Unsound Festival, also known as Unsound, is an annual music festival that takes place in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, dealing with evolving and mutating forms of music, as well as related

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

. Apart from the main festival, Unsound regularly takes place in cities around the world such as New York,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, and

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. The Kraków festival is run by the

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Fundacja Tone Muzyka i Nowe Formy Sztuki (Tone Foundation for Music and New Forms of Art).

History

The first Unsound festival in Kraków, Poland took place in 2003, starting out as a local, underground event in the city's cellar bars. It currently falls in the first part of October and lasts around one week. Starting out as an event focused on Polish audiences, in recent years it has rapidly developed to become one of the most prominent events of its kind in Europe. In 2010, the festival developed its program and visual identity around the theme "Horror, the pleasure of fear and unease", which explored the history and emerging trend of darkness in music. "Horror" was followed up in 2011 with the theme "Future Shock," inspired by the 1970 book by futurist Alvin Toffler. Subsequent themes have included "The End" (2012), "Interference" (2013) and "The Dream" (2014). The theme for 2015 was "Surprise", described in a press release that was heavily redacted and intentionally revealed little. Following were the themes "Dislocation","Flower Power", "Presence" and "Solidarity".

Description

Unsound is also known for opening up architectural spaces, adapting them for music events. In Kraków, this includes Hotel Forum, a communist-era hotel building that had lain empty for a decade until Unsound 2012, then subsequently became an important cultural hub in the city. In Toronto in June 2015, Unsound adapted the abandoned Hearn Power Station to produce the first ever public event in the space in collaboration with Luminato Festival. Unsound is a founding and active member of ICAS (International Cities of Advanced Sound).

Unsound directors

The co-founder and artistic director of Unsound is Mat Schulz. The executive director is Małgorzata Płysa.

Other countries

In February 2010, Unsound cooperated with local partners in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

such as the Wordless Music series, Bunker and

Electronic Music Foundation Electronic Music Foundation (EMF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that produces events, publishes and disseminates media and information, and provides access to materials relevant to the history and creative potential of electronic music ...

to create a 10-day satellite event involving music, film, workshops and panel discussions. There have been events in London, partnering with The Barbican and

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

among others; and Unsound Toronto as part of Luminato. Unsound has also worked in the region of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and

The Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

, to create mini-festivals with local partners and curators. This includes the Unsound Dislocation project, which took place in 11 cities across the

post-Soviet The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

region in 2016–17. Several events have been staged in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, within the framework of the

Adelaide Festival of Arts The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

in 2013 and 2016. It will again hold the event over two nights in Adelaide in July 2022 as part of

Illuminate Adelaide Illuminate Adelaide is an annual winter event held each July in Adelaide, South Australia. It includes free and ticketed events presented by local, national and international artists and companies, encompassing "art, light, sound and imaginatio ...

, in the Dom Polski Centre (aka the Polish Club) in

Angas Street Angas Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

films. Artists involved in this project include:

Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980s ...

, nsi., Groupshow, Stefan Németh and the video artist Lillevan. According to the Unsound website, the "series refers to Warhol’s own extensive use of pre-existing material to create something new, as well as the 60s multimedia event The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, which used Warhol’s film work as moving wallpaper projected onto a wall and musicians from

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...

." Another key commissioned work is "Solaris," by

Ben Frost Ben Frost (born 1980) is an Australian-Icelandic musician, composer, record producer, sound designer, and director. Life Born in Melbourne, Australia, and based in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 2005, Frost composes minimalist, instrumental, a ...

and Daniel Bjarnasson in cooperation with Kraków's Sinfonietta Cracovia. Accompanied with visuals by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

and Nick Robertson, this piece premiered at Unsound Kraków in 2010, and was performed at Unsound Festival New York 2011 at Alice Tully Hall in the Lincoln Center. In 2014, Unsound partnered with Adelaide Festival to bring to life "Double Vision", created by

Atom™ Uwe H. Schmidt (born 27 August 1968), also known as Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut, is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He is often regarded as the father of electrolatino, electrogospel, and aciton musi ...

and Robin Fox. Like "Solaris", this project has gone on to tour the world. Apart from commissioning works, Unsound has also become known as a platform for artists to premiere new pieces or shows - for example, Robert Henke's laser and sound work "Lumiere", which was launched in Kraków in 2013.

Ephemera

In 2014, Unsound launched its Ephemera project, connecting sound and scent. According to the Ephemera website, the project "presents olfactory compositions based on musical resonances and reverberations". The nose behind the project is Berlin-based Geza Schoen. In the first phase of the project, three musicians - Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, and Steve Goodman (aka Kode9) - created raw sonic material which Schoen then reinterpreted to create three different scents: Noise, Drone and Bass. These scents and sounds were then used in an installation environment that premiered at Unsound Festival New York, and gained wide media attention. The installation was subsequently set up at the National Museum of Kraków, the Tromsø Kunstforening in Norway and the Malmo Inter-Arts Centre. In October 2014, the Ephemera scents were released as perfumes with the music available as downloadable tracks, and have received positive reviews from "niche" perfume and music writers. For the first time, Ephemera took the form of a live experience at Unsound Toronto on June 19, 2015, involving music by Tim Hecker, an olfactory component by Geza Schoen and lighting design by Marcel Weber. The critical reception for this work was highly positive, with the Canadian music website Exclaim writing "Ephemera is truly, unequivocally original – a sensory performance on a whole new level."

References

External links

Unsound Festival
Official Website
Unsound at TwitterUnsound at Last.fm
{{Authority control Music festivals established in 2003 Music festivals in Poland Electronic music festivals in Belarus Electronic music festivals in Poland Electronic music festivals in the United States