Le Guess Who? 2023 at BAK
On Friday 10 November and Saturday 11 November 2023 BAK, basis actuele kunst, Utrecht hosts three talks that are part of the music festival Le Guess Who?. These talks fall under the COSMOS initiative, which has the goal of amplifying local music scenes from around the world. Together with these talks, BAK displays the works of about 170 secondary school students.
Le Guess Who? Student Exhibition
In the run up to the festival, about 170 students of three secondary schools in Utrecht have created artworks inspired by artists of the 2023 line up, commissioned by Le Guess Who? and BAK. The students researched “how artists tell their stories through sound and image” and followed a workshop with BAK to learn more on this. The artworks are exhibited during the festival at BAK. The exhibition is a colorful collection of multimedia works, in which students provide their own interpretation of the music and culture of the artists.
This education project is a collaboration between Le Guess Who? and BAK. The participating schools are X11 media en vormgeving, Gerrit Rietveld College, and De Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap. The artists on which the works are based are African Head Charge, Faiz Ali Faiz, Ana Frango Elétrico, MC Yallah, Bombino, and Stereolab.
Friday 10 November, 12–18 hrs
Saturday 11 November, 12–18 hrs
Sunday 12 November, 12–18 hrs
The term Afro-Futurism has slowly become part of a mainstream cultural vocabulary. A combination of science fiction, technology, cultural heritage and post-colonial theory, we are now encountering an array of futurist thought and movements finding origins across continents. In this conversation, moderated by COSMOS’ own Julian Brimmers, artists Ale Hop (Peru), Rana Ghose (India) and Nyokabi Kariũki (Kenya) will, together with Dan Hassler-Forest, Professor of Media and Culture Studies at the Utrecht University, explore these diverse futurisms and what they mean within the global music scene.
Moderated by COSMOS with guest speakers Ale Hop, Prof. Dan Hassler-Forest, Rana Ghose and Nyokabi Kariũki.
Friday 10 November, 16.00–17.15 hrs
From Scratch – How to Build a Border-Defying Community
An array of COSMOS-partners come together to discuss their own expertise: that of building communities, forming grassroots initiatives and initiating impactful cultural movements in today’s globalized and digitalised society, in which borders become porous and can be challenged. A ‘how-to’ guide offering valuable insight, from speakers who can attest that as such movements become greater in number, the greater their potential of disrupting the norms and systems that serve only the few rather than the many.
Moderated by Samantha Lippett (ICRN) with guest speakers Gayance, Laurent Bigarella (Reset!/Arty Farty), together with Radio Tirkultura, and AZEEMA.
Saturday 11 November, 13.00–14.15 hrs
Investigating Missing Sounds with Raymond Antrobus
Abundantly accoladed, London born poet, Raymond Antrobus shares in a performance and interview (with GRAMMY-winning producer and author Ian Brennan) what it means to him to be an “investigator of missing sounds.” His poems articulate and explore questions of existence and identity, often around his Jamaican-British heritage, masculinity and d/Deafness.
Interview and performance with Raymond Antrobus and Ian Brennan.
Saturday 11 November, 15.15–16.15 hrs
