Noriental Bonfire Stories (photo: Flickr/trpnblies7)

Texts that Sweat, Laugh, and Bleed: Noriental Bonfire Stories

- CET
Reading
Performance
Berlin, Accra, Nairobi
PROGR, kleine Bühne (1. OG, Ost)

curated and moderated by Philipp Rhensius (Berlin)
w/ Kwame Aidoo (Accra, reading), Nicole Pearson (Berlin, performance), djRH (Nairobi, sound)

Geben wir es zu. Lesen ist voll anstrengend. Lieber lassen wir uns von der Flut der Reels in unserer Timeline betäuben. Auch geil, aber so verpassen wir etwas. Lesen heisst in andere Realitäten eintauchen und vor allem in neue Sichtweisen auf sie. Wie in den Essays, Gedichten und Interviews auf norient.com.

Texte, die vermeintliche «Nebensachen» (Alltägliches) nicht über subventionshörige «Hauptsachen» (Anthropozän) stellen. Texte, in denen unsere Autor*innen aus über 60 Ländern Fragen stellen wie: Wie klingt die Welt für zwei unschuldig inhaftierte Aktivist*innen durch die Wände eines indischen Gefängnisses? Welche sozialen Implikationen hat das tansanische Clubmusik-Genre Singeli? Inwiefern nähren Musiker*innen aus den Anden, die in deutschen Fussgänger*innenzonen auftreten, kulturelle Klischees?

Texte, die lachen, weinen, bluten, schwitzen. In dieser Bubble wollen wir einige von ihnen zum Leben erwecken, in einer Leseperformance mit den Künstler*innen und Autor*innen Kwame Aidoo und Nicole Pearson, begleitet vom Live-Soundtrack des Musikers und langjährigen Norient-Mitarbeiters djrPH. Spannender als eure Timeline, zumindest für eine Stunde, wir schwören.

Let’s admit it. Reading has become exhausting. We’d rather be sedated by the flood of reels that constantly land in our timeline. Also cool, but that's how we miss out on stuff. Reading is about immersing oneself in other realities and in new ways of seeing them. Like in the essays, poems, and interviews on Norient.com.

Texts that don’t favor supposed «side issues» (everyday life) over subsidized «main issues» (Anthropocene). Texts in which our authors from over 60 countries ask questions such as: How does the world sound to two innocently imprisoned activists from the walls of an Indian prison? What are the social implications of the Tanzanian club music genre Singeli? Do Andean musicians performing in German pedestrian zones nourish cultural clichés?

Texts that laugh, cry, bleed, and sweat. In this bubble, we want to bring some of them to life, in a reading performance with the artists and writers Nicole Pearson and Kwame Aidoo, accompanied by the live soundtrack of musician and long-time Norient collaborator djrPH. More exciting than your timeline, at least for an hour, we swear.

Beteiligte Personen / Involved People

Biography

Philipp Rhensius is an editor for Norient, writer, musician, sound artist, sociologist & musicologist, and curator from Berlin. His work investigates the connections between the micro- and macro-political and is driven by the idea that «feeling the chains» is the moment when emancipation begins. His music and sound art projects (Kl.ne, aphtc, Alienationst) merge sonic fiction with sardonic poetry and visceral sound. His texts are published in i.e. Taz, Spex, FAZ, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, WOZ and several book volumes. He runs the music label Arcane Patterns and hosts a monthly podcast on Noods Radio. Follow him on Instagram, his Website, or LinkedIn.

Biography

Kwame Aidoo’s work engages with decolonial, environmental and societal themes and he has exhibited, published and performed at institutions and DIY spaces across Africa, Europe and Latin America. He founded Inkfluent (a multidisciplinary cultural project engaging with Pan-Africanism), the Nkabom Festival, Ngarin Weaving Village, Portals of Ghana and the Buzanga Books Library. Also a prolific author and poet, Aidoo lives and works in Ghana. Follow him on Instagram, and Linktree.

Biography

Raphael Kariuki, aka djrPH, is a Nairobian electronic musician, sound artist, and DJ. He is a resident DJ and curator at The Mist, Nairobi’s first venue dedicated to underground and experimental music. His latest EP, hope/currency, is a collaboration with the spoken-word artist Kins of Spade. Raph is a long-time collaborator with Norient. In 2022, he curated the online publication «Norient City Sounds: Nairobi» together with author and writer Kamwangi Njue. Follow him on Instagram, Mixcloud, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, or Facebook.

Biography

Nicole Pearson is a Berlin-based theater artist, writer, and activist of African descent. Her work centers on the reverberations of trans-Atlantic enslavement across space and time. She focuses on liberating, intersectional practices and intergenerational healing. She uses theater to ignite the imagination of historically marginalized groups, such as LGBTIQIA+ youth, incarcerated adults, and racialized communities, facilitating transformative experiences that nurture community and inspire action. Her latest theater piece «hand, breast, heart» explores how past colonial practices of enslavement and extraction have morphed into present-day Cold War militarism. Follow her on Instagram, and X.

Venue