What happens when experimental musicians and composers explore Web3 and blockchains? What new possibilities and what old problems exist for music and musicians in this rapidly-changing field? How are musical practices changing in light of the ongoing pandemic? (How) are institutions responding?
Image above: Isa Wolff, Photo: Eulenflug Festival
Process and Protocol is a weekend-long festival organised by the Berliner Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (BGNM) and taking place at ACUD Macht Neu from April 1st to 3rd 2022 to explore these questions with Berlin’s musical community. The event asks why this particular intersection of music and technology seemingly beams with hope amidst the existential challenges facing the music performance and recording landscape.
Five new commissions to composers and musicians presented in a hybrid exhibition both in-person and online, along with a concert, workshop, exhibition, and panel discussions and a series of essays will bring us together to celebrate and scrutinize how our practices are changing in light of new technologies.
Featuring new works by the artists: Bnaya Halperin-Kaddari, Dmitri Kourliandski, Loré Lixenberg, Line Tjørnhøj und Moisés Horta Valenzuela
About the festival concert
The Process and Protocol festival concert puts a spotlight on two Berlin-based composers, working in and around experimental sound, politics and the connections between the voice, body and language. Vocalist, improviser and composer Lara Alarcón will present a live vocal and electronics set, expanding on her practice of exploring communicational gestures through improvisation. Kaj Duncan David will perform a live set based on music from on his 2021 solo release, All Culture Is Dissolving. We round off the evening with beats, breaks and spheric soundscapes from DJ Isa Wolff.
Programme
Friday, April 1st
5 pm: Exhibition opening (at ACUD Macht Neu and online)
6 pm: Welcome
7 pm: Panel Discussion 1 – Searching for Utopias: Is technology the answer in an unjust world?
Saturday, April 2nd
noon – 5 pm: Exhibition open
5 pm: Panel Discussion 2 – The Sound of Blockchain: A Critical View on Music and NFTs
8 pm: Concert with Kaj Duncan David and Lara Alarcón + DJ set by Isa Wolff (Registration required)
Sunday, April 3rd
11 am – 2:30 pm: Exhibition open
3 – 5pm Workshop – Your Friendly Guide to NFTs And Blockchain for Artists (Registration required)
WHEN?
Festival: Friday April 1st – Sunday April 3rd, 2022
Concert: Saturday April 2nd, 2022 – 20:00 to midnight
WHERE?
ACUD Macht Neu
Veteranenstraße 21
10119 Berlin
KOSTET?
All events are free of charge except the concert which costs 10 EUR
 at ACUD Macht Neu from 1.-3.4.22.){kind=link}