UNFURL / SOFT CENTRE, Nov 24th - 27th
SOFT CENTRE presents UNFURL, a four-day festival of experimental performance, sound and digital art, taking over six unique sites across Sydney city from Thursday 24 Nov - Sunday 27 Nov.
The extended ‘UNFURL’ weekend commences with a concert of ecstatic ritual music at St. Barnabas’ Church in Broadway, featuring avant-garde Indonesian duo Senyawa, Karina Utomo’s (High Tension, KILAT) new doom metal outfit Rinuwat performing their acclaimed debut album Dua Naga using sacred instruments from the gamelan gong kebyar, as well as hypnotic live sets by Newcastle’s Troth and Tarquin Manek performing as Silzedrek.
On Friday evening, SOFT CENTRE enters a secret CBD location with an audiovisual variety show, including an eruptive live set by enigmatic i8i affiliate FITNESSS (USA), the debut solo live performance of Spider Gang producer SOLSA skirting trap, metal, and irreverent Aussie hip hop tropes, Stev Zar presents a DJ set paired with a live performance ritual featuring Kiki, Mother of Naarm based ballroom house Deviné, titled AN.IĆ, WeiZen Ho presents Stories from the Body #1, #6, #7, a participatory opening performance inspired by Malaysian folklore and Horse Macgyver unleashes a stultifying new A/V show.
Come Saturday morning, SOFT CENTRE invites punters into the intimate Greenhouse Studios, a converted church and artist co-op in Petersham, to stage its inaugural discourse event. Calling on the theoretical frameworks of Mark Fisher (Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?), Lost Futures of Me At the Zoo is a DJing workshop presented by Jon Smeathers that transforms YouTube into an instrument and speculates on the platform's potential as a creative tool (no CDJ experience required). The morning session will be followed by an artist panel moderated by Cool Room co-founder and community organiser Anuraag Bhatia, featuring Rami Abadir (ABADIR), Rully Shabara (Senyawa) and E Fishpool (EFP).
That evening, the late night program continues in a secret location for a heady rave experience. Kombumerri artist salllvage presents a hybrid DJ/live set titled DEEP GECKO ENERGY, an exploration of Indigenous futurism through dynamic strains of bass and D&B, ABADIR [Egypt] mutates Jungle, Jersey Club and Footwork patterns into frenetic Arabic rhythms in a special DJ set with a TBA guest, and in-form local selectors Anuraag and E3P will take us well beyond the witching hours.
Decompress on Sunday afternoon with an open air concert within the serene surrounds of The Calyx in the Royal Botanic Gardens, home to the largest green wall in the Southern Hemisphere. Featuring enchanted live sets by Egyptian IDM producer ABADIR and enigmatic Afro futurist producer VOLTA HYMN, mutant variations of dub, musique concrete and post-punk via Mx-Ai and YL Hooi, an explorative and healing hybrid DJ/live set from sound artist akka, a commissioned collaboration between Budawang sound artist E Fishpool and viola virtuoso Mara Schwerdtfeger and a special closing hybrid DJ/live performance from Chuquimamani-Condori, a new project from Elysia Crampton Chuquima (PAN, Break World Records) blending poetry, traditional Aymara theatre and futurist narratives.
Throughout the week, Zourrybot AKA Audrey Pfister will be operating as a mod/host/online guardian-in-residence on a SOFT CENTRE Discord, and proud program partners Poor Toms Gin Hall houses a social hub with extended DJ sets by local selectors to be announced.
Stay up to date with Soft Centre on their Website, Instagram and Facebook.
Artwork by Eek (@eek_now)
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