Bizarre Festival 2nd Edition

Festival

The Bizarre Music Festival was born during the COVID-19 pandemic at a moment when restrictions were being eased and it was possible to play in front of an audience again. After the heavy restrictions imposed on the cultural sector, being able to perform live again felt very strange.

As artists we receive a lot from these exchanges, at the same time we also give much of ourselves – this is the symbiosis and synthesis of energy that makes the space vibrate higher.

Not having this exchange for so long left many of us drained and weakened, wondering about our role in a society without public gatherings. We want to dedicate this festival to ourselves, the artists who give so much of themselves. We also want to use this opportunity to turn the camera back on the audience to capture their joy and energetic participation and we’d like the documentation to reflect this very important synergy between artist and audience.

After the great success of Bizarre's first edition last year, we’re back with a highly anticipated second edition. Although we’re thankfully no longer under pandemic restrictions, this festival provides us with an important reminder not to take our roles as performers or audience members for granted.

The Bizarre Music Festival will again bring on stage international musicians of all origins, most of whom have chosen Berlin as their city of heart, as well as others who are only passing through, but feel a strong connection to the city. Get ready for an evening full of music you never heard before, music that is the fruit of diversity, travel, sometimes even uprooting.

Program

Doors: 7pm

Showtime: 8pm

Tickets

Pre-sale: 16 EUR + bf

Doors: 20 EUR

FB Event

Dumama & Kechou

Using the rich complexities of the multi-faceted experience in post truth and reconciliation South Africa; the never-ending contradictions, politics of love and spirit life as inspiration; dumama (born Gugulethu Duma) collaborates with kechou (born Kerim Melik Becker) building live loops on the spot with hand- made instruments inspired by the innovation of the continent. The duo is reflecting on simple sounds, the tonal emergence and decay of these sounds and the different elements of the universe that exist and are reflected within the soundscapes for their own meditations on decoloniality. This creates fertile foundations for rewriting narratives, creating transformations not just in the African context, but in making substantial contributions towards the global narratives, for necessary reflection and collective healing.

Their debut album, buffering juju, was released in 2020 through Johannesburg based Experimental Recording Imprint, Mushroom Hour Half Hour.

IG: @dumama_kechou_

Morena Leraba

Morena Leraba is a musician and band from Lesotho (enclave within South Africa) which fuses homegrown traditional Famo-inspired (sub-genre of traditional Sesotho music) vocals with electro-instrumental music, and everything in between. Drawing inspiration from various genres, Morena Leraba creates a psychedelic and entrancing sound that is still to be defined. The enigma of Morena Leraba (real name, Teboho Mochaoa), a shepherd musician hailing from the mountains of Lesotho, merged ideas with other musicians in South Africa and formed a band in Johannesburg in 2017; meshing cultures and sounds from far to create a truly sonic experience beyond language boundaries.

IG: @morenaleraba

Astan KA

Born in France and visiting Mali regularly since age of 3, Astan grew up being surrounded by black and white which has enable her to never face any identity problem and has come to a result today of considering herself as a « child of reconciliation ». She combines various music genres from jazz to rock to afro-techno to hip hop to illustrate her universe that is mostly experimental.

She is also the lead singer of the band Asphalt Djelis that mix ancient and futuristic sounds together. Her songs talk about life, love, friendship, protest and intellectual rebellion but also the feeling of growing up as a mix-raced woman and how is it important to get the right knowledge, because there is a lot that schools purposely don’t teach us. Even though a lot of her work aims to glorify the Black Woman, she always preaches a big message of universality.

IG: @tisskeen

K’boko

Living in Berlin for about 20 years, and being intensely influenced by the music of this multicultural metropolis, K’boko combines in his beats the roots of Afro-Brazilian organic music with digital/electronic musical influences of this city where artists from all over the world live. His vast experience playing with various musical groups and masters gave him the sonic baggage that is a vital part in the production of his beats; a mix of Afro-Brazilian rhythms, 808’s, subsonic basses, heavy kicks, synthesizers, samplers and live instruments…AFROBRAZIL BASS MUSIC…

IG: @kboko_aka_biano

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Kantine am Berghain, Am Wriezener Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany