NORIENT

Norient – Independent Network for Local and Global Soundscapes - focuses on experimental and urban music and music scenes all over the world. As an international platform it aims to understand and show the many and often contradictory faces of cultural globalization and localization through articles about music, urbanism and politics, «authenticity», «modernity», «place» and «transnational spaces», written by musicians, scholars and music journalists from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and the US. norient also produces and co-produces larger and smaller projects and events.

At the moment norient is working on the scientific new media art performance «Sonic Traces From the Arab World». Thomas Burkhalter (music anthropologist, DJ), Simon Grab (musician and producer) and Michael Spahr (new media art, VJ) are creating a performance, which combines anthropology and multimedia art to give new insights into contemporary Arab music and art. So far the performance has been shown at Festival Les Urbaines (Lausanne), Solothurner Kulturnacht (Künstlerhaus S11), Zentrum Paul Klee (Bern) and Werkschau Bern.

The performance has been awarded by Project Sitemapping (Swiss Federal Office of Culture).

Michael Spahr has been collaborating with Thomas Burkhalter and norient since 2000. They produced the documentary film «Buy More Incense» (winner of the first prize at Muzyka i Świat in Krakow, Poland) and the audio-visual lecture «Soundscapes From the Edges». In 2009 they were awarded with a grant for the promotion of music culture by the Canton and City of Bern. 2010 they organized the first NORIENT MUSIKFILM FESTIVAL. At the moment they are working on a new norient.com website, a new Sonic Traces Performance and the second edition of the norient film and music festival, which will happen in January 2011.

Sounds and videos on myspace.

Texts and links on norient.com.

E-Mail for booking.