The poster promoting The Unsound Festival, photo. organizators materials
The line-up features artists from around the world, including Australia, the USA, the UK, Norway, Finland, Germany, Estonia, Spain and, of course, from Poland.
The strong focus on Poland follows on from Unsound London in 2013, where Polish artists were also at the heart of the program, an indication of the vibrancy and strength of underground music from Unsound's home country. – as the organizers admit
Also central to the New York programme are the cross-border projects and collaborations for which Unsound has become known. Previously commissioned projects include "Concealed", with Demdike Stare, key players from Sinfonietta Cracovia and Michael England's visuals. Andy Votel will also present "Kleksploitation", a homage to the cult Polish film trilogy "Pan Kleks" and its psychedelic score, by Warsaw composer Andrzej Korziński. "Kleksploitation" was commissioned by Unsound Krakow in 2012.
To celebrate the focus on Polish artists and special projects at Unsound Festival New York 2014, Unsound and culture.pl are producing a CD called "Tunnels", in partnership with the music magazine The WIRE. Focusing on artists in the programme, the CD will be given out for free to subscribers of the April issue of The WIRE. More info on the track list coming.
Mat Schulz, an Australian writer, settled in Krakow 18 years ago. He found a city fully up to speed with international trends in music and immersed in fresh creative energy. Inspired by this, in 2003 Mat Schulz started the Unsound Festival, which has since grown into one of the premier avant-garde music events in Europe.
The fact that it’s coming from Krakow in a sense makes it more interesting. It’s not what you would expect, and it makes a comment about the way that culture now doesn’t necessarily come from these precise points you’d think it would come from. That’s what this festival is about as well: disrupting preconceived notions of a lot of different types, not only about what a country or a city is, or what cultural centers are, but also what music is and how different kinds of music can be connected. That’s really at the heart of the whole enterprise. – said Mat Schulz
Unsound Festival New York 2014
Unsound is presented by: Fundacja Tone and the Polish Cultural Institute New York
Production Partner: ISSUE Project Room
In co-operation with: TMU (Trust for Mutual Understanding), City of Krakow, Krakow Festival Office, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York, Goethe-Institut New York, Electronic Music Foundation, the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, BAMcinématek, The Bunker, Mutual Dreaming, Experimental Intermedia and SubPac
Included artists: Oren Ambarchi (Australia), Wilhelm Bras (Poland), Suzanne Ciani (USA), copeland (Estonia), Demdike Stare (UK), DeepChord (USA), Michael England (UK), Evol (Spain), Huerco S. (USA), Ital & Halal (USA), Kapital (Poland), Piotr Kurek (Poland), Le Petit Garçon (Norway), Leisure Muffin (USA), Paal Nilssen-Love (Norway), Ben Manely (USA), Sean Meehan (USA), Miles (UK), Neotantrik (UK), Phill Niblock (USA), Piętnastka (Poland), Robert Piotrowicz (Poland), Porter Ricks (Germany), James Rushford (Australia), string players from Sinfonietta Cracovia (Poland), Hakon Stene (Norway), Stara Rzeka (Poland), Joe Talia (Australia), Vladislav Delay (Finland), Ben Vida (USA), Andy Votel (UK) and Hubert Zemler (Poland).
Further information here
Sources: organizators materials, ed. & translated: Katarzyna Maksimiuk, 25.03.2014