From Sufi dub and samba to Tanzanian bongo flava or the trance-like polyrhythms of the Balochi benjo from Pakistan. On four summer weekends, a free, transcultural and multi-generational music festival will once again take place at the Schlüterhof in the heart of the Humboldt Forum. On twelve evenings, the open-air festival Durchlüften will present a dynamic program with 24 live performances and 12 DJ sets with artists from Berlin's music scene and around the world. Music curator and music-scene aficionado Melissa Perales has lovingly compiled a fresh line-up packed with fun and highly danceable acts for the festival’s fourth season, with performances, dance workshops and a family program to discover.
On twelve evenings, every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 18 July to 10 August 2024, Durchlüften presents a unique musical journey across continents and borders. The open-air festival takes you from Lagos to Port-au-Prince, from Dar es Salaam to Beirut, from London to São Paulo and back to the club sounds of Berlin's nightlife - multi-perspective and extremely danceable.
The fourth edition of the festival has a number of highlights, including the opening: with the almost eighty-year-old Ustad Noor Bakhsh from Pakistan. Deeply rooted in the musical traditions of Baluchistan, his virtuoso performances incorporate Indian ragas, Persian and Kurdish melodies, as well as Afghan ghazals. They are guaranteed to put the Berlin audience into a frenzied trance. The Pakistani-Hanseatic duo of Sharif Khan and Viktor Marek, who transform classical South Asian music into club tracks, will take things to the next level with their live beats, booming bass, and sitar strings. The night rounds off with a DJ set from London-based musician, producer, DJ, and radio presenter Nabihah Iqbal.
Durchlüften also presents a number of Brazil’s current musical ambassadors: Afro-Brazilian groove visionaries, BIXIGA 70, along with Sessa and Bia Ferreira, two of Brazil’s current leading musicians, as well as the São Paulo-born, Berlin-based multi-instrumentalist and music producer Mauricio Fleury with his quintet, whose members include Ghanaian musical legend Ekow Alabi Savage. Also from Ghana: the new reggae sensation Y-Bayani & Baby Naa and the Band of Enlightenment, Reason & Love.
Haitian-Canadian singer songwriter and winner of the JUNO, Dominique Fils-Aimé, reflects on the long history of Afro-American music culture and the social issues that inspired genres such as blues, jazz, and soul. Emel (Mathlouthi), the Tunisian protest singer who provided the soundtrack to the revolution with her 2012 album, “My Word is Free” (in Arabic: Kelmti Horra) brings her inspirational new album MRA to Berlin and with Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force, one of Africa's most explosive bands takes to our stage. Durchlüften is collaborating with the Tanzanian Sauti Zau Busara Festival for the first time, building a further bridge between Europe and the African continent. The collaboration begins with Abeneko & the Positive Mind and the duo Mabantu.
Audiences can look forward to the LIVE CINEMA performance by Vincent Moon & Rabih Beaini, who will be exploring a new format that combines a live mix of clips from Moon’s documentary film with live music by Rabih Beaini. An hour-long dabke dance workshop celebrating Middle Eastern culture, hosted by artist Medhat Aldabaal and Ali Hasan from the Humboldt Forum’s Resident Music Collective, invites visitors to delve into the rhythmic energy of this Levantine Arab folk dance. And many more.
Mexican-American curator Melissa Perales, a Berlin resident since 1995, is deeply committed to promoting inclusion in the music scene and creating spaces where artists can tell their stories. As Perales says: “For me it was very important that every summer since 2021, Durchlüften has celebrated the joy of musical discovery while creating a space in which culture is accessible to everyone, connecting these sounds and stories across borders to curious and open-minded audiences. Together we strive to heal and manifest the world in which we all want to live in together, and I believe that listening and sharing is the best way of achieving this. That is why it is my great honour to once again bring together so many amazing storytellers both locally and globally for our wonderful month-long musical journey. I believe there is something for everyone! So bring your friends and family and for twelve nights this summer, let’s plant some seeds together: listen, connect, laugh, and – of course – dance!”
The line-up will be accompanied by the Story Theatre family programme for children aged 4+, which will take place each Saturday at 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, and 2 pm. The narrators have a plenty of stories to tell and will be combining narrative material, myths, and imagery that transcend languages. Each weekend different stories will be told in German and one additional language.
DURCHLÜFTEN 2024
Duration 18 July to 10 August 2024
Location Schlüterhof courtyard, Schlossplatz, 10178 Berlin
Admission free
Programme humboldtforum.org; press photos: humboldtforum.org/press
Lineup
Thursday, 18 July 24, 7 – 11 pm – Ustad Noor Bakhsh (Baluchistan, Pakistan), Ashraf Sharif Khan & Victor Marek (Hamburg, Pakistan), Nabihah Iqbal, DJ set (London, Pakistan)
Friday, 19 July 24, 7 pm to midnight – Bia Ferreira (Brazil), Sessa (Brazil), DJ Mauricio Fleury (Berlin, Brazil)
Saturday, 20 July 24, 7 pm to midnight – Y-Bayani & Baby Naa and The Band of Enlightenment, Reason & Love (Saltpond, Ghana), Mauricio Fleury feat. Ekowmania (Ghana, Berlin, Brazil), DJ Ben Olayinka (Berlin)
Thursday, 25 July 24, 7 – 11 pm – Dominique Fils Aimé | Montreal, (Canada, Haiti), Cocotá (Berlin, Senegal), DJ mokeyanju aka Jumoke Adeyanju (Berlin)
Friday, 26 July 24, 7 pm to midnight – Emel Mathlouthi (Tunisia, U.S.), Madanii (Berlin, Iran), DJ Booty Carrell (Munich)
Saturday, 27 July 24, 7 pm to midnight – Abeneko & the Positive Mind (Tanzania), Mabantu (Tanzania), DJ mokeyanju| aka Jumoke Adeyanju (Berlin)
Thursday, 1 August 24, 7 – 11 pm – Etuk Ubong (Nigeria), Steve Mekoudja (Berlin, Cameroon), DJs In Living Color (Berlin)
Friday, 02 August 24, 7 pm to midnight – Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force (Senegal), Muito Kaballa (Cologne), DJ Ben Olayinka (Berlin)
Saturday, 03.08.24, 7 pm to midnight – BIXIGA 70 (Brazil), Berlinda Samba Jazz (Berlin, Brazil), DJ Radio Hobo (Berlin, Venezuela)
Thursday, 08 August 24, 7 pm to midnight – Fulu Miziki (Congo), BantuSoul All Star Band (Berlin, Congo), DJ Alai K aka Disco Vumbi (Berlin, Kenya)
Friday, 09 August 24, 7 pm to midnight – Vincent Moon & Rabih Beaini’s LIVE CINEMA (France, Berlin, Lebanon), Adir Jan (Berlin, Kurdistan), DJ AAMIROO (Berlin, Iran)
Saturday, 10 August 24, 7 – 11 pm – Dabke Community Dance led by Medhat Aldabaal and Ali Hasan (Berlin, Syria), Pulsar Collective (Berlin, Syria, Türkiye, Poland), DJ Ipek (Berlin, Türkiye)
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