Report time! After my enthralling on music event Exposed Music with curator Aarich Jespers (Zita Swoon Group) last week, I had to be part of the experience! It was a rainy Saturday night, so my umbrella and coat were my best friends. Nonetheless, a convivial atmosphere prevailed! The rain couldn’t beat us music lovers. I saw some wonderful heritage settings, I heard and saw some interesting music installations, basically, I had a lovely night.
For those who aren’t familiar with the concept, a short reminder: Exposed Music brings a 360° spectacle stuffed with brief exhibition visits. It is an experience tour with musical and visual performances at unique heritage settings in downtown Antwerp. Adventurous, actual music performances, intertwined with city life, opening a dialogue with immemorial spaces.
Even though the guided tour was great -we had a nice walk in the beautiful Antwerp historic city center- the program was even greater, very diversified. It was full of surprises. My favourites? George ‘toet’ Smits Revisited and second: Wim De Busser & Simon Lenski with Compos Mentis at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (Royal Academy for Arts Antwerp).
The first performance was an unconventional sound installation by Gerrit Valckenaers, Kobe Proesmans en Sep François with replica instruments (styrofoam & repercussion strings) of the original act of George Smits.
Compos Mentis was a beautiful, intriguing short film and musical composition concerning the role of artists in society.Unfortunately, I couldn’t see all performances, because it was in the tour guide’s hands. I’d for example loved to see Sun*Sun*Sun String Orkestra with ‘Voetbalhysterie Purple White Army/rood wit’, a contemporary minimal string composition dialoguing with bruitage and video rushes! I heard a lot of recommendations. Maybe next year?
During the tour I discovered incredibly beautiful places, I’ve never been before. Other settings weren’t new to me, but I saw them in a totally different perspective. For instance, I was very impressed by the Keizerkapel (Keizerstraat 21-23). Although it’s just around the corner from where I live, I never actually entered the chapel. Such a shame! The candles, the serene outward of the chapel, the tranquil music compositions of Rudy Trouvé Trio; it was a perfect fit, although the music used during the performance wasn’t my musical cup of tea. The ‘Loops’ performance by Wannes Deneer en Roel Van Camp in Erfgoed Bibliotheek (heritage library) was very beautiful. I strongly recommend a visit to this building! A must-see!
So you see, initiatives like these, I believe, are valuable! Aarich Jespers and the participating organisations have surely succeeded in their goal with the first edition. I feel there is an enormous potential for growth. I'm very much looking forward to the next edition!
Text by Lize Colson
Pics by Lize Colson