Kiezsalon Opening 2023

w/ Kaffe Matthews & Audrey Chen, Nik Colk Void, Surgeons Girl and Yamila

The Kiezsalon 2023 grand opening will take place, for the first time, at the Akademie der Künste on Saturday, April 29. Starting the program this spring with a special double bill featuring four Berlin premieres, including one world premiere.

Working with analogue hardware, vocals, piano and generative visuals, Bristol-based composer Surgeons Girl’s influences lie in the ambient and techno genres. Resident Advisor’s glowing review of her E.P. ‘A Violet Sleep’, claims Surgeons Girl broke new ground for the label Livity Sound.

Bringing her experimental shapeshifting to the stage is electronic musician and artist Nik Colk Void, whom you may recognise from her collaborative musical projects Factory Floor, Carter Tutti Void and NPVR. Known for unconventional encounters with her tools as a means of expression, Void’s debut solo album ‘Bucked Up Space’, released on Editions Mego, “conjures a world all of its own” - The Quietus.

Looking over the precipice of pure emotion, Brussels-based Spanish artist Yamila dances between electronic and analogue music, tradition and experimentation. Yamila reveals her most intimate catharsis in 'Visions' her latest album released on Umor Rex, which brings together and provokes the hallucinatory powers of music.

Chinese/Taiwanese-American musician Audrey Chen collaborates with electroacoustic artist Kaffe Matthews for ‘Breathing air as dark swallows’. The artists began this musical exchange during Berlin's three-month Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. Chen and Matthews will perform their piece live for the first time.

Founded in 1696, the Akademie der Künste is one of Europe’s oldest cultural institutes. Designed by architect Werner Düttmann, Hanseatenweg is a generous, yet modest ensemble of three different buildings encompassed by leafy courtyards and gardens. The Kiezsalon will add to the already broad cultural program at the scenic Hanseatenweg venue.

After a break of almost 6 months, we can’t wait to see you again at this special place for the Kiezsalon’s grand opening. Let’s celebrate the end of Berlin’s bitter winter in the Akademie’s floral gardens with a glass of excellent wine. It’s been far too long!

Kiezsalon w/ Surgeons Girl, Nik Colk Void, Yamila, Audrey Chen & Kaffe Matthews
Saturday, 29.04.2023
Doors 19:00 | Start 20:00 CET
Akademie der Künste | Hanseatenweg 10 in 10557 Berlin-Tiergarten

The Kiezsalon is a project by Digital in Berlin. Curated by Michael Rosen and funded by Senate Department for Culture and Europa. Presented by The Wire and taz, die tageszeitung.