Fifteenth International Festival of Experimental Sound
Prepared Surroundings 2023
(informal dedication to John Cage)
November 29 - Almaty: BULT
November 29 - Ljubljana: Cirkulacija 2
December 20 - Yerevan: Composers Union of Armenia
December 20 - Tijuana: NettNett Space
«Until I die there will be sounds. And they will continue following my death.
One need not fear about the future of music».
John Cage «Experimental Music» (1957)
Prepared Surroundings (PS) is one of the strangest sound festivals, which already exists for 15 years. As always, our focus is on experimentation with sound and technology.
globaLocal proxyFest
This year, PS will take place simultaneously in different cities and countries, as always on Wednesdays. Two Wednesdays - four cities. Thanks to the initiative of an international group of curators and collaboration with local communities of artists and musicians, we are pleased to present events in Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Ljubljana (Slovenia) on November 29; and then in Yerevan (Armenia) and Tijuana (Mexico) on December 20.
The overall theme of PS this year is simultaneously a new speculative format: globaLocal proxyFest. The unusual distribution of the event across the globe while focusing on work in specific locations naturally prompts us to reflect on the connections between the global and the local, the singular and the multiple. In the context of art, copying always sparks discussions, but what is its vice if a copy is a way to preserve data from loss? PS launches its own proxies in different cities and countries. Will this be the same festival as the previous 14 years?
Each location's curator will propose their own theme for artistic interpretation. The themes are as follows:
Almaty: contacts / boundaries
Ljubljana: edges / borders
Yerevan: joinings / partings
Tijuana: dots / ties
We plan to conduct live events with audio-video broadcasts.
The world is changing, and the Festival changes with it, only our slogan remains unchanged already 15 years:
“Participants will demonstrate work with prepared objects, surroundings, constructs.”
(read the extended curatorial text)
Program:
29|11|23 WEDNESDAY 1
- concerts of prepared performances
--> Almaty : contacts / boundaries
- venue: BULT (Gagarin Avenue 83, Almaty, Kazakhstan)
- start time: 20:00 (local)
- admission: TBA
- participants:
Aruzhan Zhumabek + Klad Mineralov
Zoya Falkova
Aina
Laptop quartet
--> Ljubljana : edges / borders
- venue: Cirkulacija 2 (Podhod Ajdovščina 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia)
- start time: TBA
- admission: TBA
- link to the LIVE-stream (start 20:00 local time)
- participants:
Lisokot (Varya Pavlova)
Ksenia Bakhtina
::vtol::
Boris Shershenkov
Stagnat
20|12|23 WEDNESDAY 2
- concerts of prepared performances
--> Yerevan : joinings / partings
- venue: Union of Composers of Armenia (Derenik Demirchyan Street 25, Yerevan, Armenia)
- start time: TBA
- admission: TBA
- participants:
Kay Khachatryan
Vardan Harutyunyan
Andrew Rylov
--> Tijuana : dots / ties
- venue: NettNett space (Constitución Avenue 720, Zona Centro, Tijuana, Mexico)
- start time: 19:30 (local)
- entrance fee: suggested donation from 50-200 pesos
- participants:
Haydeé Jiménez
Mario D. Alvarado (MDAP)
Roberto Romero-Molina
sergey kasich
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Festival initiated by the SoundArtist.ru community
For accreditation: (link with contacts)
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organizers:
festival director: vitalina strekalova
curatorial group in Almaty: anastasia tolchneva + Bult
curator in Ljubljana: dmitriy morozov
curator in Yerevan: nikita prudnikov
curatorial group in Tijuana: sergey kasich + haydeé jiménez