis of concert and museum visit is created, which can be enjoyed at any time, anywhere in the world.
The streaming event will start with a 30-minute open-air performance by the German-Bulgarian pianist, singer and composer Lisa Morgenstern in the Kolonnadenhof of the Museum Island Berlin. The daughter of two orchestra musicians recently released her current album “Chameleon”, which focuses on dark romanticism and atmospheric staging.
Lyra von Rose presents her concert in the atmospheric setting between the statues of the rulers of the Pharaoh’s room. The singer and pianist, who was born in South Korea, lived in Canada for a long time and moved to Berlin in 2019, prefers to use classical instrumentation in her intimate songs.
Amin Fallaha is a DJ from Berlin and co-founder of DUAT Records. The son of an Egyptian mother and a Syrian father has been interested in ancient Egyptian mythology since childhood. His DJ set, which oscillates stylistically between techno and folkloristically influenced musical elements, takes place in the Egyptian Courtyard of the Neues Museum amidst ancient Egyptian stone sarcophagi and framed by ancient Egyptian papyri of the Book of the Dead.
In the central room of the Neues Museum, the famous Staircase Hall, Berlin-based musician Minco plays one of her eclectic sets, which are influenced by the legacy of her African roots, among other things. With her celebrated performances, the trained dancer, whose artistic expression focuses on movement, tours Europe, Africa, America and the Middle East.
Born into a family of musicians in Heidelberg in 1990, Hannah Valentin began her musical activities at the age of three. Since 2017 the Berlin-based musician, founder and painter has dedicated herself to electronic music as VALENTIN. Recently, she made her multiple sclerosis disease, which she was diagnosed with at the age of 15, public. She wants to contribute to the education of the public and be a role model especially for young people with MS. Just like Minco, she will perform in the large stairwell of the Neues Museum.
Born in Bavaria, Martin Gretschmann started playing bass in various independent bands in the early 1990s, while at the same time he was interested in the development of electronic music and has been exploring this field as Acid Pauli for 20 years. He presents his live set between the ruler statues of the Pharaoh Room.
During the corona-related closure of clubs and concert halls worldwide, the United We Stream initiative organizes gigs and DJ sets at special locations that are available internationally via stream. For the Berlin scene, the team of DUAT Records pays special attention to bringing together classical culture and subculture in terms of content, which underlines the special networking of Berlin cultural institutions and, especially in the current situation, is a clear signal for solidarity and cohesion. In addition to the Neues Museum, other Berlin venues for “United We Stream” include the Botanical Garden Berlin, the former Tempelhof Airport and Monopol Berlin.
The stream from the Neues Museum is available on Sunday, 26 July from 7 to midnight at Arte Concerts at https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/RC-019297/united-we-stream/ and is shared by the National Museums in Berlin, DUAT Records, United We Stream, Arte and all acts on their websites and social platforms. On the Facebook page of the Neues Museum, for example, viewers can comment live and enter into direct dialogue. The stream will also remain available on ARTE.tv afterwards.
