We welcome Hilà Lahav as our guest. Hilà Lahav is a poet, musician and sound artist. She plays flutes, hollow bodies and electronics. She composed music and created soundscapes for cinema, theatre, dance and performance. Her most recent collaboration, A Song that Can’t Be Sung [Fonds Darstellende Künste/ Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen]- a piece for four voices and performers, to original text and score – in co-creation with Abigail Akavia, with Anna Clementi and Munsha (Daniella Lunelli) premiered last March at the Schaubühne Lindenfels in Leipzig. Since 2020, Lahav has been part of the collective of ausland Berlin, – territory for arts and collateral damage – a collectively operated event and production venue.
This is the last event of our polyphony series before the summer break. On September 17th we will start again!
We welcome Zam Johnson as our guest. Zam has been in Berlin since 1987 and has played a decisive role in shaping Berlin’s musical landscape ever since. Prior to that in Los Angeles, he was involved in many sessions and recordings and was on tour with Iron Butterfly and Sweet Inspirations. Here in Berlin, he has attracted attention as a jazz drummer in countless formations. But also as a multi-instrumentalist and composer of plays, compositions for Butoh dance (Yumiko Yoshioka and Minako Seki), experimental guitarist for Bob Ruthman, drummer for Lars Rudolph’s Stan Red Fox to name just a few.
“Calming allows us to rest, and resting is a precondition for healing. (…)Just allow your body and mind to rest like an animal in the forest.“ – Thich Nhat Hanh
“Music is the cup that holds the wine of silence” – Robert Fripp
Photography by Bernd Riehm, Cymatic projections by Bodo Orejuela Ambient live music by Bernhard Wöstheinrich and Leander Reininghaus
The nature photography of Bernd Riehm offers a sober, unvarnished, and open-minded view of the phenomenon of the forest and its changes – whether slow, rapid, or catastrophic. The projections of Riehm’s images transform the interior of the Taborkirche into a sun-drenched grove. The forest and the church, both places of contemplation, overlap, with the columns returning to their origins as tree trunks.
Bernhard Wöstheinrich and Leander Reininghaus create, play and improvise the lyrical, ethereal sounds of ambient music live. Using an intricate live looping technique, they weave melodies and rhythms into complex and compelling sonic landscapes. The result is a connection between the ambience of space and photography. It’s not a fleeting, spiritual sensation, but rather an invitation to contemplation: to use the space and time provided to find solace in light and sound.
In the second part of the event, cymatic sound figures will be presented. These are generated by the vibration of a water surface, which is triggered directly by the sound waves of the live music. Water in small bowls acts as a flexible three-dimensional sculpture, translating the sounds from the loudspeakers into wave-like movements. Bodo Orejuela skillfully illuminates the water containers, making the waves visible. He captures fleeting sound sculptures on film and projects water sound images – individual, sometimes static, sometimes animated structures – onto the surface of the water. He takes us on an entirely analog journey to the intoxicating origins of resonance.
Licht- und Musikperformance mit Naturfotografie von Bernd Riehm, kymatischen Projektionen von Bodo Orejuela, und Ambient Live Musik von Bernhard Wöstheinrich und Leander Reininghaus
Bernd Riehms Waldfotografien bieten einen nüchternen, ungeschönten und freundlich-unvoreingenommenen Blick auf das Phänomen Wald und seine Veränderungen, ob langsame, schnelle oder katastrophische. Die Projektionen von Riehms Bildern verwandeln den Innenraum der Taborkirche in einen lichtdurchfluteten Hain. Wald und Kirche als Orte der Kontemplation überlagern sich, Säulen kehren zurück zu ihrem Ursprung als Baumstämme.
Bernhard Wöstheinrich und Leander Reininghaus erzeugen, spielen und improvisieren die lyrischen, schwebenden Klänge der Ambientmusik live. Mit ihrer aufwendigen Live-Looping-Technik verweben sie Melodien und Rhythmen zu komplexen und faszinierenden Klangwelten. So entsteht eine Verbindung zwischen der Szenerie des Raumes und der Fotografie. Keine flüchtige, spirituelle Sensation, sondern eine Einladung zur Kontemplation: den gebotenen Raum und die Zeit zu nutzen, um in Licht und Klang Ruhe zu finden.
Im zweiten Teil der Veranstaltung werden kymatische Klangfiguren präsentiert, die entstehen, indem eine Wasseroberfläche von der live gespielten Musik zum Schwingen gebracht wird.
Wasser in kleinen Behältern fungiert als flexible dreidimensionale Skulptur, die Töne aus Lautsprechern in Wellenbewegungen übersetzt. Bodo Orejuela macht die Wellenmuster duch geschickte Beleuchtung der Wasserbehälter sichtbar. Er filmt die flüchtigen Klangskulpturen ab und projiziert die Wasserklangbilder – individuelle, teils stehende, teils lebendige Strukturen auf der Wasseroberfläche. Er nimmt uns mit auf eine ganz analoge Reise zu den berauschenden Urgründen der Resonanz.
Bianca grew up in Paris and moved to Berlin in 2011. She trained in physical theater (Jacques Lecoq) and entered the world of music through vocal exploration (Song of the Goat, Roy Hart Theater). She experiments with voice, words and pedals, and joins music projects of various genres (experimental/noise – Tangram, Berlin Soundpainting Orchestra // improvised and traditional music – Drei Raben, ZuSu // rock/pop/blues – Blue Lane, Long way home).
Bernhard Wöstheinrich 