Laboratoire Kontempo Miziki

In the framework of the project „Miziki“, musicians from Kinshasa and Berlin come together to seek musical connections through conversations and performances. “Miziki” is an adaptation of the French word “Musique” into Lingala, one of the languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The focus of the Miziki program is to create a space of gathering, substituting eurocentric categorizations of classical, popular and “world” music with an open encounter and exchange in musical knowledge, collaboration, artistic research and modes of listening together.
Beyond the boundaries of European control and universalist worldviews, musical journeys between the African continent and the Americas made possible the sounding of struggles, resistance and artistic freedom. Between 1940 and 1950, the Congolese Rumba fostered radical social consciousness that ignited many political dimensions amongst the movement of people in the DRC. When listening to the Congolese Rumba, we enter in relation with sonic revolutions and powerful connections to ‘ el son cubano’ and afro caribbean music. Both musical forms share deep temporalities rooted in rhythmic memory.
Within such premises, Miziki hopes to address questions of epistemic disobedience in musical creation, the importance of open source tools and the subversive use of technological devices for artistic expression.
What artistic strategies are transgressing the ways we think about music?
How can we celebrate ‘difference’ along the plurality of musical worlds?
How can we overcome narratives of musical otherness?
The series of dialogues will unfold along a program of performances and musical evenings. The gatherings encompass history, analysis, workshop, performance and improvisation, taking place in different locations in Berlin.

The full program of Laboratoire Kontempo

With Orakle Ngoy, David Shongo, Wilfried Luzele aka Lova Lova, Khyam Allami, Huguette Tolinga, Alejandra Cardenas ‘Ale Hop‘, Laura Robles, Fulu Miziki, Moisés Horta Valenzuela ‘Hexorcismos’, Jasmina Al-Qaisi, Ralf Wendt, Rachel Nyangombe, Houaïda, Nico Daleman, Romain Malwengo Kingenzi

Curated by Mukenge/Schellhammer & Miguel Buenrostro

Kunsthaus ACUD Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin (Mitte), U8-Rosenthaler Platz
Sinema Transtopia House of Statistics – House B, Otto-Braun-Strasse 72 (Mitte), U8-Alexanderplatz
Hopscotch Reading Room Kurfürstenstraße 14, 10785 Berlin (Mitte), U1 and U3-Kurfürstenstraße