A Matter of Representation – Documenting Ghanaian Artists

Norient Snap by Heinz Reber
A Matter of Representation – Documenting Ghanaian Artists

When making their film on the music scene in Ghana, Peter Guyer and Thomas Burkhalter discussed how to deal with the ethics of representation. Together with local artists, they decided to shoot a documentary that was not just about the scene, but created with it.

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Design: Heinz Reber
Photo: Thomas Burkhalter, Peter Guyer

Listening as Political Activism in Hong Kong

Norient Snap by So Wai Lam
Listening as Political Activism in Hong Kong

Since 2014, Hong Kong’s art and music industries have been baptized by a political awakening. Artists like Susi Law got elected into district councils. Law is not one for big speeches and her aural sensitivity could be beneficial to Hong Kong’s political crisis in 2020.

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Design: So Wai Lam
Photo: Wong Chung Ho

Dancing in the Church: Religion in Ghana

Norient Snap by Heinz Reber
Dancing in the Church: Religion in Ghana

«People in Ghana have gone overboard with religion, politics, and corruption», says FOKN Bois' Wanlov the Kubolor. A critical investigation of the relevance of religion and churches in Ghana.

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Quote: Bishop Daniel Obinim
Design: Heinz Reber
Photo: Thomas Burkhalter, Peter Guyer

«I’ve Never Considered Myself a Futurist»

Norient Snap by Ali Sayah
«I’ve Never Considered Myself a Futurist»

The musician Ata Ebtekar, aka Sote, is helping to build an experimental music scene from Iran and Iranians abroad: contemporary music that engages with tropes of the past.

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Design: Ali Sayah
Sound: Ali Sayah

Country Music in Africa

Norient Snap by Heinz Reber
Country Music in Africa

Country Music has been long associated with a strong focus on its country of origin. When Peter Guyer and Thomas Burkhalter were filming their «Contradict» in Ghana, they discovered that it is very popular in West Africa.

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Design: Heinz Reber
Photo: Thomas Burkhalter, Peter Guyer

A Latin Mass as a Symbol for Multiculturalism

Norient Snap by Ali Sayah
A Latin Mass as a Symbol for Multiculturalism

The Afro Celt Sound System are a musical collective who, in their own words, are a «genuine and positive example of how multiculturalism can thrive and survive in these troubled times».

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Design: Ali Sayah
Remix: Ali Sayah

Raving Lite: NLC Festival

Norient Snap by Ali Sayah
Raving Lite: NLC Festival

The Nature Loves Courage Festival in Greece foregrounds female-identifying, queer and non-binary artists and contributes to the development of what is known as post-club culture. What can this festival tell us about today's club culture in general?

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Design: Ali Sayah
Sound: Ziur, Gabber Eleganza & Thunderdome Documentary Excerpt

Tbilisi’s Underground

Norient Snap by Fahad Hossain
Tbilisi’s Underground

Georgia's capital Tbilisi has a vivid electronic music scene. Although more and more artists are involved, there are hardly any official live venues in the city. Read Jan Chudozilov's photo series about informal music spaces.

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Quote: Jan Chudozilov
Design: Fahad Hossain, Akaliko Collective
Photo: Jan Chudozilov, Jan Chudožilov
Sound: Ben Wheeler
Remix: Miss Auto, Akaliko Collective

Decolonizing Pop Music

Norient Snap by Ali Sayah
Decolonizing Pop Music

Colonialism isn’t over, it’s just less visible. As a curator of the Berlin-based label Global Pop First Wave, Holger Lund feels entangled in neo-colonial paradoxes. An essay about the westernization of pop music and why its decolonization is inevitable.

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Design: Ali Sayah
Sound: Ali Sayah

Here-Now and There-Then

Norient Snap by Simona da Pozzo
Here-Now and There-Then

Photography is a signifier of time, says our author Sumugan Sivanesan. In his photo series on the 2019 edition of «The Long Now» at Maerz Musik festival, he emphasizes the corporeal relations between performer, audience, and architecture.

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Resisting Nationalist Narratives

Norient Snap by Ali Sayah
Resisting Nationalist Narratives

Music plays an important role in diaspora communities. But it doesn't just unify its members, it also acts as a tool for political control. A comment on the problematic balance between nationalist propaganda and ethnic identity.

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Design: Ali Sayah
Remix: Ali Sayah