The new festival series Sonic Pluriverse at HKW: The first edition begins on the opening weekend from 2–4 June with Congorama

Congorama
Within the Framework of the Sonic Pluriverse Festival
Concerts, DJ Sets, Listening Sessions
2.6.–9.9.2023
Paulette Nardal Terrace at HKW
Tickets: hkw.de/tickets
Opening Weekend 2–4.6. Admission Free
Accreditation under presse@hkw.de

A summer full of music: The new festival series Sonic Pluriverse starts with Congorama, a musical journey with three locations as sonic compass which all have the word “Congo” in their name.

­Congorama combines concerts, DJ sets, workshops, listening sessions and a festival. The first edition of the new festival series Sonic Pluriverse is oriented on three locations in the world which carry the word “Congo” in their name: the Congo River, Congo Mirador, a village in northern Venezuela, as well as Congo Square in New Orleans. Separated by great geographical distances, all three locations are blessed with incomparable sonic and cultural riches and share many things in common which spring from their violent colonial past. Congorama invites the public to engage with the sonic knowledge and history of these geographies and experience how sound can generate and connect different worlds.
 
Concerts and DJ sets from  Aqua Dulce, Awilo Longomba, Basma,  Blick Bassy, Estrellas del Caribe, Etuk Ubong & The Etuk Philosophy, Fatoumata Diawara, Mazaher, Nação Zumbi, Oumou Sangaré, Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band, Batila & The DreamBus, Cami Layé Okún, Chrisman (Nyege Nyege), Coco Em, Edna Martinez, Femdelic, Florence Adooni, Ghostpoet, Jembaa Groove, Katerinha & Njeri, La Marimba, La Perla, Makumba (Dengue Dengue Dengue), Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, mokeyanju, MSJY, O.N.A, Sanni Est, SLIC Unit, SNO and many more.

­More Information: hkw.de/congorama
Press photos: hkw.de/pressphotos

Opening weekend – free admission

­The prelude to this year’s festival programme is formed by the celebratory reopening of HKW from 2 to 4 June. Admission is free throughout the whole weekend. For capacity reasons visitors are requested to register for 2 June 2023 under rsvp@hkw.de.

­Friday, 2 June 2023

­20:30
Awilo Longomba   
Conzert
Paulette Nardal Terrace, in case of rain: Miriam Makeba Auditorium

­22:00
SNO
DJ Set
Restaurant Weltwirtschaft

­24:00
Edna Martinez
DJ Set
Restaurant Weltwirtschaft

­Congorama begins on 2 June with Congolese rumba whose roots are intertwined with West and Central African sonic worlds, but which also shows links to son cubano and jazz. This musical genre, performed by many bands in the Democratic Republic of Congo, plays a path-breaking role for the history of music worldwide. It embodies pan-African values and is an essential component of the cultural legacy of African worlds. Soukous and Ndombolo also spring from Congolese rumba and are quicker and more urban and contain elements of calypso, rock, funk, gospel and soul. The legendary musician Awilo Longomba and his band play the special variant, techno-soukous, at HKW.

­Saturday, 3 June 2023

­20:30
Oumou Sangaré
Conzert
Paulette Nardal Terrace, in case of rain: Miriam Makeba Auditorium

­22:00
Katerinha & Njeri
DJ Set
Restaurant Weltwirtschaft

­24:00
MSJY
DJ Set
Restaurant Weltwirtschaft

­On Saturday 3 June the focus is on polyrhythm with instruments such as kamele n'goni (harp), karignan (metal scraper) and calabash percussion. They are employed in different parts of the world in the form of boogie, makossa, funk, zouk and many other genres. In her show Oumou Sangaré from Mali mixes Wassoulou traditions with other elements from a feminist and socially engaged perspective.

­Sunday, 4 June 2023

­20:30
Estrellas del Caribe
Conzert
Paulette Nardal Terrace, in case of rain: Miriam Makeba Auditorium

­22:00
mokeyanju
DJ Set
Restaurant Weltwirtschaft

­The closing concert on Sunday 4 June traces the lines of continuity between the Caribbean and the Americas, where the sound of the palenques and quilombos is shaped by the legacy of Congolese music, Nigerian highlife and a wealth of further rhythms from Africa. Estrellas del Caribe from San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia, the first free town in the Americas, play at HKW for the first time. Their music combines the oral tradition of the enslaved people transported to Colombia with beats that enjoyed enormous popularity at the time of the band’s founding in the 1970s through sound systems known as picós.

All dates

­2 June 2023, 20:30
Awilo Longomba
SNO, Edna Martinez (Free entry)

3 June 2023, 20:30
Oumou Sangaré
Katerinha & Njeri, MSJY (Free entry)

­4 June 2023, 20:30
Estrellas del Caribe
mokeyanju (Free entry)

­10 June 2023, 19:00
Blick Bassy
Sanni Est, SLIC Unit

­7 July 2023, 19:00
Mazaher
La Perla, Makumba (Dengue Dengue Dengue), Chrisman (Nyege Nyege)

­15 July 2023
Pluri-Rhythm Festival
Florence Adooni, Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, Jembaa Groove and many more (Free entry)

­21 July 2023, 19:00
Nação Zumbi
Ghostpoet, Coco EM, O.N.A

­25 July 2023, 19:00
Fatoumata Diawara
Femdelic

­29 July 2023, 19:00
Etuk Ubong & The Etuk Philosophy
Batila & The DreamBus, Cami Layé Okún

­25 August 2023
Literaturfestival PREE: Caribbean. Writing.
Dowdelin, Erick Cosaque

9 September 2023
Award ceremony Internationaler Literaturpreis
Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band

Partners

­The concert by Estrellas del Caribe is sponsored by the Embassy of Colombia in Germany.

Pluri-Rhythm is supported by the Kultursommerfestival Berlin.

Media partners: taz, EXBERLINER, tipBerlin and COSMO

Visitor information

­Due to renovation and maintenance work HKW is closed until the end of May 2023. It will reopen on 2 to 4 June 2023 with an opening weekend and the launch of the major group exhibition project O Quilombismo: Of Resisting and Insisting. Of Flight as Fight. Of Other Democratic Egalitarian Political Philosophies.
 
Opening times from 3. 6.2023:
Wed.–Mon. 12:00–19:00
Longer opening hours on event days

­The restaurant Weltwirtschaft is open daily. During the week from 12:00 to 24:00 hours and at the weekend from 10:00 to 24:00 hours. Further information is contained on the Weltwirtschaft website.

­For further information see hkw.de.

Contact

­Jan Trautmann

Pressesprecher
Lead Communications Officer
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin

T: + 49 (0) 30 397 87 195
presse@hkw.de