SHAPE platform will have a showcase at the Novas Frequências festival this December, and these news are quite special for two reasons.
Firstly, as Novas Frequências happens in Rio de Janeiro, this qualifies as our second large showcase beyond Europe. And, as the line-up features no less than 13 SHAPE acts, the word “large” is indeed appropriate.
Secondly, the showcase will offer an early glimpse into the 2017 artist list of SHAPE, as 11 of the 13 acts are from our next year’s roster.
Novas Frequências is the main regular festival of advanced and exploratory music in South America, and its sixth edition will take place between December 3rd and December 8th. As previously with Mutek, the festival will become a meeting place for all 16 founding festivals of the SHAPE platform: the organization will have one of its two annual meetings in Rio, therefore the curators and artistic directors from all SHAPE festivals will be in the city, looking for interchange, cooperation and new collaborations with the local scene.
Meanwhile, the showcase itself will demonstrate the diverse artistic influences and interests, merging within SHAPE – artists within its line-up have been nominated to platform by 12 different member festivals, each with their own take on the future of adventurous music and audiovisual art.
The showcase will feature: Vienna-based composer, performer and sound artist Andreas Trobollowitsch (AT); Black Zone Myth Chant (FR), a project of Afro-centric psychedelia and hypnotic footwork by psych-drone artist High Wolf; two projects by Budapest-based musician Gábor Kovács (HU) – the noisy, experimental punk duo of Céh and the more rhythm-oriented, but no less confronting solo project Új Bála; J.G. Biberkopf (LT), whose “audio theater” works are impressive collages that draw on a wide range of influences, including grime and musique concrète; experimental guitarist and composer Julien Desprez (FR), who will present his improvisational performance/light installation Acapulco Redux; Mr. Mitch (UK), one of the key names in the burgeoning instrumental grime movement; artist Mike Rijnierse (NL), who specializes in site-specific installations, and who will present his new work Relief; Sis_Mic (FR), the latest project by electro-acoustic music composer and installation artist Pôm Bouvier B.; Lancaster-based virtuoso pianist and free improviser Stephen Grew (UK); Toxe (SE), a central figure within Staycore – a new ground-breaking label from Stockholm.
In addition to the aforementioned 11 artists from the 2017 list of SHAPE acts, the line-up of the showcase will also feature two alumni of SHAPE 2016: multidisciplinary artist Gil Delindro (PT), who will participate with multimedia performance Voidness of Touch, and experimental vocalist Stine Janvin Motland (NO) who will present her project Fake Synthetic Music.
More details about the showcase will be revealed soon. Meanwhile, You can find out more about the upcoming edition of Novas Frequências on the festival’s Facebook page.
…and, of course, stay tuned for our full announcement of the 2017 SHAPE artist list!
Photo #1 – Sis_Mic; photo #2 – Toxe.