BlackKaji

fingers like feet

flutter as float

or stamp along their way

one thing follows another

A study of the unseen, unsound, unsuspecting, unsustainable, unstable.

BlackKaji is a series conceived by Ujikaji and The Observatory.

Artists:

Silvia Tarozzi & Deborah Walker and the SRMC String Ensemble

sl_owtalk x Very Shy Gurl

Už jsme doma

Doors Open 1930

Performance Starts 2000

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Silvia Tarozzi (violin) and Deborah Walker (cello) first met in 2003 and since then their paths have kept crossing. For 20 years together they explored different musical forms working with composers and improvisers, such as Philip Corner, Rhodri Davies, Eyvind Kang, Nathalie Forget, Frantz Loriot, Alex Bruck. Their music is characterized by a profound interplay, a focus on the acoustic qualities of the sound of their instruments and the search for new possibilities in tunings, gestures and sound. They have been involved together in different musical projects and groups, such as the French Dedalus Ensemble, and the Italian band Offlaga Disco Pax.Their long collaboration with composers Eliane Radigue, Pascale Criton and Philip Corner led to the creation of new works for violin and cello. The duo is regularly invited at International venues and Festivals, such as Ultima Oslo,Tectonics Festival Glasgow, Mills College, the RedCat LA, Santa Barbara University, CalArts, Angelica Festival Bologna, Festival Futurs Composés, UNAM Mexico City, Café Oto London, The Graham Foundation Chicago, Météo Mulhouse.

*Silvia Tarozzi and Deborah Walker's participation is kindly supported by the Embassy of Italy in Singapore and ATER Emilia-Romagna. Much thanks also to the Singapore Raffles Music College String Ensemble.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sl_owtalk is a Singapore based drum and synth duo. Dabbling with oscillators and percussive rhythms, sl_owtalk is harsh aural dissonance. Distort everything.

Very Shy Gurl is both a loose collaborative art collective led by Singapore-based interdisciplinary arts practitioner Noor Effendy Ibrahim and is also literally the research playground for Effendy’s ongoing interrogations and articulations into performance, directorial, and production design methodologies into concepts of violence in tenderness and tenderness in violence within domestic and domesticated spaces as well as in the minority body on the performance stage. Effendy is an interdisciplinary arts practitioner and cultural worker based in Singapore and has participated in and contributed to the Singapore arts and culture scene since 1991 in a varied and wide range of capacities in areas of art making, production, leadership, and education. Effendy was the fifth Artistic Director of The Substation (2010-2015) and was also the Artistic Director of Teater Ekamatra (2001-2006). Effendy is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Fine Art, Faculty of Art and Design, NAFA.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UŽ JSME DOMA is a Czech punk avant-garde band with trumpet established in Teplice in 1985. Music like the one played by UJD is hard to find anywhere else. It is wild in a punk way, urgent, yet the composition is complex and elaborate with timeless lyrics. The typical features are the trumpet sound, the incredible tempo and the live performances filled with intense energy and humor. This is perhaps the reason why the band as well as their audience don’t seem to get any older. The music may seem chaotic, arranged randomly or improvised to an unfamiliar ear, but that is far from the truth. The music relies on each tone, detail, band discipline and much like a philharmonic orchestra, the musicians play according to sheets. An integral part of the band’s footprint is the visual aspect provided by Martin Velíšek, a famous Czech painter and graphic artist as well as a non-performing band member.

The music of Už jsme doma was heavily influenced by the Rock in Opposition avant-garde scene and most importantly by The Residents as well as by the punk scene (Damned or Ebba Grön). On the Czech scene they have been in such company as the bands Psi vojaci, Dunaj, Dybbuk or Krasne nove stroje. Before the Velvet Revolution, the idiotic establishment had basically outlawed the band making it illegal to perform publicly or make records. However, after 1989 they broke through mostly because of their sophisticated originality, work ethic and will power making it as afar as European clubs, North America and Japan where they have been enjoying success in the form of regular concert tours. So far they have used their original music to represent the Czech Republic in over 3000 shows in over 45 countries. This is their first time playing in Singapore.

Band members:
Miroslav Wanek – guitar, keyboard, lead vocals, author of all music and lyrics
Pepa Červinka – bass, back vocals
Adam Tomášek – trumpet, back vocals
Vojtěch Bořil – drums
Martin Velíšek – brushes (non travelling, non playing)

*Už jsme doma's participation is kindly supported by Czech Ministry of Culture