Postcolonial Recherche - Ensemble Recherche

How contemporary is music in the 21st century if it continues to be so Eurocentric?

In cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, Ensemble Recherche invited composers from developing and emerging countries to participate in an artistic exchange. The “Postcolonial Recherche” project was curated by South African composer Bongani Ndodana-Breen and consisted of several virtual residencies over a period of one year. Joint discussions about (post-)colonial conditions resulted in artistic works.

At the same time, they worked together with composition students from the Freiburg University of Music, also in connection with the topic of post-colonialism. The year-long collaboration resulted in musical performances and some insights into our own evaluation patterns.

All Postcolonial Recherche Fellows

28.09.2022: Exit plus Ultra

The idea of constant progress has shaped European culture since modern times: in his collection of essays “Map, Clock and Score”, Freiburg composer Johannes Schöllhorn draws parallels between colonial world conquest and musical progress. However, post-colonial debates are increasingly casting doubt on this belief in progress. How can we deal critically with our own colonial history and its current consequences from a Western musical perspective? And how do artists from formerly colonized countries compose? The “Exit Plus Ultra” project presents six musical perspectives on these questions and culminates in a concert in Freiburg and a radio essay for Deutschlanndfunk.

With world premieres of works by
Johannes Schöllhorn, Farzia Fallah, Leopold Hurt, AJ Villanueva, Macri Cáceres, Ayò Olúrantí

ENSEMBLE RECHERCHE
Anja Clift, flute
Eduardo Olloqui, oboe
Shizuyo Oka, clarinet
Klaus Steffes-Holländer, piano
Christian Dierstein, percussion
Melise Mellinger, violin
Sofia von Atzingen, viola
Åsa Åkerberg, violoncello

Elisa Erkelenz, dramaturgy
Lena Drieschner, Sylvana Seddig, acting
Jakob Boeckh, Visual Artist

05.12.2022 – Postcolonial Recherche

In this special concert, the perspectives of the students from Korea, Singapore and Germany are complemented by those of the Postcolonial Recherche Fellows from Colombia/Hong Kong, Iran, Ukraine and Argentina.

Bongani Ndodana-Breen, curator of “Postcolonial Recherche” on the project: “Thanks to ‘Postcolonial Recherche’, not only did up-and-coming composers from the Global South get the chance to work with Ensemble Recherche, but the ensemble also had the opportunity to get to know exciting artistic positions and to constructively question its own attitude. A more than enriching collaboration!”

With world premieres of works by

Patricia Martínez, Camilo Mendez, Rojin Monibi, Adrian Mocanu, Joey Tan, So-Jeong Yoo, Doyoon Yoon and Elisabeth Fußeder

Bongani Ndodana-Breen, curator

08.03.2023: Subsahara

What does Freiburg sound like from a West African perspective? What happens when this time it’s not “us” looking at “the others”, but the other way around? The Ghanaian musician, performer and fashion designer STELOOLIVE turns his ear to the sounds of the city and creates an African-European concert evening together with Ensemble Recherche.

In addition to STELOOLIVE, the concert at the Jazzhaus will feature five other musical positions from Africa. One of these comes from Bongani Ndodana-Breen, co-curator of the “Postcolonial Recherche” project. In his piece, Njabulo Phungula takes up a poem by Arthur Rimbaud and the relationship between music, language and identity. Monthati Zenzile Masebe, also from South Africa, works with music archives, indigenous and classical instruments and digital technology. The program also includes Tebogo Monnakgotla, a South African-Swedish composer whose textures contain hints of minimal music. Finally, Ayọ̀ Olúrántí incorporates the principles of Dùndún music of the Yorùbá in Nigeria into his compositions.

With works by

STELOOLIVE, Njabulo Phungula, Monthati Masebe, Ayò Olúrantí, Bongani Ndodana-Breen, Tebogo Monnakgotla

Bongani Ndodana-Breen, Co-Curator

STELOOLIVE, Sound artist, DJ

All Postcolonial Recherche Fellows